Which Spotlight bulbs don't cause banding with the silent shutter?

Hindy — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 18:29:39 GMT

Hi,

I have an Canon EOS R8 camera. A while back, I wrote a post asking where to find regular flicker-free light bulbs. I ended up finding several options:

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS-DSLR-Mirrorless-Cameras/EOS-R8-quot-Which-LED-Light-Bulbs-don-t-flicker-or-cause-banding/m-p/472875

But I am having a really hard time finding flicker-free BR40 spotlights bulbs for home use.

I tried spotlights bulbs from Lowes, Ace, Amazon, Philips, Sylvania, Cree, Ecosmart, Luxrite, Sunco, & Alzo Digital but all of them flickered.

If anyone knows of a genuinely flicker-free spotlight bulb, I would really appreciate it if you can please post where to buy one.

Thank you very much!

Re: Which Spotlight bulbs don't cause banding with the silent shutter?

Hindy — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 18:55:08 GMT

Hi,

I tested tons of bulbs & found 3 spotlights that don't show banding until 1,000 of a second shutter speed. If you look through images taken at different shutter speeds quickly, you can see slight variations in brightness, but it's not noticeable on a single image. The vignetting you see in the picture is because it's a PAR38 bulb- which means it's a very focused beam of light.

I edited this post twice; because when I first tested the bulbs, I pointed the camera straight at the bulbs, and got "no flicker found". But for the 250 watt bulb, I later tested again at the side on a blank wall, and got "found 120hz flicker". I already returned the other 2 bulbs so I can't test them again.

Update: I bought Option 2 again- Color Selectable 90 watt bulb- and my camera says, "No flicker found", but I do see banding at the fastest 2 shutter speeds- 8,000 of a second and 16,000 of a second. But one thing is for sure, I did not see banding at 1,000 of a second shutter speed.

I ended up putting in the 250 watt spotlights (because the extra watts were needed) and I will test it for a month.

If anyone has any of these and can comment, please do. Thank you.

Small BR30:
Flicker-Free BR30 Light Bulb, EyeComfort Technology, Non-Dimmable, 650 Lumen, Daylight (5000K), 9W=65W, E26 Base, 6-Pack
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NMV7CKN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Medium Size: PAR38 10 watt LED, 90 watt equivalent:
PHILIPS 5-CCT Selectable Color Temperature, 90-watt Replacement, PAR38 LED Spot, Dimmable, Flicker-Free EyeComfortTM*, 900 Lumen, T20 Certified, E26 Base, 4-Pack
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW3P78GF?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

*Flickers at every 120 of a second but no banding until 1,000 of a second shutter speed. Almost unnoticeable slow-motion video flicker.
Best & brightest: PAR38 20 watts LED/ 250 watts equivalent:
Philips 250-Watt Equivalent PAR38 Dimmable High Lumen LED Flood Light Bulb Bright White (5000K)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089P2Q2Z6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Which Spotlight bulbs don't cause banding with the silent shutter?

Re: Which Spotlight bulbs don't cause banding with the silent shutter?