How to measure colour temperature

[Berk]

Hi
i want measure the color temperature of LED panels I bought in order to match our Kinos.
It looks like they over 5200K. I want to find right filter to take it down to daylight level.

Is there any east way to do it other renting expensive light meters?

thanks

 

[AndrewGentle]

This is probably not super accurate, but why not take a photo in RAW of a grey card (or a piece of white paper) under the lightsource and then use the eyedropper pick WB tool in Adobe Camera Raw to see what kind of reading you get off it?

Comparing it to the level you get for daylight would also be a good idea.

-Andrew

 

[Barry_Green]

A light meter won't tell you color temperature anyway. What you'd be using is known as, appropriately enough, a "color temperature meter".

 

[AndrewGentle]

...use the eyedropper pick WB tool in Adobe Camera Raw to see what kind of reading you get off it?

By the way, just to clarify, Camera Raw will give you a value in Kelvin for the white balance, I don't just mean you should inspect the pixel values.

 

[Alex Muller]

I don't know if measuring the color temperature from a RAW file is very accurate... because there is also color tint involved in determining the proper look of the colors ..

 

[Luis Caffesse]

I don't know if measuring the color temperature from a RAW file is very accurate... because there is also color tint involved in determining the proper look of the colors ..

I suspect that why Andrew suggesting taking a picture of a gray card.
It may not be completely accurate - but it would get you in the ballpark.

Alternatively - you could set your camera to 5600K and shoot a white card lit solely by the light you're trying to get a reading of (make sure you aren't clipping the exposure) - and then take that footage into whatever editing software you're using and check it out in your vectorscope.
That will at least give you an idea of how far off you are (and in what direction). Again, not an incredibly accurate test... but it will give you a sense of where it is.

 

[maplecap]

Hi
i want measure the color temperature of LED panels I bought in order to match our Kinos.

You should know that color temperature meters do not always read flos accurately. For example, the Minolta Color Meter IIIF reads the Kino 55 tubes fairly accurately, but not the 29 and 32 tubes. The Color Meter II and Gossen read the 29 and 32 tubes fairly accurately, but not the 55 tubes. No telling with other makes of tubes (unless the tube manufacturers have published comparative meter data like Kino does).

 

[Kess]

It may come down to simply shooting test shots. Use filters to see how close you get to matching your Kinos...then shoot test shots using both the Kinos and your LED panels together.