How to avoid flickering lighting?

[Todd Terry]

Duh on me… I looked at the ad again, I didn’t even notice before the small pictures beside the real one.

Note the one where you can see inside the softbox. Those are very definitely and without question flos. Looks like just a standard spiral compact fluorescent bulb (although of higher wattage than you usually would buy for, say, home use).

Combining that with your DSLR is the troublesome combo, I’d bet the farm on it.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Sam Baker]

Great thanks, I’ll have a look for some better ones.

[Todd Terry]

Those are just plain ol’ Edison screw-in sockets… so in a pinch you could just put tungsten blubs in them, which would be continuous.

I’d just be careful about it though, while the flo blubs get a little warm, the tungsten bulbs get hot, and the softbox might not be made to withstand hot lamps… so I’d go with as minimal a wattage as you can get away with, keep a close eye on it, and never leave them on unattended even for a second. Not the best solution of course (and you definitely don’t want a fire), but it’d work. You could put tungsten bulbs in them and test it for a little while outdoors where there’s no danger.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[John Sharaf]

OK Sherlock, lots of clues here!
Seems like you’re in the UK, shooting 25FPS, and you bought these lights thinking in GBP thinking they’d work in the UK, but looks like you might have gotten “US” model. Any markings on the box?
Perhaps the Flo-Globes are 60htz not 50htz, just buy replacement globes locally and you’re on the air.

JS

[Sam Baker]

Yes I’m in the UK, yes I’m shooting at 25fps, and yes I thought they’d work in the UK.

The box has some instructions inside that say “Rated: 160-260V, 50/60HZ, E27*1*MAX.80W”.

And on the outside of the box the same thing: https://s9.postimg.org/478d0u9zj/lights.png

[John Sharaf]

Of course. That’s what it should say.
All I think is that at such a low cost for the complete light, the fluorescent globes are at such a low quality that they flicker enough to be seen with the shorter motion picture exposure, but is not so apparent to the eye/brain.
I’m afraid you’re getting what you paid for!

Cheers,

JS

[Sam Baker]

So do you think any old tungsten bulbs would work… like these? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/E27-40W-Vintage-Retro-Filament-Edison-Tungsten-Light-Bulb-Antique-Style-Lamp-LED-/262399860058?var=&hash=item3d18401d5a:m:miSUbRjyQEPWP_Gz-V7f9_A

[Todd Terry]

Why would you want to use specialty vintage-style bulbs?? If you want to try tungsten bulbs, just use regular ol’ bulbs from the hardware store. They’ll give much more uniform light, probably a slightly lower color temperature, and will be a great great deal cheaper.

When I said “Edison” before that was just referring to the size and type of socket… I didnt mean actual vintage style Edison bulbs.

You could also try the screw-in household LED bulbs that have an Edison base, which would be much cooler…but i cant guarantee they wont flicker.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Sam Baker]

I just didn’t expect something so cheap to work well for it. I’ll report back in a few days…

[Sam Baker]

I’ve bought two of these halogen bulbs: https://gerardlighting.com.au/products/lamps/classic-eco-a55

I tested it in the daytime with the curtains closed and someone talking to camera… without lights, fluorescent and halogen.

There was a similar amount of “flashing” between the fluorescent and the halogen footage. And no variation when I wasn’t using any lights.

I then tried it at night, so perfect conditions, but with nobody in the frame.

The fluorescent appears to gradually get darker: https://www.dropbox.com/s/34rqwb313m7sygn/Halogen%20lighting.mp4?dl=0

The halogen is consistent throughought: https://www.dropbox.com/s/34rqwb313m7sygn/Halogen%20lighting.mp4?dl=0

So now I’m thinking it’s something to do with my camera, that it’s adjusting the exposure when someone’s talking/moving.

I set the exposure to manual though.