Questions about D800.

[mike_halliwell]

<p>Ilkka, I found this nice quote about those things...</p>

<p><em>'For a constant stream of beautiful daylight-balanced light the Bowens Streamlite is the perfect choice.</em><br>

<em>The ultimate point and shoot light, simply switch on and the three 30W fluorescent bulbs, combined with the detachable white reflector, deliver a wide spread of directional sunlight. </em><br /><em>The 5600K (±300K) lamps mean no more time consumed on your camera white balance to eliminate the blue or green hues usually associated with fluorescent light.'</em></p>

<p><a href="http://www.bowens.co.uk/content/pages/streamlite330.html">http://www.bowens.co.uk/content/pages/streamlite330.html</a></p>

<p>Are these somehow different?....</p>

[jose_angel]

<p>I don`t think so... but it could be a high quality one, with better electronics. Maybe.</p>

[Ian Rance]

<p>I will say that this camera seems complicated to use. There are so many layers and things to memorise that I think some casual photographers will have their work cut out getting anywhere near 100% out of it. I'm working on mastering it but it seems a world away from simple cameras.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>I think some people are confusing photographic CFL "twirly" lamps with the domestic variety. There's no comparison. The photographic lamps do appear to work reasonably well, although I'll stick to flash for my lighting, thanks. The cheap domestic CFLs are abysmal in both their colour rendering and light output, and don't seem comparable with the old fluorescent tubes at all.<br>

Why AWB can't get a reasonable match for them is beyond me, since it works tolerably well with tubular fluorescents. That's why a specific option for domestic CFLs is needed.</p>

[colin_elliott]

<p>These CFL's are being foisted upon us in Canada too.<br>

Personally, I don't think this government legislated happening will have a long life.<br>

There have been many documented cases of people suffering with headaches as a result of their use.<br>

Safe disposal is an issue (they contain mercury), and inconvenient for some consumers to practice.<br>

I believe that such CFL's will be replaced by LED bulbs. Yes, they are more expensive but don't contain harmful chemicals, don't flicker and last longer. There have, as far as I am aware, been no reported cases of headaches by consumers.</p>

 

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>A little belatedly, and off topic... I'm also not happy that the UK government (well, the EU) decided to ban conventional bulbs - mostly because the spectrum of both CFL and LED lights is noncontinuous, which leads to metamerism problems compared with a daylight viewing. I wouldn't have minded them taxing them highly (most of my house lighting is CFL anyway, so we're not talking many expensive bulbs) but an outright ban is inconvenient. I'm tempted to stock up on halogens before they get banned too...</p>

[sjoerd_leeuwenberg]

<p>About the CFL's, I think there is a big variety in quality and stability.<br>

Maybe that is also why Nikon cannot just make a preset, because the range is too big. I think they just pick an average WB that will be ok for everything, but not great for anything but that exact value.<br>

I don't think the custom presets are that hard, at least on my D90 I have an option to directly choose a Kelvin value (with the second wheel) or to select a sample picture of something gray to set the value (hold WB button for 1.5 seconds when on the PRE WB). Just ran into this at a photoclub yesterday. Also in the shooting menu or something, you can then select any of 5 previous presets. But maybe this is not what you meant.<br>

I think some specific lights (Like LEDs for example and light temperatures that will vary depending on the phase in the mains cycle) will always give problems with lighting for photos.</p>