Quote:
Originally Posted by Will
Whats tungsten?  |
Incandescent lighting, ie light bulbs.
All continuous spectrum light sources produce light as a function of temperature, usually expressed in degrees Kelvin (ºK). "Normal" daylight has a color temperature of 5500ºK and "daylight film" is designed for that color temperature. The 2 flavors of tungsten film are 3400º (type A) and 3200º (type B). Photofloods are nominally designed for 3400ºK, but the actual color temperature varies with bulb life (which is short). Quartz lamps used in photo and video fixtures are designed to burn at 3200ºK. If you want to use hot lights, I'd suggest using quartz fixtures as the lamp life is considerably longer and the lamps produce a much more consistent color temperature over their life span. Most tungsten films are type B, balanced for 3200ºK light sources. Household light bulbs have a color temperature of about 2700ºK. The lower the color temperature, the warmer (redder) the light. Light sources with higher color temperatures are cooler, i.e. bluer.
I have a page up about color temperature, meters, and filters at:
DecaMired Filters - Basic Tools for Color Correction where I go into details about the how any why of filtering. Your digital camera (and video cameras) have different color temperature settings for various light sources. This filtering is done electronically.
Flourescent lights do not have a constant color temperature, but there are ways to get good color under those lamps, and all filters makers have filters for at least the most common flourescent lamps.