I thought 5600k was daylight color temperature?!

Daylight in motion picture film world is 5600/5500 degrees kelvin. We (film industry peoples) made it the standard because some guy in some point in history determined that is what the average daylight color temperature is... although that number is not accurate most of the time, the standardization is important as it allows all daylight lighting in film/tv to be close to 5600 so our lights match other lights and daylight balanced film stock... and viceversa.

But in the real world, the light outside can vary tremendously based on weather, time of day, geological location, etc. That is why whomever came up with the daylight standardization may not match what actual daylight is in other parts of the world or in different weather.

Daylight can vary by thousands of degrees kelvin. Thus, lighting manufacturers who manufacture or incorporate non-tv/film bulbs into their products which are not specifically made for tv/film can pick whichever color temperature in the appropriate daylight spectrum they determine as daylight... in this case the bulb manufacturer thought 5000k would be a better fit in homes and etc.


...the light(s) you have linked to above have the lighting fixture/head and accessories designed for film/tv use (although not professional) but they utilize standard non-tv/film manufactured compact florescents bulbs, like the ones you buy at home depot and replace over the kitchen sink. I'd go a step further and say that those bulbs will also not be completely treated to have a balanced green/magenta hue, thus you will most likely have an off spike of color in that realm as well.

So that is why. They made a cheap light housing that uses cheap household bulbs, which are made by manufacturers who deemed daylight as something just a bit off what standardized motion picture lights and cameras deem as daylight.
 
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5500 is typical daylight...the longest part of the day where it stays the same. but daylight ranges from 2000-3000 at sunrise through to 6500-7000 for an overcast day.

So to make everything match they set film stock to 5600k as a standard and made professional lights at that standard. Obviously shooting digitally you can judge the variations and set / tweak your white balance accordingly.
 
When shooting with HMI's etc I always have a selection of 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2 CTB and CTO handy to fine tune to the actual conditions.
 
phudsontx said:
When shooting with HMI's etc I always have a selection of 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2 CTB and CTO handy to fine tune to the actual conditions.
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Hahaha, not to mention HMI's are notoriously almost always off of their 5600/5500k mark anyhow. So even on a closed set in a studio, you need those gels to match them (multiple HMI's) to each other. Tough cookies.
 
Thanks. What are HMI's?

Also, the reason I like those particular lights is because they have 5 separate switches for each light bulb, so I can go from say 200 watts output (1 bulb turned on) all the way up to 1000 watts output (all 5 bulbs turned on) in 5 increments. Anyone know of any similar 1000 watt soft box lights with the same 5 separate switches setup? Thanks.
 
Filmkid2003 said:
Thanks. What are HMI's?

Also, the reason I like those particular lights is because they have 5 separate switches for each light bulb, so I can go from say 200 watts output (1 bulb turned on) all the way up to 1000 watts output (all 5 bulbs turned on) in 5 increments. Anyone know of any similar 1000 watt soft box lights with the same 5 separate switches setup? Thanks.
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1) http://lmgtfy.com/?q=HMI+lighting (hahaha sorry!)

2) That can certainly be an advantage. There are lights in the industry which do that... such as kino's, molefay lights, maxibrutes, some soft zips, 5600k (inc) 'multibug', etc. Usually this is not only convenient for output, but since these are (mainly) larger tungsten units (kino and bug exception), it helps keep power distro under household 20amps. Thus someone without a genny can just put half of a 4k soft light on one circuit while the other half on another. Otherwise, not many lighting units do have multiple bulbs which can be turned off. Usually scrims, ND gels, moving a light back/forward, or flood/spotting (among other options) can be used to control intensity.

I usually use a single source softbox and use scrims to take it down. To compare:

Every one light of the five theoretically makes up 20% of your possible total lighting. Thus you can change the light from 100% intensity to 80%, 60%, 40%, 20% and none. Using scrims, I can take a softbox down from 100% to 75%, 50%, 37.5%, 25%, 18.75%. (75%= single scrim, 50%= double scrim, 37.5% = single + double scrim, 25% = double + double scrim, 18.75%= (2) doubles + single scrim (don't recommend all those scrims)) (ps these numbers are theoretical because when more then one scrim is used at once there are discrepensies in their operation)

I do see certain advantages to that softbox you linked to... You'll simply have to Whitebalance the camera to it, as it's not 5600/5500k and make sure your other units match. Also test for a green/magenta spike. You never know with these lights.

(pps I hope i did that math right ^^^)
 
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