Advice:High end color critical fixtures. Quality Vs small difference in CRI

[nitebrite]

I am not sure if this is the correct forum. If not, Mods please move it.
I am looking at high end lamps in the "desk lamp" format. Used for color proofing with photography.
I pretty much have a choice. 93 CRI very good fixtures. Top notch heatsinking, best emitters, best electronics,everything top of the line.
-or-
97 CRI, everything is pretty much mid to low quality. Still very pricey.
I guess the question is in a color critical situation is there a large difference from 93 to 97 CRI? I am guessing you folks would say get the better fixture?
Thanks

 

[archimedes]

CRI is a kind of "summary" rating that (in itself) omits a lot a underlying important details, but I find 5 (and especially 10) point differences pretty relevant for me personally.

Other ratings, especially Duv, are at least equally if not more important.

 

[nitebrite]

Indeed. The one with 97CRI is noticeably better. Perhaps for other reasons as well. Hey, if the emitters last the 40,000 to L90 I honestly do not care if the other one has superior internals. I imagine they put adequate heat management for the job etc. Perhaps those just run cooler. Plus there is not as many dies. I think I will go with the 97. It is $120 less anyway. We are already talking about some money so that is a lot of difference. I do not think there are LED's much above 97 AFAIK. If anyone needs this it is going to cost them though. It makes me money so it is justified.

 

[archimedes]

.... I do not think there are LED's much above 97 AFAIK....

I carry a AAA keyring flashlight with an Optisolis emitter rated at 98CRI +0.0001Duv. There are other bins of that emitter series at 99CRI.

 

[nitebrite]

I did not know they have come that far. I think real 97 is the highest in a portable lamp. They are expensive. Ottlite claims 97 but only measures about 91. Those are not expensive.

 

[archimedes]

It's not only about CRI is my point ... incandescent lamps, and candlelight, have CRI of 100 :candle:

 

[nitebrite]

I know. Also the higher CRI one was no good for a lot of reasons. The 93 CRI one has much better DUV and SDCM. It is a better light. At first I thought the 97 CRI one was better until I started seeing all the artifacts. It may actually be underrated. Since is says 93+.

 

[archimedes]

Could you share make and model info of the options you are considering ?

 

[nitebrite]

Sorry I was busy. They are custom made by Idlewood Electric in Illinois. All it is you pick a high end fixture you like in the showroom. They retrofit a better emitter and electronics plus heatsink. Except Dyson. Dyson has the best heatsink of anything. I incredibly did not write down what emitters they are. I only had to keep the one I like. The 93 was more expensive then the 97 and I can see why. At first I was fooled. Do you have any idea what emitters these are? I suppose I can just call them during the week. If you go look these are not the inexpensive fixtures. They say those do not come apart. Plus the retrofit is not cheap. I am just mentioning in case anyone is interested. It is really for professional use. I do not see why one would need it otherwise.

 

[nitebrite]

This emitter is obviously the better one. At least IMO. I am pretty good at matching colors though. If you figure it might be 95 CRI from a good Bin plus the other specs are better. I can see why the 97 CRI less expensive upgrade may not be as accurate. My issue now is the setup in the 97 had a better fixture for me. The fixture I have I do not like the ergonomics. I hope they are fair about swapping out the other brand of fixture. Knowing them they should cut me a deal. My fixture is more expensive. I guess a couple hundred labor sounds fair to me. Otherwise this is pretty accurate. I did not need to calibrate much. I will see if they will tell me the part number. They do not tell consumers but this is pro. There are in fact 12 emitters that I can see. It is 10 Watts. 800 Lumens max,

 

[JustAnOldFashionedLEDGuy]

Not sure you can find a desk lamp, but get something made with a Xicato 4000K artist model, unless you really insist on the 3000K. 4000K has a more usable color gamut for proofing. If you need 5000K, your options are much less. These have exceptional CRI across the full 15 color test pattern, plus excel at almost every other metric as well. Contact the company, maybe they know of someone using it for a proofing light.

 

[wus]

I am just mentioning in case anyone is interested. It is really for professional use. I do not see why one would need it otherwise.

I think these days there are lots of enthusiast (hobby) photographers who are well aware of the issue. They work on calibrated monitors, and some - including myself - have high CRI daylight sources installed above their desks. In my case, these are Osram 58W/965 daylight flourescents. At the time when I bought them (I don't exactly remember, some 15 to 25 years ago), they were considered the "official" proofing light source. They claimed an Ra / CRI of 98. I did make comparisons with a few other high CRI artificial light sources, and direct and indirect sunlight over the years. So far I found no LED that matched this flourescent, although recently, some came pretty close.