[Huy]

Good day Pentaxians:

I'm thinking of buying some fluorescent bulbs for my home studio setup. Please give me some advice.
Thank you,

PS: I have a 80X120 cm / 31.5" X 47.2" bowens mount softbox.

[jatrax]

Make sure you buy good quality color corrected ones. I ordered 5500K 'Daylight' ones so they match the color temp of the flash as close as possible. That also helps comparing prints or looking at a monitor.

[tuco]

Having an option of a constant light source is nice to have. But in general strobes are way better to have. But you need a system that has options because it's all about the light modifiers. And of course that all cost money.

[MJSfoto1956]

if you buy fluorescent bulbs, I recommend using only those that provide "98 CRI" color balance. Hard to find but worth it.

M

[Parallax]

There's also the issue of color casts with fluorescents when using shutter speeds over about 1/60th second.

[Huy]

Thank you all for your advice.
I ended up ordering this light mount bracket:
http://www.amazon.com/NEEWER%C2%AE-Five-Hold-Tricolor-Studio-Bracket/dp/B00H...P20VG96DYFVWRS

and a six-pack fluorescent bulbs:
Amazon.com: StudioPRO Professional Quality 45 Watt CFL Energy Saving Photo Fluorescent Spiral Daylight Light Bulbs 5500K Color Temperature 4 Pack: Office Products
although the CRI does not come close to 98

[Hattifnatt]

Just make sure it's powerful enough. Test it before you buy to check that out. I was thinking continuous light would be great but it proved to be too weak, not to mention it's a nightmare to carry around. Or at least way less portable than a flash. I see no advantage of continuous light over flash, except for the fact that you can actually see the light that you'll be shooting into. But... good studio flashes have modeling lights, so...

[Huy]

not to mention it's a nightmare to carry around.

It's a nightmare to assemble/disassemble my soft box too. So I'm planning to use those bulbs with it at home for good

[bmw]

There's also the issue of color casts with fluorescents when using shutter speeds over about 1/60th second.

CFLs don't flicker at 60Hz -- they run at a much higher frequency. As for colour cast: you shoot a grey card or a colorchecker card and set the WB in post editing. No colour cast worries.

---------- Post added 11-20-14 at 08:27 PM ----------

Just make sure it's powerful enough.

You have to be prepared to up your ISO setting and/or use wider apertures than typical with flash.

---------- Post added 11-20-14 at 08:28 PM ----------

it's a nightmare to carry around. Or at least way less portable than a flash.

Oh yeah; they are very fragile and will break easily. Pretty much studio-only I'd say.

---------- Post added 11-20-14 at 08:32 PM ----------

I see no advantage of continuous light over flash

CFLs are a pretty economical solution, especially compared to studio strobes, and are great for video work too if you need that. To make the most sense though you need to find inexpensive modifiers too. They work well in umbrella style modifiers, like the Westcott Apollos and the many cheap eBay umbrella softboxes.

[Huy]

Thank you bmw for your clear explanation.