Stubborn Fluorescents

imageMan

New member
Hello Everyone!

So I’ve been challenged on getting the correct color spectrum while shooting under a specific set of fluorescent lights. I have not had this problem under other fluorescents, but this specific environment is driving me crazy.

Attached is an example of what I’m talking about. I cannot seem to get rid of the yellow/green/tan/puky color that these lights are giving off. I’ve tried white balance set to fluorescent, 1/60 shutter speed, flash etc.; always the same results.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Nikor 50m 2.8

Suggestions are welcome. And thanks for having me!
 

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480sparky

Senior Member
Not all fluorescent lamps are the same. There's a bazillion different types, each with their specific spectral output.

Without knowing the color temp of the lighting, it's going to be hard to nail down a solution.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Have you tried using a Grey Card with a test shot to find the correct white balance? Then set your camera to that specific temperature...

For a couple pennies more, you could use an x-rite colorchecker and create a specific camera profile for that situation
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Hello Everyone!

So I’ve been challenged on getting the correct color spectrum while shooting under a specific set of fluorescent lights. I have not had this problem under other fluorescents, but this specific environment is driving me crazy.

Attached is an example of what I’m talking about. I cannot seem to get rid of the yellow/green/tan/puky color that these lights are giving off. I’ve tried white balance set to fluorescent, 1/60 shutter speed, flash etc.; always the same results.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Nikor 50m 2.8

Suggestions are welcome. And thanks for having me!
I run into this problem a lot shooting in dance studios. The solution is to set a custom white balance: How to Set a Custom WB.

Video uses a D600 but it's the same on pretty much every Nikon body.
 

jonas_mendoza

Senior Member
I also tried over powering the light source all together. Set up the slaves at full power and compensate with shutter, aperture and exposure compensation like usual. Getting a handle shooting in raw and being efficient with post processing is also a must for difficult lighting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
... or correct in post, the lazy man's method.
I guess it all depends... I prefer to do as little color management as possible during post' because I find it tedious even if I have a neutral target-area to work from and flat out horrible when I don't. So for me taking thirty-seconds to set a custom white balance IS the "lazy man's method".
 
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imageMan

New member
I experimented doing a custom WB at home under flourescents and it worked great. I'll let you know how it goes at the actual shoot.
 
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