I just got a reply from Kino Flo regarding their CFL lamps for use in practicals. These were announced about 7 months ago. Apparently we have to wait....


"Thank you for the email. The 27W CFL's will be availble for sale in June. Daylight and Tugnsten, but only for the 230vac market; the products for the 120vac market will be available in September."

Didn't know Kino Flo was going to do that.

I've been using CFL bulbs from BlueMax (http://www.bluemaxlighting.com/compact_fluorescent_39_ctg.htm) for practicals. They are really pretty good. They are at least 5600K, with a nice high CRI of 91+ (some as high as 94 IIRC). If I remember from my research, I think these are six phosphor bulbs. I've got 'em all over my house now -- they make reading considerably easier, and colors look a lot more "real" with these bulbs on. The only downside is these bulbs do take a few minutes to come up to full power.

Other interesting blubs come from Alzo. (http://alzodigital.com/online_store/light_bulbs_compact_fluorescent_hid.htm) Alzo says they make an effort to match theirs directly to the Kino Flo branded 55W biax blubs.

I'm just sayin' you can wait for Kino Flo if you want, but you don't have to.

Thanks Bruce. I have tried the Alzos. I have to say that the Alzo CFLs are not 5600. They lamps actually have 6600K printed on the base so its a bit of some false advertising on their part. I measured them at a bit higher than that, only in the Sekonic digital mode (see my other thread on Color Meter Weirdness).

Thanks Bruce. I have tried the Alzos. I have to say that the Alzo CFLs are not 5600. They lamps actually have 6600K printed on the base so its a bit of some false advertising on their part.

That's disappointing. But one of the reasons I went with BlueMax instead of Alzo route was the Alzo website. It didn't instill a lot of trust in me. Just sayin'.

You might also try Westcott. They have a 30W CFL (http://www.fjwestcott.com/products/product.cfm?itemnum=4220&tbl=products&head=lamps) that's aimed directly at photography / video. I could only find it in five packs though, and it's quite expensive too. So I haven't tried Westcott yet.

But if Kino Flo will make a range of CFLs for use in practicals, they will surely sell. There's some real demand for this I think.