Daylight CFL's

BigLoada

BigLoada

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Dean
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Having nearly completed building my light tent, I have decided to get some 50watt daylight balanced CFL bulbs however does anyone know a reputable online shop? I have seen lots advertised but they either don't give the CRI or it is often pretty low.
There seems to be a lot of stuff out there which isn't quite what it seems!

The only thing I found that looked okay was these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PhotoSEL-BB-EH4-55W-300W-Eq-5400K-Photography-Bulb-UK_W0QQitemZ140282766451QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Photography_StudioEquipment_RL?hash=item140282766451&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Anyone know where I can get some decent ones from?

Cheers
Dean:)
 
You're right, most of the CFL bulbs are totally unsuitable for photography.

A CRI of 90 isn't particuarly good (barely adequate in fact) but it will do the job much better than the cheapies.
 
Cheers Garry, its really hard finding something suitable. Maybe I'd be better off using my old 500w halogen floods instead and adjusting WB, what do you reckon? I just wanted to avoid them because of the heat and I am in a small enclosed space here, it gets boiling!
 
BigLoada said:
Cheers Garry, its really hard finding something suitable. Maybe I'd be better off using my old 500w halogen floods instead and adjusting WB, what do you reckon? I just wanted to avoid them because of the heat and I am in a small enclosed space here, it gets boiling!
Click to expand...

Well, the CRI of your tungsten lights is 100 so it would produce more accurate colours, but as you say the heat can be a problem. Personally I find flash much better all round and easier, but if you really want to use continuous lighting then I feel that the cool lights are probably the way to go.
 
BigLoada said:
Having nearly completed building my light tent, I have decided to get some 50watt daylight balanced CFL bulbs however does anyone know a reputable online shop? I have seen lots advertised but they either don't give the CRI or it is often pretty low.
There seems to be a lot of stuff out there which isn't quite what it seems!

The only thing I found that looked okay was these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PhotoSEL-BB-EH4-55W-300W-Eq-5400K-Photography-Bulb-UK_W0QQitemZ140282766451QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Photography_StudioEquipment_RL?hash=item140282766451&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Anyone know where I can get some decent ones from?

Cheers
Dean:)
Click to expand...

I bought three of the 105watt 'colour balanced bulbs' to try and use as a portrait setup through an umbrella. Also tried using them with a small light tent for macro.

The conclusion was, I wasted my money. The 105watt bulbs are so large they are hard to direct (i.e. can't find a suitable reflector), and even if I could direct the light they were so far off a decent shutter speed, even using fast lenses (as well as being 'uncontrolable').

You would be much, much, much, much.... better off with just a hotshoe flash, 'triggered off camera'.
 
Thanks for that info Springtide. I am going to getting a few flash guns and wireless triggers soon for outdoor stuff so I might try these for the indoor still life stuff. Cheers.
 
I've seen these bulbs used in multiples (usually of three) but the light output isn't great. OK for still life but not really up to it for portraiture.

Plus as Garry says the CRI is a bit poor. You can get better continuous light sources that are OK for photographic work but they are lot more expensive
 
I purchased some 5100K CFL lamps from them on Ebay for use with my light tent. They're very good for close-up stuff, give a nice clean light without the heat.
 
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