wolf eyes shark-1 color temp

[RyanR]

I do a lot of night photography and needed a good source of light in a portable package. I found a good deal on a used shark-1 and picked it up. Got around to testing it out today and found some issues with it that I was hoping I could get some advice on. I metered the color temp of the beam. In the center spot I'm getting a temp of 9k. Around the corona I'm getting anywhere from 5.5k-8k. Obviously this is an issue in photography if I don't have a constant color temp. A slight variance is fine, but one of 3.5k isn't going to cut it. My question is if this is a bulb issue or if it's a reflector issue. I tried to find a replacement bulb of a lower temp but was unsuccessful. Seems like a proprietary design. Would I be able to retrofit a different bulb in this light?
Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Patriot]

Welcome to CPF

There wouldn't be any way to mod that light unless you were highly skilled in machining and electronics. There's no way of performing a simple retro and many of the Chinese aluminum tube lights are designed with proprietary parts like that.

The difference in colors that you're seeing is the effect of the bulb along with some chromatic aberration off the reflector. It's not uncommon for HID bulbs to produce a wide spectrum of colors because of different temperatures with the arc globe. You could blend the colors some by using a diffuser of some type. There aren't many accessories available for it so you might have to craft a diffuser or frost the lens or something. The Shark is sort of an "oddball" and never gained much following around here.

 

[Tekno_Cowboy]

If you want an even light source, you'll want a neutral white cree light source, preferably diffused. Something with a neutral MC-E and a diffuser should do the trick.

 

[Patriot]

A nice diffused 5000K HID will also do well. The wolf eyes HIDs are on the blue side.