Interview 3 light kit color temp

Norman99

Norman99

Well-known member
Would there be any advantage to choosing either a 5600K kit or 3200K over the other ?. I know I can gel them if need be, but given the choice , which would the majority choose and why ?
 
May not be the answer you are looking for, but both.

I do a ton of sit down interviews, and by far my most used setup is key and fill with Diva style Biax fluorescent lights which can be tubed as either daylight or studio color balance depending on the need. Then I will select likely either a Bi-color LED or a tungsten Fresnel for the backlight.
 
You really need both, depending on the location you are shooting at, and the time of day you are shooting.

Do you have a budget you need to work with ?
 
Both. But majority ends up lit with 3200k sources and if there is daylight i let it go blue (as long as it doesn't affect the color tones of the speaking person).
 
So I imagine say, out of 100 who buys an interview 3 light kit, the majority would opt/desire 3200K over the 5600K ones. I just need to know what more buyers are interested in. I am designing a 3 led interview kit that is going to be one of these 3 designs:
1- 3 units of 3200K, 2 wide beam for fill/key and 1 narrow beam spot/hair light
2-Same as above but 5600K
3- Each unit selectable 3200K-4200K or 5600K

All units powered off of Sony L series or AC, 3 tripods, 2 umbrellas, 6 batteries, 3 chargers, all to fit in a carry-on, total weight less than 25 lbs.
Any suggestions welcome.
 
Not taking into account the light type, i prefer daylight over tungsten for interviews because of two main reasons:

- Less or no heat.
- Daylight gelled to match 3200K loses less output than Tungsten gelled to match 5600k.
 
eiker_ir said:
Daylight gelled to match 3200K loses less output than Tungsten gelled to match 5600k.
Click to expand...

...But you have to be careful as most lighting gels are NOT designed to work with LED light sources, so throwing a full CT Orange on a Daylight LED source may produce light that is NOT properly balanced for Tungsten.

LED light sources are getting better, but most are still weak in the red-orange light spectrum.
 
TheDingo said:
...But you have to be careful as most lighting gels are NOT designed to work with LED light sources, so throwing a full CT Orange on a Daylight LED source may produce light that is NOT properly balanced for Tungsten.

LED light sources are getting better, but most are still weak in the red-orange light spectrum.
Click to expand...


Correct, but i was thinking more of traditional fluorescent bulbs.
 
Good points. The leds I'll be using will be very bright and as few as possible within the enclosure. 4 power leds in each the main/fill units and 2 in the spot . I estimate at 3 ft the lux values will be in the vicinity of 3400 for each of the main/fill and 2600 for the spot. Should be more than enough lumens even when bounced from umbrellas. I think I'll start with the 3 color unit first.
 
Norman99 said:
Should be more than enough lumens even when bounced from umbrellas. I think I'll start with the 3 color unit first.
Click to expand...

In my little world I don't use umbrellas. I need more control than umbrellas offer for interviews. I generally use a soft key light and fill light with grid attached to control the spill of each light. When I do shoot with LED lights I generally use a frost gel to soften the light.
 
I shoot almost entirely with daylight sources nowadays. It is easier when dealing with mixed window light and practical fluorescents in the environments where I normally work, and my cameras seem to produce less noise when balanced for 5600K (lower gain on the noisy blue channel).

- Greg
 
If you go flo, you can bulb either way and they run cool. Problem is (and isn't really a problem for most interviews) is they lack reach and are inherently soft light. In warmer weather, the cool running flos will be appreciated by your victim. If there are windows, it is really nice to have the daylight option. A tungsten fresnel kit is more versatile since you can always make hard light soft, but they take more power, runs hot, and limits you to 3200 unless you gel and lose a ton of light.

It isn't a perfect solution, but I have at times added a daylight LED to my daylight flos for a little harder option. Like others have said....both. Unfortunately in this case, on size does not fit all.

Grant
 
With LED being dimmer, then it's likely the daylight will be brighter by comparison, so gelling 3200Ks will be even dimmer. Gelling daylight down may be better because the other 3200 sources won't be so bright as the sun!
 
Thanks all for the info. Eliminating gelling would mean going for the 3 color mode which makes things simpler.
The intended project is to pack in a carry-on ( 22 in.X 14in.X 7in.) versatile and practical, fast set-up/take-down, extremely rugged, battery operated, run time at full brightness with 6 L series batteries of 4 hours , 3 color switchable of 3200K-4200K-5600K. Leds will be picked to equal brightness at all color temperatures using the latest emitters available.
After reading feedback, I see that there is mixed opinions as to warm or cool preferences, so I will prototype the 3 color kit. It is DIY project and I have access to all the machinery necessary so it will eventually look factory built.
 
The operative word is 'Interview'. I have really changed my set up over the years after some wildly successful trials on a project called "Kentlands- The Movie". I can post clips in a day or so.
Here's what I do and why I do it this way:
Objective : light the subject for obvious separation between subject and background under various location settings
Methodology : Allowing daylight through windows to 'register' cold and the subject and closer object to read 'slightly warm', the logical color balance for lighting would be 'daylight' or ' daylight balanced background at 5,000K-6,000K and 4,300K-4,500K on the subject
So I do this by either starting with 4,300-4,500 lights or I calibrate my white balance to achieve that from my key and fill on the subject. I then balance my background light to target 5,000-6,000.
Because I use a wide range of light types, I have the luxury of using lights as they are or filtering them to taste.

One thing is for sure, I almost never use a main subject light that is higher than 4,500K
 
Great information. Quick question. Say there isn't any window light /daylight at all, would you still opt to make the background cooler than the close/foreground subject ?.
 
Daylight.

Lots of times when I'm shooting interviews there are windows in the room. Also I really like shooting interviews with a window in the shot. Currently my setup is comprised of
only 3200k balanced lights and it's a pain in the a**! I have lot's of gels for the windows but one gel is never enough and you can't put 2 gels one untop of the other. So getting
enough daylight balanced light is always a problem in this kind of situations. A 800W redhead becomes effectively a 400W redhead when you put a full CTB gel on it to bring it to 3200k.

I'm going to buy some daylight LEDs or HMIs. I think I'll probably get a 2kW HMI...
 
Greg Smith said:
...my cameras seem to produce less noise when balanced for 5600K (lower gain on the noisy blue channel).

- Greg
Click to expand...

Cameras balance by adding gain to the blue channel yes. But I think this was (if ever) an issue with older cameras. Never cameras are much cleaner.
 
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