On Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:59:11 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

Here I am falling into the trap of the Wandering Thread, but...

It piqued my interest to see CFLs used in photo lighting. I hadn't
seen that before.

I'm surprised. All the paint color matching centers at stores have
been fluor for at least 20 years that I know of. I found that out
when I was doing typesetting and print work. (What the hell does that
Pantone #327 really _look_ like?)



While I am aware that CFLs are available in
"Daylight" and "Soft White", among other shades, I believe I have
noticed a difference between the light from those bulbs and their
Incandescent counterparts. So my first thought was, I wonder if there
are white balance presets for the CFL versions of those "colors" on
the latest cameras. And then I wondered if the various manufacturers'
offerings are at all standardized in this regard.

That's as likely as herding cats while pushing a rope. Just as all
mfgrs of lighting have their own definitions of "daylight", which
range from 5000k to 12000k, all camera makers have their proprietary
methods of achieving their own definition of white balance.


But the *overachiever* could set a custom white balance, no? That's my
main question, and I'm not so sure the answer is yes. It is my

I believe you misspelled "*anal*" there, Greg. If your camera has a
RAW setting, you can, indeed, set your own WB.


impression that the white balance sets individual gammas for the three
colors. But it does so assuming a reasonably smooth spectrum. CFLs, as
I barely remembered, have "spikes" in their spectra. They are not just
a different "color temperature", ( a shifted smooth curve) they have
well, this

http://web.ncf.ca/jim/misc/cfl/

And I wonder if setting a custom white balance can compensate, given
that the "bands" the white balance adjusts are much wider than the
anomalies in the spectrum.

If it's a Nikon, ask Nikon. Rinse, repeat. Saaay, is this Bill...?

Me? I'm happy with my D40 set on AUTO for now. silly grinne

--
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
-- Jimi Hendrix