5600K and 5500K lights creating a white balance disaster

Natan Pakman · September 3rd, 2012, 03:20 PM

Our current setup for key and fill lights is as follows:

On talent 1,the key light is a Coollights 655 fluorescent soft light, with tubes supposedly at 5600K. For a fill, we have the following Interfit light:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/569816-REG/Interfit_INT216_Super_Cool_lite_9_Fluorescent.html
Written on the CFLs is text that says they are between 5000-5500K!!!

On talent 2, the key is the following flo tube light:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/813313-REG/Savage_FL_554_Daylight_Fluorescent_Light.htmlThe tubes say they are 5400K.
For a fill, we have another of the interfit lights.

So, there is an eclectic (and in this context this is clearly not good) mix of lighting, and my question is: If I change the tubes on the two Key lights to 5500K True Match Kino Flo tubes, and the CFLs on the Interfit lights to 5500K True Match Kino-Flo CFLs, which will be on the market fairly soon, should I expect to have 4 full-spectrum lights of equal color temperature, or is it to be expected that I may still have color issues resulting from differences between the lights?

Also, is the light given off by any of these fixtures exclusively dependent on the quality of the bulbs, or will, for example, True Match Kino Flo lamps look different in different fixtures?

Daniel Epstein · September 3rd, 2012, 08:35 PM

Matching the brand of the bulbs will help. Most fixtures are close to neutral as far as color temperature unless they are designed to be a specific color. Some reflectors in the lights may be biased warm or cold but using the same bulb sets is a good start.

Natan Pakman · September 6th, 2012, 11:52 AM

Let's hope so. What I'm looking for is not only the matching of the color temp among the lamps from the four lights in question, but also a truly (or close to it) "full-spectrum" light that won't have a green spike, which the Kino Flos are supposed to be.

Michael Kraus · September 7th, 2012, 08:37 AM

There really shouldn't be that much difference between 5600K and 5500K. The difference between 3200K and 3300K is far greater for example.

It looks to me like your lighting differences have more to do with the colors in the rooms. The picture on the right has a pretty heavy greenish tint from those blinds behind the subject. Any time light is cast on something it can be partially reflected in that color. Are you bouncing any light off of those blinds?

Also if there are any florescent lights around then they could be adding to the green tint.

September 3rd, 2012, 03:20 PM	#16
Natan Pakman Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 196	Changing the bulbs to True Match Kino-Flos Our current setup for key and fill lights is as follows: On talent 1,the key light is a Coollights 655 fluorescent soft light, with tubes supposedly at 5600K. For a fill, we have the following Interfit light: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/569816-REG/Interfit_INT216_Super_Cool_lite_9_Fluorescent.html Written on the CFLs is text that says they are between 5000-5500K!!! On talent 2, the key is the following flo tube light: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/813313-REG/Savage_FL_554_Daylight_Fluorescent_Light.htmlThe tubes say they are 5400K. For a fill, we have another of the interfit lights. So, there is an eclectic (and in this context this is clearly not good) mix of lighting, and my question is: If I change the tubes on the two Key lights to 5500K True Match Kino Flo tubes, and the CFLs on the Interfit lights to 5500K True Match Kino-Flo CFLs, which will be on the market fairly soon, should I expect to have 4 full-spectrum lights of equal color temperature, or is it to be expected that I may still have color issues resulting from differences between the lights? Also, is the light given off by any of these fixtures exclusively dependent on the quality of the bulbs, or will, for example, True Match Kino Flo lamps look different in different fixtures?

September 3rd, 2012, 08:35 PM	#17
Daniel Epstein Trustee Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,267	Re: 5600K and 5500K lights creating a white balance disaster Matching the brand of the bulbs will help. Most fixtures are close to neutral as far as color temperature unless they are designed to be a specific color. Some reflectors in the lights may be biased warm or cold but using the same bulb sets is a good start.

September 6th, 2012, 11:52 AM	#18
Natan Pakman Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 196	Re: 5600K and 5500K lights creating a white balance disaster Let's hope so. What I'm looking for is not only the matching of the color temp among the lamps from the four lights in question, but also a truly (or close to it) "full-spectrum" light that won't have a green spike, which the Kino Flos are supposed to be.

September 7th, 2012, 08:37 AM	#19
Michael Kraus Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Denton, TX Posts: 232	Re: 5600K and 5500K lights creating a white balance disaster There really shouldn't be that much difference between 5600K and 5500K. The difference between 3200K and 3300K is far greater for example. It looks to me like your lighting differences have more to do with the colors in the rooms. The picture on the right has a pretty heavy greenish tint from those blinds behind the subject. Any time light is cast on something it can be partially reflected in that color. Are you bouncing any light off of those blinds? Also if there are any florescent lights around then they could be adding to the green tint.