Matching China Balls to Tungsten Fresnels?

W

walked

Member
I have a number of china-balls right now that are running 43w CFLs from the hardware store - CRI and color temperature are unknown to me.

I'm about to pick up a tungsten fresnel or two in the coming days, and thus will be running a color temperature of 3200k on my main lights.

Problem is, I am willing to bet the CFLs I have now are in the 2700k - 3000k range (they are not daylight at least).

Are there any reasonably priced CFL bulbs that match 3200k with a decent CRI? When shooting video, how important is CRI (I'm still learning to be fair)?

Anyone have a suggestion for where to look for some fairly priced bulbs? Am I stuck paying top dollar to get 3200k matching and a decent CRI?

And finally, are there alternative bulbs that can match the 3200k tungsten in a china ball? What should I be searching for for those?

Thanks much.
 
Check out n:vision CFLs at Home Depot. They're cheap, come in various wattages and have decent CRIs. The bright white one is about 3500K.

The China ball 3200K mainstay is the tungsten photoflood. They're hot and don't last long but the light is beautiful and skin looks great. You can get different wattages. Be sure your socket is heavy enough for the wattage you select. Find photofloods at B&H or Filmtools.

CRI is subjectively determined and is subjective to the filmmaker as well, but I think counts for something. Most folks will say get a CRI of 90 or higher. I think down to 85 is okay. Much lower and you get more of what lamp designers are trying to overcome when they create high CRI sources: a discontinuous spectrum and energy spiking in narrow bands that might not produce the accurate colors or at least nice skintones that you're looking for.
 
slodon,

Thank you very much - quite helpful. I have a pair of the n:vision bulbs from home depot; didnt know the temperature though as the packaging is long gone. They seem to be doing alright.

The photofloods seem pretty cheap, even if the lifespan is short - if its cheap and looks good, I can deal.

Thank you muchly.
 
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