standard florescent flicker

[ben nelson]

i am shooting a short piece in 16mm and to save money i was planning om just using some standard florescents from the store(i.e.-lowes).

 

kinos have ballasts; is that to prevent (or maybe to regulate) flicker? is there a way to find out what the flicker rate is on a standard flo bulb? is this even an issue? if so, how do i compensate?

 

thnks

[John Pytlak RIP]

Any AC discharge lamp (fluorescents, mercury vapor, sodium vapor, HMI, etc.) will flicker at the line frequency when used with a simple inductive ballast. There's a good discussion in the American Cinematographer Manual, including a discussion of frame rate and shutter angle "windows".

 

Here's a discussion on the CML:

 

http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%20GB/FLORRIES.HTM

 

http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%20GB/F...escentLamps.htm