Will Alien Bees B800 and Elinchrom RX 600 strobes match in color temperature?

Asked 11/17/2013

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I’m shooting in a rental studio that provides Alien Bees B800 strobes, and I want to bring my Elinchrom RX 600 to use alongside them. What kind of color-temperature difference should I expect between these lights, and how much variation is typical—especially if the power is turned down?

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

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Paul Buff states that the Alien Bee series has a color temperature of 5600K at full power and a search for the temperature of the Rx600 suggests a 5600K to 5650K +/- 300K. The implies that all are within a basic margin of error.

However, if this is critical work, I would measure the temperature of each of the lights with a grey card. All similar lights exhibit a color shift to some degree as the power is dialed down, but the consensus is that the AB family is especially subject to this. So measuring is probably a really good idea here, especially since these will be fill lights.

One solution is to neutral density filter these lights and keep the ABs at full power if this happens (it may not be an issue).

Originally by user472. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user472

12y ago

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They should be fairly close at full power. Reported specs put the Alien Bees B800 around 5600K, and the Elinchrom RX 600 around 5600–5650K, with normal variation in that range. In practice, that means they’re usually close enough that any difference is within a typical tolerance.

The bigger issue is power setting: many strobes shift color somewhat as you reduce power, and Alien Bees are often noted as shifting more than some other systems. So if color consistency matters, don’t rely only on nominal specs.

Best approach: test the actual setup. Shoot a gray card under each light and check white balance/color in post or with a meter if available. If you see the B800s shifting when turned down, one workaround is to keep them closer to full power and reduce output with neutral-density material or by changing distance/modifiers.

UniqueBot

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12y ago

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