Real Life Examples: Tint Matters

[jak]

There are demonstrations of tint differences (color swatches and still life setups), and there are real life applications.
I have learned so much from the demonstrations, but it's nice to see the LED color working for what you need.

Here's an example of how tint helps me -in this case, a neutral white.

Tint can be the difference between "medium" and "rare."
(And if it weren't for indoor lighting, that "medium" one would look "well done.")

Do you have any back to back comparisons of how tint helps you out? If so, share them!

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Since I don't have any cool lights I don't have the issue with comparison. I like me meat with a little red in it - everything look like it should. That poor grey slab of meat looks like something I've eaten at a few family steakhouses that will remain nameless.

 

[glowbug123]

this thread has made me hungry!!!

 

[martinaee]

Something everyone here who might not know much about photography needs to be aware of is that the white balance or basically the kelvin scale calibration of the camera is INFINITELY important if you are doing shots like this. I'm not saying that comparison is off, but even if both images have the same settings (iso, shutter speed, aperture, and white balance) it can be distorted. If the sensor is set with a white balance closer to warm, say 3500k to 4000k then that cool white tint is going to start to be distorted even more and possibly look blue/green/purple. More so than it actually might be to the adjusted human eye.

Overall the human eye can see the DIFFERENCE between tints very easily, but if you are using just a cool white outside with no other lights around the beam will look pretty good no matter what tint it has. This is why the tint isn't quite as important as high CRI of the led.

Jak, if you wouldn't mind doing the same thing over again, but use both lights on a piece of meat at once and take a picture I think it will demonstrate why getting a range of the light spectrum is important and why there is a LONG way to go still with led tech. It's awesome, but it can always be better. I'm pushing for a company to develop a light that uses cool and neutral tints at the same time and evenly distributed. That would start to get very *daylight* looking and I would love it.

In that piece of meat, you actually might be being fooled by the neutral tint too depending on how warm it is. As you go warmer you will begin to get more magenta and yellow tones which will make things appear, well, warmer so that piece of meat might not be as raw as you think. A sunny day with the sun just going behind a cloud will probably give you the best temp. possible and ability to see the most tones and depths humanly possible.

 

[sinnyc]

Great shot, jak. I keep a Solarforce host with a 4000k-ish drop in downstairs in my house to use when I'm grilling at night. I've been fooled by cool whites that made my wife's steak appear to be medium well (her preference) when in fact it's medium rare. All hail the grill light

- Tim

 

[ledmitter_nli]

There are demonstrations of tint differences (color swatches and still life setups), and there are real life applications.
I have learned so much from the demonstrations, but it's nice to see the LED color working for what you need.

Here's an example of how tint helps me -in this case, a neutral white.

Tint can be the difference between "medium" and "rare."
(And if it weren't for indoor lighting, that "medium" one would look "well done.")

Do you have any back to back comparisons of how tint helps you out? If so, share them!

Neutral Hi CRI Nichia 219 will look even better.

Some further comparisons for NE1 who might have missed this thread.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?364259

 

[reppans]

Jak, if you wouldn't mind doing the same thing over again, but use both lights on a piece of meat at once and take a picture I think it will demonstrate why getting a range of the light spectrum is important and why there is a LONG way to go still with led tech...

+ 1 both beams in the same shot, auto or preset range white balance varies with very with each shot. Same as seeing many people here using an auto camera to show brightness differences between different modes and different flashlights. Most accurate will if both beams are in the same shot.

 

[jonwkng]

Hi jak! Thanks for the tasty looking food shots. That is one tasty looking steak...

I agree with ledmitter_nli that High CRI emitters give the best colour rendition.

What martineea mentioned is very important. When it comes to photographing to comparing tints, your camera needs to be off Auto White Balance and correct the White Balance manually using Custom White Balance settings depending on the ambient lighting.

 

[TEEJ]

Jak, what was the white balance set to?

 

[leon2245]

Great idea.

I wouldn't mind seeing more food lighting examples in general.

 

[derfyled]

This is a great idea. It's not always outside that a great tint can be appreciated...

:thumbsup:

 

[jak]

I'm excited to see folks responding to this thread! But I don't want photography to inhibit the spirit of this post, which is to highlight real world situations in which tint matters. In my case, the difference on how well done a steak is.

Other examples might include:

• Identifying the colors of a bundle of wires
• Tracking blood
• Make-up artist
• etc.

I'm not worried if photos aren't perfect representations, they're just to get the idea or jist of the situation at hand.

I recognize it's darn near impossible to present a concept regarding lighting when the only way to do so involves a camera/photos. It's like trying to highlight the quality of a High Definition TV while watching Standard Definition TV. Nevertheless, if one can, put the photographic technical aspect aside and focus on what tint (or CRI) can do, or reveal in your line of work or pleasure.

I hope this explanation makes sense. Did it?

 

[TEEJ]

I'm excited to see folks responding to this thread! But I don't want photography to inhibit the spirit of this post, which is to highlight real world situations in which tint matters. In my case, the difference on how well done a steak is.

Other examples might include:

• Identifying the colors of a bundle of wires
• Tracking blood
• Make-up artist
• etc.

I'm not worried if photos aren't perfect representations, they're just to get the idea or jist of the situation at hand.

I recognize it's darn near impossible to present a concept regarding lighting when the only way to do so involves a camera/photos. It's like trying to highlight the quality of a High Definition TV while watching Standard Definition TV. Nevertheless, if one can, put the photographic technical aspect aside and focus on what tint (or CRI) can do, or reveal in your line of work or pleasure.

I hope this explanation makes sense. Did it?

It makes sense but misses the point of the comments, which is that it really WON'T show you what its supposed to be showing you, just artifacts of the photography process.

I could take the same pics with a different camera and get the exact opposite results for example....so it becomes more about comparing two pics, and saying the tint is why they are different, when that might not be the actual reason for the differences, etc.

IE: A warmer tint will emphasize AND de-emphasize, certain colors, just like a cooler tint will. The white balance of the camera CORRECTS for tint, so, it becomes about what color corrections the camera makes, as opposed to what the eye sees, etc.

Did you want a thread about white balance and its impact on color accuracy of the targets, or, about the tint's impact on the same parameter?

I'm assuming you mean to highlight the tint not the white balance, so, if pics are the means of conveying the differences, then the pics need to have appropriate compensation to make them relevant in that context.


I really love your idea for the thread, and I think its very worthy of follow-up, albeit with the white balance turned off for example, to remove the camera's color corrections from the equation.

 

[neutralwhite]

...we're all coming over to yours for steak Jak!.

 

[ozzy1990]

I'm glad I got neutral rather than cool white. Cool white can make identifying wire colors really difficult.

 

[RetroTechie]

An interesting thing I discovered once: if the spectral output of a flashlight makes the color of objects look 'off', your mind kinda needs to look twice to see whether it's really the object you thought you were seeing.

In other words: it takes more 'mental effort' to recognise objects in dim and/or poor quality lighting. :duh2: When objects are well lit, with colors looking exactly as you're used to seeing them (for example, under daylight/sunlight), you recognise objects faster & easier.

Usually such fractions of a second don't matter, but I can imagine situations where they do. This may be one reason why driving in the dark is more tiresome than under daylight conditions. It might matter for a SWAT team member when deciding to shoot a suspect or not. Or tennis / soccer players that are out playing @ night. Or production workers that are sorting through (different colored) objects on a conveyor belt. Etc, etc.

This effect doesn't bother me as long as (any!) light's tint is not too bad. But it's good to be aware of this when choosing + using lights.

 

[ledmitter_nli]

I can see someone second guessing their tints after shifting their eyes from a cool or warm backlit LCD panel.

Opposites look a little more pronounced than they really are.

Until you get used to the new color temperature.

 

[davesc]

As a marketing strategy, I think the manufacturers probably sell more cool white than the neutral since the cool white can be made "brighter". Most people want the highest lumens. It's like the fastest car. I got some of the new energy efficient light bulbs for the house. They were the cool white and looked brighter. I got rid of them after about a week. It was like living in a hospital ward...flashlights are like that, too.

 

[yellow]

warm white / high CRI "cost" soo much more output and give only a very tiny bit of "better" results, that they simply are not worth the hassle ...

neutral white rules

 

[Dead Goat]

Jak,

Thanks for posting the steak photos. I usually cook on the grill based on time, however winter grilling is very different. I'll definitely use the NW torch.