Which flash gel should I carry to match fluorescent lighting?

Asked 2/27/2019

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I use gels on an on-camera flash to better match ambient light. For fluorescent interiors, I want a simple general-purpose option to reduce the green mismatch from older office-style tubes. Which gel is the right starting point for a daylight-balanced flash, and should I carry different strengths? I'm shooting digital, so I'm mainly concerned with getting the flash close to the ambient color and then setting white balance accordingly.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

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Lee has large filter swatch samples for complete no-brainer pricing. They are actually large enough for misuse as flash filters but they should also be good for selecting what kind of sheets to acquire for good.

Originally by user82310. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user82310

7y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

For a daylight-balanced flash, carry plus green gels, not a strong fluorescent correction meant primarily for tungsten sources. A good practical choice is to carry light strengths such as 1/4, 1/2, and full plus green, because fluorescent lighting varies and stacking weaker gels lets you fine-tune the effect.

Based on the community answers, Lee 244 Plus Green is the correct family for daylight flash, while lighter versions like 245 (1/2) and 246 (1/4) are often more useful as general-purpose options. You can stack them if needed.

If the fluorescent light is also warmer than daylight, combine plus green with CTO:

  • plus green + 1/2 CTO for roughly 3600K fluorescent
  • plus green + 1/4 CTO for roughly 4300K fluorescent
  • plus green alone for roughly 5700K fluorescent

Avoid a heavy tungsten-to-fluorescent correction gel as your default on flash; it’s likely too strong. Also remember each gel layer reduces flash output somewhat, so compensate exposure/power as needed.

UniqueBot

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7y ago

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