flourescent bulbs and lighting kits at DVinfo.net

Andrew Carter · February 8th, 2010, 11:47 AM

Bulbs
I've noticed two types of large spiral flourescent bulbs for sale
in my local hardware shop.
One is rated at 2700 and the other at 6500k, what would be the better
to go for? Do i need a bayonet fitting or screw in type?

Lowel | Rifa eXchange Fluorescent 3- Lamp Module | FLO-X3 | B&H

The above link was added by perrone, on the other forum thread. Has anyone
got pictures how these attach into the rifa lights?

I've noticed a cheap light kit -solution is from china, they sell a two light flourescent kit.
Has anyone made a kit/or sourced something cheaper?
Ideally, i'd like to build something mainly due to my budget. I've a couple of interviews coming up in april, so i'd like something sorted for then if possible.

I know i should buy a kit, but i cant jusifiy it it a the moment.
Any advice welcomed.

Perrone Ford · February 8th, 2010, 11:50 AM

The lighting color standards come from film (real film).

3500k is tungsten balance
5600k is daylight balance

2700 and 6500 match nothing. And if used on a shoot with cinema lighting, both would have to be gelled to match the standard movie lights.

The FLO head attaches to the Rifa by a simple quarter-twist bayonet connection. It has three pins and it's a keyed fitting... meaning it only fits one way. When you look at it, the usage becomes obvious.

Adam Gold · February 8th, 2010, 12:44 PM

Interestingly, in tweaking the WB numbers on my cam, I noticed that the daylight in our back yard (Seattle, crappy, gray almost all the time) is really closer to 6500K. Setting the cam at 5600K resulted in a picture that was noticeably blue. Obviously this changes during the day and with various weather conditions.

Also, Sony's Daylight WB Preset is 6500K. "Indoor" (tungsten) is 3200K.

When I learned how to shoot many years ago with 16mm film, "Daylight" was 7200K. Must be Global Warming.

Andrew Carter · February 8th, 2010, 01:03 PM

3500k is tungsten balance
5600k is daylight balance

I feel stupid for forgetting that information, thanks for the reminder Mr P Ford. I need to start reading/and doing filming work to keep this information fresh.
I'll only be doing interviews/two person talking heads. As ive a small webseries script i want to film.

I think i'll start working with my redhead kit again and i'll save up for a compact flo kit.
I was reading this other thread....
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photon-m...ing-units.html
It did inspire me, to make something.

Tom Dickerson · February 8th, 2010, 02:00 PM

N:Vision makes a 3200K 125w (eq.) that can be purchased at Home Depot, I believe.

Perrone Ford · February 8th, 2010, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Dickerson

N:Vision makes a 3200K 125w (eq.) that can be purchased at Home Depot, I believe.

Yep, I have a box full. N:Vision also make a 5500k daylight balanced bult. I have a box of those too.

Andrew Carter · February 10th, 2010, 11:06 AM

n:vision 23 Watt (90W) Par 38 Soft White, 4 Pack (E)* - 5P8234 at The Home Depot

Is this the bulbs you are refering to? If so, i'll try and source them in the UK.

Perrone Ford · February 10th, 2010, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Carter

n:vision 23 Watt (90W) Par 38 Soft White, 4 Pack (E)* - 5P8234 at The Home Depot

Is this the bulbs you are refering to? If so, i'll try and source them in the UK.

No, those are not the ones....

These are the daylight ones:

EcoSmart 27 Watt (100W) Daylight, 2 Pack (E)* - ES5M827250K at The Home Depot

I cannot remember if the 3500K came in the red or the green container, but I think it's the red. The other one is 2700k and don't match anything (other than the halogen worklamps which we don't recommend)

Andrew Carter · February 13th, 2010, 09:47 AM

Thanks for all the help guys, but i'm going to have to go with flourcent tubes rather than the flo compact bulbs.
I can find the tubes in 3200k 36 watt and 5500k but i cant find flo compact bulbs in anything except 2700k and 6500k.

I'm in england btw.
Thanks.

Adam Gold · February 13th, 2010, 11:37 AM

I've been able to find 5000, 5100, and 5600 on the web, but they are expensive and I'm not sure where they ship. Our local hardware stores have 5000 as well as 6500 in CF format.

But I assume US bulbs wouldn't work in Europe due to the differing voltages...

This is the best deal I've found on very high wattage CFs...

http://www.skaeser.com/servlet/the-6...TT-HIGH/Detail

Andrew Carter · February 15th, 2010, 01:54 PM

50w Balanced Daylight bulb 5400k - Micansu.co.uk

I got send this link, I assume this bulb would be ok? There is a 105 watt version but its double the price??

Thanks again.

Perrone Ford · February 15th, 2010, 02:05 PM

That bulb looks fine.

Paul R Johnson · February 15th, 2010, 02:34 PM

The thing to remember is that these damn things are DIM!!! The 50W is supposed to equate to 200W, but in reality, they're more similar to 150W tungsten lamps. I've been a professional lighting designer for years, and we've been very happy using tungsten lamps in the 650/800/1k/1.2K/2K and 2.5K ratings in all sorts of different fixtures. Redhead and Blonde kits work brilliantly, but are of course mega hot beasts! I quite like 1.2K tubular softlights for the lovely beam quality. I realise camera sensitivity has gone up, but not really that much at sensible aperture settings. All these new energy saving lamps have really low consumption, but emit very little light. I've nothing against fluorescent tubes, but you do need a bunch of them to get sensible quantities of light out of them. I just don't see the point of trying to use domestic style lamps for video, when if you have a window in the room, the sun, 93,000,000 miles away wipes out the feeble light from these things.

The light they emit is horrible, they're dim and have pretty poor dispersion. Most of the light from the coiled versions doesn't come from the front, so most of the output has to be bounced off a reflector - and this if it isn't a mirror surface also reduces the output further.

I realise from the posts, that many people love them - what I can't really see is why?

Andrew Carter · February 16th, 2010, 12:09 PM

I realise from the posts, that many people love them - what I can't really see is why?

I've never used them before, and since ive lost interest in my redhead kit (due to being too damn hot) I need something cooler.
Many people say the bulbs work ok for video work, so i'm willing to take a risk and give it a go.

Perrone Ford · February 16th, 2010, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

The light they emit is horrible, they're dim and have pretty poor dispersion. Most of the light from the coiled versions doesn't come from the front, so most of the output has to be bounced off a reflector - and this if it isn't a mirror surface also reduces the output further.

I realise from the posts, that many people love them - what I can't really see is why?

We like them because we use them as intended. Inside a softbox with reflective coating. They are inexpensive, readily available, color balanced, and are cool, so they don't cook the talent, allowing us to get gorgeous soft lighting closer to them for the look we want.

If I could afford a slew of Kino's I'd get that instead. But I can't. So these work quite well as substitutes.

February 8th, 2010, 11:47 AM	#1
Andrew Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 116	flourescent bulbs and lighting kits Bulbs I've noticed two types of large spiral flourescent bulbs for sale in my local hardware shop. One is rated at 2700 and the other at 6500k, what would be the better to go for? Do i need a bayonet fitting or screw in type? Lowel \| Rifa eXchange Fluorescent 3- Lamp Module \| FLO-X3 \| B&H The above link was added by perrone, on the other forum thread. Has anyone got pictures how these attach into the rifa lights? I've noticed a cheap light kit -solution is from china, they sell a two light flourescent kit. Has anyone made a kit/or sourced something cheaper? Ideally, i'd like to build something mainly due to my budget. I've a couple of interviews coming up in april, so i'd like something sorted for then if possible. I know i should buy a kit, but i cant jusifiy it it a the moment. Any advice welcomed.

February 8th, 2010, 11:50 AM	#2
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	The lighting color standards come from film (real film). 3500k is tungsten balance 5600k is daylight balance 2700 and 6500 match nothing. And if used on a shoot with cinema lighting, both would have to be gelled to match the standard movie lights. The FLO head attaches to the Rifa by a simple quarter-twist bayonet connection. It has three pins and it's a keyed fitting... meaning it only fits one way. When you look at it, the usage becomes obvious. __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

February 8th, 2010, 12:44 PM	#3
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	Interestingly, in tweaking the WB numbers on my cam, I noticed that the daylight in our back yard (Seattle, crappy, gray almost all the time) is really closer to 6500K. Setting the cam at 5600K resulted in a picture that was noticeably blue. Obviously this changes during the day and with various weather conditions. Also, Sony's Daylight WB Preset is 6500K. "Indoor" (tungsten) is 3200K. When I learned how to shoot many years ago with 16mm film, "Daylight" was 7200K. Must be Global Warming. __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

February 13th, 2010, 11:37 AM	#10
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	I've been able to find 5000, 5100, and 5600 on the web, but they are expensive and I'm not sure where they ship. Our local hardware stores have 5000 as well as 6500 in CF format. But I assume US bulbs wouldn't work in Europe due to the differing voltages... This is the best deal I've found on very high wattage CFs... http://www.skaeser.com/servlet/the-6...TT-HIGH/Detail __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

February 15th, 2010, 02:05 PM	#12
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	That bulb looks fine. __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

February 8th, 2010, 01:03 PM	#4
Andrew Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 116	3500k is tungsten balance 5600k is daylight balance I feel stupid for forgetting that information, thanks for the reminder Mr P Ford. I need to start reading/and doing filming work to keep this information fresh. I'll only be doing interviews/two person talking heads. As ive a small webseries script i want to film. I think i'll start working with my redhead kit again and i'll save up for a compact flo kit. I was reading this other thread.... http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photon-m...ing-units.html It did inspire me, to make something.

February 8th, 2010, 02:00 PM	#5
Tom Dickerson Regular Crew Join Date: May 2009 Location: Mesa, Arizona Posts: 86	N:Vision makes a 3200K 125w (eq.) that can be purchased at Home Depot, I believe.

February 10th, 2010, 11:06 AM	#7
Andrew Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 116	n:vision 23 Watt (90W) Par 38 Soft White, 4 Pack (E)* - 5P8234 at The Home Depot Is this the bulbs you are refering to? If so, i'll try and source them in the UK.

February 13th, 2010, 09:47 AM	#9
Andrew Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 116	Thanks for all the help guys, but i'm going to have to go with flourcent tubes rather than the flo compact bulbs. I can find the tubes in 3200k 36 watt and 5500k but i cant find flo compact bulbs in anything except 2700k and 6500k. I'm in england btw. Thanks.

February 15th, 2010, 01:54 PM	#11
Andrew Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 116	50w Balanced Daylight bulb 5400k - Micansu.co.uk I got send this link, I assume this bulb would be ok? There is a 105 watt version but its double the price?? Thanks again.

February 15th, 2010, 02:34 PM	#13
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,015	The thing to remember is that these damn things are DIM!!! The 50W is supposed to equate to 200W, but in reality, they're more similar to 150W tungsten lamps. I've been a professional lighting designer for years, and we've been very happy using tungsten lamps in the 650/800/1k/1.2K/2K and 2.5K ratings in all sorts of different fixtures. Redhead and Blonde kits work brilliantly, but are of course mega hot beasts! I quite like 1.2K tubular softlights for the lovely beam quality. I realise camera sensitivity has gone up, but not really that much at sensible aperture settings. All these new energy saving lamps have really low consumption, but emit very little light. I've nothing against fluorescent tubes, but you do need a bunch of them to get sensible quantities of light out of them. I just don't see the point of trying to use domestic style lamps for video, when if you have a window in the room, the sun, 93,000,000 miles away wipes out the feeble light from these things. The light they emit is horrible, they're dim and have pretty poor dispersion. Most of the light from the coiled versions doesn't come from the front, so most of the output has to be bounced off a reflector - and this if it isn't a mirror surface also reduces the output further. I realise from the posts, that many people love them - what I can't really see is why?

February 16th, 2010, 12:09 PM	#14
Andrew Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 116	I realise from the posts, that many people love them - what I can't really see is why? I've never used them before, and since ive lost interest in my redhead kit (due to being too damn hot) I need something cooler. Many people say the bulbs work ok for video work, so i'm willing to take a risk and give it a go.