What color is that light?
Tungsten film lamps are made to 3200 K, and HMIs and daylight LEDs to 5600 K. A household bulb sits near 2700 K, a candle near 1900 K and an overcast sky around 6500 K. Mired is a million divided by the kelvin, the unit gels are rated in.
| Source | What the crew calls it | Typical K | Mired | LEE gel to 5600 K | LEE gel to 3200 K | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candle flame | Candle practical | 1900 | 526 | Full CTB + Full CTB, −74 left | Full CTB + 1/2 CTB, +1 left | A flame moves, so read it more than once |
| Sodium streetlight | Sodium vapor | 2000 | 500 | not a gel job | not a gel job | A spiky spectrum: gels and a kelvin figure only go so far |
| Household bulb | Warm practical | 2700 | 370 | Full CTB + 1/4 CTB, −20 left | 1/4 CTB + 1/8 CTB, −5 left | |
| Warm white LED or tube | Practical tube | 3000 | 333 | Full CTB + 1/8 CTB, +0 left | 1/8 CTB, −3 left | Often green on camera |
| Tungsten film lamp | Tungsten | 3200 | 312 | Full CTB, +3 left | none | Rated at 3200 K by its maker |
| Low sun | Golden hour | 3500, moving by the minute | 286 | 1/2 CTB + 1/4 CTB, +6 left | 1/8 CTO, +1 left | |
| Daylight, HMI, daylight LED | Daylight | 5600 | 179 | none | 1/2 CTO + 1/8 CTO, −1 left | |
| Overcast sky | Overcast | 6500 | 154 | 1/8 CTO, −1 left | Full CTO, −0 left | |
| Blue sky, open shade | Blue sky | 7500 and up | 133 | 1/8 CTO + 1/8 CTO, −7 left | Full CTO + 1/8 CTO, −6 left |
Lamp ratings come from their makers' published specs; daylight and sky values are typical published figures and move with weather, time and place. The gel columns use LEE's book, the app's default. Download the CSV (CC BY 4.0).
In the app
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Real lamps drift with age, dimming and voltage, and daylight moves all day. Meter reads kelvin and tint through your camera and says how steady the reading is.
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