desktop lamp with high CRI for judging prints

[Lothman]

Hi all,

can anybody recommend a desktop light source in order to judge prints made late at night ;-)
May be a LED solution with light compared to D50 fluorescent lamps but without bee forced to sell a kidney.

best regards
Lothar

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

just google for 'High CRI lamp' and you get plenty of hits incl. this one

https://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/consumer/led-lights/quality-of-light-led-lighting

 

[Lothman]

I was hoping for a ready to buy desktop lamp.

 

[Lothman]

I got a LED video light panel with high CRI LED from Dracast, I hope that will do the job.

 

[oliver666]

If you’re trying to avoid the "sell a kidney" prices of professional D50 booths, check out some of the dimmable LED floor lamps instead of just desk-specific ones.

I have a shelf lamp from Sunmory in my workspace that lets me toggle between color temps, which is pretty handy for seeing how ink reacts under different warmth levels. Just make sure whatever you get has a high enough lumen count so you aren't squinting at the details.

 

[suwaidionlineuae]

Choose a desktop lamp with high CRI (90+), neutral daylight color temperature, even illumination, and adjustable arm to accurately judge print colors, details, and tones without distortion.

 

[Tony4597]

Its worth bearing in mind that a high CRI rating does not necessarily mean a light that is suitable for precise evaluation of prints or indeed any other item that needs to be assessed for colour accuracy.

CRI is a relative value not an absolute. As such it rates sources against an ideal so daylight can be said to have a CRI of 100 but so can a warm tungsten bulb even though they render colour differently.

General CRI is measured in values from R1 to R8 which are pastel colours missing out on important colours such as R9 which is a saturated red, found in food, skin, clothing etc. In other words a critical value for photography, art galleries etc. (see attache CRI graphic)

Up to date LED (other than costly Yuji etc) have not been considered suitable and a D50 halogen lamp from Solux considered the best alternative if money saving a priority over light booths.

More basic information here
https://www.waveformlighting.com/tech/what-is-cri-r9-and-why-is-it-important

As to recommendations for cost effective solution maybe look at the Graflite 2 at about £70 if your choice of lamp not up to the job. I have the earlier version which I find adequate for the intended job

Yuji LED comparison for ref http://49.51.200.57/high-cri-led-lighting.html

 

[PeterBJ]

My suggestion to a low budget solution is to use a second hand Luxo lamp with a 60W incandescent bulb and a tungsten light to daylight conversion filter foil. The lamp was salvaged and the filter was part of a pack of 10"x10" samples, less expensive than this.

The incandescent bulb has a continuous spectrum, so I think this bulb + filter might be better than special fluorescent tubes or LED bulbs. I think I will order one of these LED bulbs to give it a try.

But if I adjust the colour balance so the prints look right in 5000K light they look too red in artificial light with the normally used 2700K or 3000K LED bulbs. And vice versa.

The Luxo lamp with tungsten bulb and filter, click to enlarge: