Digital Video - April 2008 - (Page 45) here in the magazine, I used a digital still camera rather than a video camera. All of the same principles apply, of course. For the first part of the test, I did not auto white balance on the scene, rather I set the camera to its preset “tungsten” or “daylight” settings. Aside from changing the bulbs out and changing the camera’s color setting (indicated on the slate in the upper left hand corner), nothing else was different between the shots here. All were shot with an ISO of 800, a shutter speed of 1⁄30 and an aperture of f4. All of the color is slightly off as none of the bulbs, even at optimum output, actually render pure “tungsten” or “daylight” temperatures. You’ll notice, however, the lower the CRI, the more sickly and greenish the hues, no matter how far off the general color temperature is. In the second part of the test, I utilized the camera’s auto white balance function and re-shot all of the tubes. Even with white balance compensation, you can still see a considerable difference in overall quality of the color representation of the tubes. I then brought the images into Photoshop and compared the color renderings using the eyedropper tool and the “info” window to tell me the RGB levels of the neutral gray in the photos. I measured the same spot on each photo and, surprisingly, two of the tubes rendered a near perfect neutral gray, Daylight Deluxe and Natural Daylight. Although, personally, I like the skin tone rendered by the Cool White Plus tubes, which is slightly warmer R142, G139, B132. All of the tubes have their uses, for sure. One of the questions that came up during the DV Expo seminar was “How do you deal with a location lit with all fluorescents when you can’t change them out?” My answer? “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” One solution is to keep the fluorescents and then light with identical fluorescents from the floor to model and refine the look. That way you maintain one constant color temperature and color bias, which is much easier to correct later on. This is all not to say that you can easily replace a professional fixture like a Kino Flo. Kinos offer many attributes that you cannot easily replicate on your own, starting with a high-frequency ballast that eliminates flicker problems at any standard shooting speed, dimmable ballasts, the control and robustness of the fixtures, the over-driving aspect that allows a lot more punch out of their tubes (in addition to the higher wattage tubes), the well-designed reflectors and accessories — these are not things you can easily replicate. But, in a pinch, you can create your own poor-man’s fluorescent fixture that will get you through a shoot or two. You don’t have to be afraid to work with fluorescent lighting. The right fixture creates a soft, natural source that doesn’t add a lot of heat to your environment (for kids, animals and food, this is a must). Sometimes the ugliness of standard fluorescent tubes can be beautiful in its own right. DV http://www.lcdracks.com
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