I've looked through the canon eos website and through the faq and also through the subject lines listed on this forum, and I can't find any info about where I can get filters for my eos rebel G that will compensate for bright interior fluorescent lighting. Lots of info on lenses, bodies, flashes, but nothing on filters -- am I missing something? Tips ,directions, etc., welcomed. I thought for sure this would be a simple enough question to find an answer to, but a couple hours on google and here haven't helped.

Thanks, --Cindy

-- Cindy Moore (tittle@io.com), December 21, 2001

Answers

This isn't so much an EOS question as it is a general photography question, so it doesn't surprise me that the info isn't found here.

There are several ways to do this though. First, use negative/print film instead of slides, as color correction is easier with prints. Second, there are several manufacturers of filters for fluorescent lighting. You want to look for an FL-D type filter, but that may go by other names from different manufacturers. The problem is, fluorescent lights are not all the same color so a generic FL-D filter may not work perfectly for the lights that you want to correct for. Using negative film will give you the option of correcting small color discrepancies.

You can also use a combination of CC filters in the right amounts. Or you may want to add CC filters to the FL-D for more accurate correction if the lights aren't the best color match to your FL-D filter. Unless you are needing very precise color matching, I'd just use the FL-D with negative film and call it good enough.

Another option is to do your color correction after the fact by using a cooperative photo finisher that will take the time to make the prints look right. Cheap/poor finishing will always give you fits with fluorescent lighting.

Also, some particular films are less sensitive to off coloration introduced by fluorescent lights. Fuji films with the 4th color layer are good at this (they brag about the 4th layer on the box). Also fast films (400 ISO & higher) are less sensitive to the off- color of fluorescent lighting. And finally, overexposing negative film helps the photo finisher to make better corrections.

So, I'd use Fuji Superia 800 with the film speed on your camera reset to 400 and printed by someone who cares. Or use the FL-D filter with the same combination. In any case, be prepared to take them back to the printer & ask them to fix the color problems. If they say no, go to another printer.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), December 21, 2001.

I've had good luck with a 80A filter on my lens. It causes me to have slower shutter speeds, but with faster film (400 or 800), it's usually not too bad. You can also try some film designed for tungsten lighting (kodak porta 100T). Most of the film you buy today is designed for daylight or 5500k lighting. A flash compensates for the daylight, but if you can't use flash, try a filter or the film (it's about $8 a roll). I hope this helps.

-- Carlos Marrero (los@door.net), December 28, 2001.