Dyrseve989
Well-known member
hey, I have been looking up color temp meters, and have seen that they are very, very, VERY expensive. Does anyone know where to find a meter that isnt 1grand?
-matt-
-matt-
color temp meters
- Thread starter Dyrseve989
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blazingoat
Carbonite Member
i am interested in this as well. anyone?
Dyrseve989
Well-known member
Why the hell are these things so expensive!!!
Rasquachemedia
Well-known member
I'd rather buy Nikon D70 or deck or monitor or anything else for those prices
Dyrseve989
Well-known member
my point exactly, thats why I thought there were some rare under $300 meters in existence, but I guess not.....
Barry_Green
Moderator
No, it's that they really are that expensive. And they need to be maintained and recalibrated frequently.
Don't think I've ever seen anyone use one on a video set. If you really want to analyze color temperature on the cheap, get DV Rack and use its vectorscope...
Don't think I've ever seen anyone use one on a video set. If you really want to analyze color temperature on the cheap, get DV Rack and use its vectorscope...
The best priced color temp meter is from Minolta, they are mainly used for large format (still) work such as food, advertising or product work where final color must be exact.
You need to know a lot about color and filters to use a color temp meter, and have a number of filters available. I never use my color temp meter for video or digital work. There is some use of color temp meters on major film productions, but even there, it is not always used.
You need to know a lot about color and filters to use a color temp meter, and have a number of filters available. I never use my color temp meter for video or digital work. There is some use of color temp meters on major film productions, but even there, it is not always used.
khmuse
Tech Guru
I have thought about a color temperature meter a number of times, but the costs have always made me rethink the purchase. One thing that I have used a number of times to check setups with a lot of lights is my ever present spot meter and a color chip chart. I just meter off a few squares and compare them. If one of the light sources is off, even a little, it will show up as a large difference in spectral balance. You can't get a numeric conversion to color temperature but for relative comparisons, this method has worked for me.
KevinZanit
Active member
My gaffer has a color temperature meter, I don't. They are extremely expensive, so I would only suggest getting one if you actually regularly use it in your line of work.
We rarely ever take the meter out during a video shoot. There are exceptions, for instance on the feature I just shot (that I posted here about) my gaffer used the meter during the prep to check our HMIs and how far away they were from 5600. They were running around 6000, so we knew we needed to add 1/4 CTO to bring the light back to 5600 (and it was then labeled on the light).
During film shoots we use it a lot more. In video, you know what you are getting (on a proper monitor). Also, some cameras will tell you the color temperature when you white balance.
Kevin Zanit
We rarely ever take the meter out during a video shoot. There are exceptions, for instance on the feature I just shot (that I posted here about) my gaffer used the meter during the prep to check our HMIs and how far away they were from 5600. They were running around 6000, so we knew we needed to add 1/4 CTO to bring the light back to 5600 (and it was then labeled on the light).
During film shoots we use it a lot more. In video, you know what you are getting (on a proper monitor). Also, some cameras will tell you the color temperature when you white balance.
Kevin Zanit