Digital BW, The Print

I use and recommend Philips TL90 F17T8/TL950 florescent bulbs.  They 
are 24 inch long and fit nicely into any inexpensive florescent 
fixture you can buy at Home Depot for $15 or so.  They are rated 
5000K and are designed for graphics viewing.  Great for home office 
use.  They are also available in longer sizes if you want to light 
your entire office.

I measured them with my Eye One and mine have a color temperature of 
4854K, with a CRI (Color Rendering Index) of 96.  Anything above 90 
is excellent.  CRI looks at the spectral energy in small segments and 
compares them to the D50 standard.  They are relatively inexpensive 
and do a great job.


I have lost the information on where I bought them online, but I 
think it was www.getbulbs.com.  When I checked their site, it was 
either temporarily offline or defunct.   An internet search ought to 
locate them.

Another source for good viewing lights is www.Solux.com, but their 
lights are more expensive.  They sell bayonet mount bulbs that are 
very highly rated for critical color work.

Lou

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Seth" 
<seth@m...> wrote:
> Yep, I still prefer daylight (IF it's shining around here).  Common 
daylight
> flourescents are iffy, but probably more in line with what people 
have.
> I have CR91 Daylight tubes in the darkroom, but didn't suggest 
those since
> they ared pricey.
> 
> A great combo I found was a four-bulb fixture alternating warm 
flourescent
> and CR91's.  The "warm bulbs actually look orangey like tungsten.
> It gives a good mix to simulate home/office.  THE best is if I know 
where
> they will view it so I can use some sliders and make adjustments.
> 
> I have, on rare occasion, made some color prints with slightly 
different
> tones, then asked the person what kind of light they would be 
putting the
> print in, but that gets pricey also.
> 
> Seth
> 
> 
> ==-----Original Message-----
> ==From: Djon [mailto:westsidemaurice@y...] 
> ==
> == 
> ==I use an Ott light to partially simulate daylight, but mine's 
> ==clearly a very partial, chopped spectrum. Shoot some color 
> ==swatches with Ektachrome to see what I mean. Mine's 
> ==significantly inferior to the common "daylight" fluorescent 
> ==tubes that I use in lightboxes.
> ==
> ==Ott plus tungsten seems to me to be a good mix for print 
> ==evaluation...it's not daylight, but most display situations 
> ==aren't either. I find this mix works well for matching matte 
> ==prints to my monitor.
> ==
> ==
> ==> 
> ==> I check white in pure sunlight or an Ott light. Flourescent has 
that
> ==green
> ==> cavity and incandescent will warm the appearance of the paper.
> ==> 
> ==> Not a great test, but take it to a paint department that 
> ==has different 
> ==> lights for looking at their paint chips.
> ==> 
> ==> Seth
> ==>