Daylight Balanced Bulbs

[jd07]

Hey I have a question about the daylight balanced bulbs you buy in a local hardware store.

I'm shooting a project on the Red Camera and one scene takes place in a lower basement type setting that follows a character through one room with no windows to a room with a window so I will be mixing sources.

I want to hang just bare practical bulbs in the unlit hallway but I don't want to be set at a daylight balance in camera and get a really orange practical, now I want some warmth but nothing major.

I was thinking of getting some daylight balanced bulbs from home depot. Any idea what color temp they are? I read online they range from 4000-4500K, will that give me a bit of a warmth glow? (shooting at 5400K, at least for the metadata)

I've looked up photofloods but for the price of two I can get a package of 4 basic daylight bulbs for less.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

At a 5600K setting on the camera, the daylight compact flos will read a bit warmer with a hint of green, giving them a slight sickly yellow cast. How much green is in there, it depends on the bulb, the brand, etc. You'd have to test. Probably not too objectionable.

You could also use the more expensive blue-dipped tungsten photofloods, like the 250w photoflood (there may be a 100w as well, I know there is a 500w), from a photo supply store. They are also around 4800K, maybe 4600K, and read slightly warm at 5600K settings, but without any greenish tint.

Lowell sells some compact flos that are daylight balanced without much green in them at all -- they are used in their Rifa light. More expensive than what you'd get at the hardware store.

The thing about hardware store compact flo bulbs is that different brands have different amounts of green in them. I have a row of 3200K compact flos in my kitchen ceiling sockets and one burned out, so I bought a replacement at Home Depot... and it's visibly greener than the other bulbs I am using.