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Tungsten / HMI's for best results when it comes to moonlight ?


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hello all, 

What do you think would yield the best colors and esthetics , a powerful tungsten "gelled" or using an HMI and control how much blue you need in the final image by means of gelling /color temperature and white balance adjustment ??? . Also if any what would be your recommended lights/setups to achieve this ? 

 

thank you 

 

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This is all really just opinion, but I think that, for instance, an unfiltered HMI on a tungsten-balanced camera is too blue. It's overpowering. Digital cameras render it rather differently to film ones, and it just ends up looking cyan. If you balance the camera to 4200K or use a half CTO filter on the light, which have similar effects, it ends up being a bit more subtle. Also, if you do balance the camera to an intermediate CT, tungsten lights read warm which is sometimes appropriate.

These days night is often depicted as slightly greenish, with colours like Lee's no. 728 Steel Green used, though similar results can be achieved with combinations of plus-green or other pale greenish gels and control of colour temperature through camera settings.

Or, colour-tuneable LEDs, or deliberately poor-quality cool-white fluorescent tubes.

Could you post an example of something you like and are trying to achieve?

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Real moonlight is about 4300k, so tungsten with 1/2 CTB or HMI with 1/2 CTO gets you into the ballpark when balanced for 3200k. HMI is easier because of higher output lamps and less light loss from CTO vs CTB, but given the choice I'd probably opt for a large tungsten unit with either 1/2 blue or one of LEE 601/602/603 which have an almost gray/blue feel. I also think sometimes that moonlight looks better if it is slightly softened. Real moonlight is obviously very hard, but it's so dim that it's hard to see contrast. Softening artificial moonlight helps to create the impression of a lower contrast look.

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As far as color accuracy. I've not noticed a difference. LEDs and HMI are interchangeable. The early LED fixtures had some green to them,  like Aadyntech Eco Punch (like a 2.5kw HMI). But 1/4 green might be desirable moonlight for you.

I would prioritize output of the fixture and only use lightweight coloring gels. Any heavy gel will cut a lot of light. Outside, you'd be surprised how much a 1200 HMI doesn't expose to, when throwing it over a large space. Tungsten is already expensive on the amps, gelling them would need even more amps to reach the original output.

I tend to shoot HMI naked and set camera to 4300k. This gives a half-blue HMI and half-warm Tungsten. And you don't loose exposure from gelling. 1200w is easy because they can be ran off a put-put Honda 2000 generator (But 3 Aadyntech Eco Punches can too!). And LEDs like Aputure 300D or Litemats make for great floor lighting on the faces and foreground. If I can have the choice I'd go with punchy LED. It's lightweight and fast setup/teardown and keeps generator cost down. I've wanted to try the Hive Plasma 1kw for moonlight, but there are none available in Florida where I work.

Of course I shoot commercial. For narrative, you could start with this 4300 WB, then stray into the color effects category, with say 1/4 teal, 1/8th green or something like that.

Or go with white moonlight. Have you tried white light yet?

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