The difference in Photofloods & Practicals?

J.R. Hudson

J.R. Hudson

Spirit Animal
I recently picked up some Photofloods (3 3200k and 1 5000k) and am already pleased with the amount and kind of light they put off.  I definately reccomend to anyone who hasn't already picked some up to do so (I'm talking to the ultra lo/no guys here!)

Are practicals different?

Since these photofloods pop into a standard household lamp, I was curious if these are what are used for practicals.

I'm not looking to neccasarily to light the scene(s) with the practicals, but more for ambience and highlights in the frame.

The Photofloods are daylight balanced and put off an arse load of light. Are lamps with dimmers needed for practical ambience?
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Well, a "practical" is typically a fixture that's already in the shot, not a lighting fixture separate from the shot. And while you can put photofloods in practical fixtures (such as Rodriguez in El Mariachi) it is of course not recommended, because those fixtures are rarely equipped to handle a 250w or 500w photoflood bulb. Most of those fixtures say to use only a 60w or 100w bulb.
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Rights, and typically "practical" refers to those 60 or 100 watt houshold bulbs which are a warmer color temperature than photoflloods (around 2800K) and even warmer if you dim them, which happens often if they appear in the shot.
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Tks F58.

My aim is to use them, but not as the lighting source "behind the scenes"
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

When I shoot on location I usually raid the fridge for the 40w bulb to put into "practical" lights. Even then I have to dim them down to keep the shades or spill from blowing out and giving away the fact that the 24p is from a CCD and not Kodak...

-J
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

John,

Where'd you get your 5000K photo flood? I think my blue photofloods say 3200K on them. I just spent 10 minutes looking for them to verify this but can't find a bunch of stuff (we recently moved).
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

It was not a Franchise location.  It was a mom and pop Camera Supply & Repair shop in Carlsbad (North County San Diego)  :-/

The 5000k is ridiculous bright.  It looks like sunlight.  Really.  I shot a small test with it in a normal lamp and the aimed it into a dark room and it is nice.

They are not CLEAR or FROSTED, but covered with a BLUE (CTB I imagine?) to mimic daylight (Like little HMI offspring!).
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

500 watt or 250?
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

115 to 120

General Electric Photoflood

Reads on top of bulb: EBW NO B2

(See edit above as well)
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Hey, have you noticed commercials in recent years that depict kitchens. They look very brightly lit from daylight. The average viewers, I'm sure, think nothing of this. But we are not average viewers (you decide if we're below average or above average), and we know they are lighing those scenes fairly extensively with some daylight matching lights. 5600 fluorescents? Daylight balanced tungsten? I'd like to know. It's a very common trend in network TV commercials (e.g., the kid who sprays his mom with soft drink, also Swifter commercials, the list could go on).

There's a Sprint PCS commercial on right now where that spokesman guy is talking to a family about their cell plan. It looks like the entire living room is lit by ourdoor daylight streaming in the windows. My family thinks I'm a nut as I point out that this is an illusion and I watch carefully to see if I can identify the key, fill, backlight etc.

Let's take a vote Jarred, how many on this sight have family members who think we're nuts when we watch TV and spend more time on the mechanics of how the scene was shot than we do the content of what we're watching (please don't tell me I'm the only one).
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

[quote author=John Hudson link=board=lighting;num=1078080402;start=0#8 date=03/08/04 at 19:54:51]115 to 120

General Electric Photoflood

Reads on top of bulb: EBW NO  B2

(See edit above as well)[/quote]

Thanks John, I'll look for those.
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

By the way, my comments about the commercials above are of important significance to me. I have plans for shooting numerous daytime indoor vignettes, and I'm looking for help to create that very look.

Hey Barry, any suggestions? (inexpensive approaches preferred)
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

:D

My wife is tired of me watching t.v., commericals, videos or films and saying "Hey! Look how washed out those wondows are!" or "You can see where the fill light didn't quite fill the key!" or "Niiiiiice eyelight!"

Yes. She thinks Im nuts for evaluating scenes. :D
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

I rarely say anything to my wife like that (I value our great relationship too much). Now I antagonize my teenage sons with such observations. For some reason, they don't get too excited. Gee, they seem happy to take money to operate a camera when I video tape weddings-you don't think they're only doing video for the money, do you?
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

One thing to watch for on the Photoflood bulbs is their rapidly changing color temperature.

This is particularly true for the 5600K Photoflood bulbs whose accurate color balance can be measured in a few hours.

I did a shoot years ago where I thought daylight balanced Photoflood bulbs were my answer.

After something like 2 or 3 hours the bluish light from the Photofloods slowly turned 'white' as the coating on the glass is damaged by the intense heat these Photofloods produce.

I guess there is a reason they are called 'Photofloods' and not 'Filmfloods' or 'Videofloods' as they are only good for a few hours.

The tungsten balanced bulbs drop in color temperature as they age as well - just not as noticeably. I think they stabilize somewhere around 2800K or 2900K for the rest of their short lives.

Bottom Line: If you can't afford HMIs, then put CTB gel in front of your tungsten fixtures it will be more consistent than a daylight Photoflood.
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Given that kind of 'shelf life' you gotta turn them off whenever not in use.
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Yes, and according to the guy at the photo store, wait until they've cooled down a bit before turning them back on again.
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Yes, I too have heard this!
 
Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Re: The difference in Photofloods & Practicals

Terry,

Thanks for the information about the declining quality of photofloods. I never knew this.

I've been investigating daylight temperature fluorencents on the web, which can be left on for a long time (unlike photofloods), aren't so darn hot, and don't draw much electricity (I don't have that much consistent work for that to be an issue at the moment).
 
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