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DIY Fluorescent Lighting Options

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DIY

Has anyone had experience or could give me recommendations on a DIY fluorescent lighting rig? I like the fact that the tubes don't get very hot so I can get them very close to my subject.

I found tubes with a 5000K temp and CRI of 92 at Home Depot. Thinking I could buy an electronic ballast to reduce flicker and noise.

One additional issue is I plan to shoot blue colored electroluminescent tape in the same scene so I don't want to wash it out.

(Looked at CFLs and found some on Amazon.com with a CRI of 91 but there's the humming noise issue.)

For the best lighting can I stick with just tubes or add a mix in? Thanks again all!
 
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I moved to the fluorescent world, then back to tungsten as even the pro Fluos I've used seem to taint the color with that ass tastic green spike that makes everything look slightly urine covered.
 
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DIY flos will do the barebone job of the pro flos. The skin tones will never be close to tungsten,but you can do an easy test with just one bulb and see if you like it/can time the green/magenta in post or with a gell.

Don't expect big throw from them,don't cover them with gell too tight or they will do a weird color cast and it should be fine
 
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You can build your own Flo rig by buying the ends (<$3 fit both the 1 inch (T8) and 1.5 inch (T12) tubes), a ballast (~$16, some handle 2 or 4 tubes, specify T8 or T12) and wire it up. That's really it. With multiple ballast you can hook up multiple switches.

That said, I found out it was simply cheaper to buy multiple shop lights (less than $12 each) at Lowes, saves me the wiring and ballast work. I just have to build a rig to mount it now.

The type of flo tube you use will make a huge difference, I spent HOURS finding a CRI 92 ($4 each). I tested 1 tube and I thought it looked pretty good. Probably wind up using 4 to be safe. There are CRI 98's online but much more $$$.

Bad news is even one tube will wash out EL tape. So much for that idea. :(
 
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DIY said:
That said, I found out it was simply cheaper to buy multiple shop lights (less than $12 each) at Lowes, saves me the wiring and ballast work. I just have to build a rig to mount it now. :(
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Same for me, my lights are named Toolbox (2x36), I just added the wire and changed to Osram tubes.
Then I placed that array on a rack with wheels. You might just want to fix the lights on a wooden panel or something like that.

They are very bright, its a good idea to give each unit an individual switch.
 
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Will Vincent said:
quality of ballast would make a big difference too. A lot of the cheap work lights have pretty crap ballasts
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I was worried about that too but it seems even my cheap $12 rig came with magnetic ballasts that I can't hear any hum and have also eliminated flicker. I would just stay away from older, used ones and buy a new one.
 
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I've been wondering about the viability of the new Cree LED bulbs (available at home depot) for DIY lighting rigs.

I just replaced all of the incandescent bulbs in my new place with these ( went from over 1000 watts to ~130 ). The 9.5 watt ones are listed as 60 watt equivalents, but side by side with some 75 watt bulbs I had here they are almost indistinguishable in terms of brightness and color.

They seem to be about 30-40% more efficient than CFLs, smaller and less fragile. They're also dimmable, instant on at full brightness, have a ten year warranty and claim a 20+ year lifespan. I'm not sure what the CRI is on the cheaper ones intended for home use, but they do have a line (designated 'TW') which claims a CRI of 93. The cheaper ones are on sale right now for $5 each but the high CRI line runs about $15 each.

So don't take it as a recommendation (unless you're looking to replace household bulbs) as I haven't actually tested them for video work - but more a possible avenue of exploration for an alternative to fluorescent.
 
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The cheap Cree LEDs are CRI 80 per Home Depot's website. But they do have a lot of errors so I would check the package.

Here's another crazy LED option I just started exploring:

Defiant Mini LED Work Light

I don't think I can build an LED for less than the $4.88 here. I tested it on the GoPro camera and very pretty surprised at the color. No listed lumens or CRI so further tests are needed. Pretty compact for insertion into certain parts of my sci-fi set.
 
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DIY said:
The cheap Cree LEDs are CRI 80 per Home Depot's website. But they do have a lot of errors so I would check the package.

Here's another crazy LED option I just started exploring:

Defiant Mini LED Work Light

I don't think I can build an LED for less than the $4.88 here. I tested it on the GoPro camera and very pretty surprised at the color. No listed lumens or CRI so further tests are needed. Pretty compact for insertion into certain parts of my sci-fi set.
Click to expand...

Am I missing in that link what the cct is ?
 
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