4100k Home Depot Flos

[Brian Luce]

So I just made some Home Depot flos to light a green screen.
I used T8 4100k 4' long tubes rated at a respectable 85 CRI and put them in a set of two fixture tubes.

I bolted some mop handle holders to the casing so they clamp efficiently to a standard light stand.

They actually do produce a flattering soft light and I'm wondering if I might use them for more than just a green screen light.

Here are a couple of things to look out for.
The sockets the bulbs screw into are junk. Flimsy. One already started to short and melted the plastic.
Also, these aren't very portable with the cheap sockets sticking out on one side and the mop handle holders bolted to the other side. It's awkward and over time, if you travel much, would be problematic. However, if you're planning a diy studio or need something for a the short term, it appears to be a good solution.

[Richard Andrewski]

I always recommend this kind of stuff for diy green screen lighting but I definitely wouldn't want to try to make a 4 foot metal shop fixture portable. I think the 4100K is super for green screen and I also think you can make it work for other things as long as you aren't mixing with real daylight or other color temperature sources. In other words, in isolation and with white balance to a good CRI 4100K, it should be fine.

[Evan C. King]

Brian throw up some pictures!

[Brian Luce]

Originally Posted by Richard Andrewski

I think the 4100K is super for green screen and I also think you can make it work for other things as long as you aren't mixing with real daylight or other color temperature sources. In other words, in isolation and with white balance to a good CRI 4100K, it should be fine.

I suppose 4100k is a tweener -- not quite tungsten and way off daylight. If I'm going to light the subject with tungsten should I exchange the 4100's for some 3200 flos? Or does the fact the greenscreen and subject are two distinct light targets make the mixing of color temps acceptable? Is it possible the green spike of 4100k might make the greensceen actually better than 3200k? More green as it were? And just balance the subject for 3200k?

I attached some photos. Yes, extremely ghetto, I made these to last about six months. You can see the mop handle hooks attaching it to the light stand. Notice the fancy Reynold's Wrap barn door (need to crinkle it more). A couple of kitchen magnets make the foil stick on the fixture. In the bg is a DIY pvc greenscreen frame. It uses green photo paper.

[Richard Andrewski]

My opinion is that 4100K will work fine and you can have other lighting in the foreground of whatever color. Just white balance to foreground lighting with the background 4100K lighting off. Then turn it back on and you're ready to go. Someone else around here recently said they preferred 4100K for green screen lighting.

Of course, it should be easy to run a few tests before any actual shoots to see how you like it and how well the keys work on this kind of setup. Be sure to post back and let us know. In particular, let us know of any shifts in the color of green that might happen and whether they were an issue in making a good key.