Tungsten and fluorescent lighting

I found locations in our apartment that provided the lighting conditions suggested for this exercise.

Part 1 Tungsten and daylight

Starting in the living room, which is lit by small but very bright tungsten spotlights, I found that my camera indicated a shutter speed of 1/20th second with the aperture wide open at f3.5 and an Iso of 400. The garden outside is shaded by tall trees and at 5 pm in the evening, the camera's meter indicated a shutter speed of 1/40th second for a photograph of the garden with the same other settings. I considered these to be reasonably close.

I tried the visual tests, first looking outside then inside. In this case, there was a noticeable yellow/orange colour cast when initially looking into the room. For the second test, looking inside and outside I found the colour change less noticeable.

Auto WB setting of scene lit by tungsten and daylight

Nikon 18-200mm at 28mm: Iso 400 f5.6 for 1/13th second (with tripod as monopod)

Tungsten WB setting of scene lit by tungsten and daylight

Camera settings as above

Daylight WB setting of scene lit by tungsten lights and daylight

Camera settings as above

Observations

The Auto WB photograph was relatively close to the Tungsten WB photograph, and in both photographs the colours of the interior were reasonably close to the actual colours. The view of the green plants and trees in the garden however has a distinct blue tinge. This is slightly more prominent in the Tungsten WB photograph.

In the Daylight WB photograph, as might be expected, the white interior walls and window frames have a pale orange tone rather than pure white. The colours of the leaves and trees in the garden are, however, more accurately represented.

Part 2 Fluorescent lighting

The first two photographs were taken in a bedroom lit by two CFL lamps, one in the ceiling and one in a standard lampstand. Our kitchen worktops, on the other hand, are lit by "straight" fluorescent tubes and I took a photograph of a spice rack lit only by this light.

Auto WB setting of a scene lit by CFL lamps

Nikon 18-200mm at 18mm: Iso 400 f5 for 1/4 second (with tripod as monopod)

Fluorescent WB setting of a scene lit by CFL lamps

Camera settings as previous photograph

Observations

Visually, the CFL lamps appear to give a soft mellow light which is not so bright as the tungsten spotlights.

The photograph taken on Auto WB setting has a slight yellowish cast. In the photograph taken on Fluorescent WB setting on the hand, the white colours have a noticeable an orange-red colour cast. Furthermore, the red painted wall in the latter has acquired an orange cast compared to the original colour.

Auto WB setting of a scene lit by fluorescent tubes

Nikon 18-200mm at 55mm: Iso 400 f5 for 1/45 second

Fluorescent WB setting of a scene lit by fluorescent tubes

Camera settings as previous photograph

Observations

The Auto WB setting in this situation is close to the Fluorescent WB settings. I barely noticed any colour differences between the two photographs.

Both pictures have however lost the pale green colour of the wall behind the spice rack.

Conclusions

Whilst software in principle makes it possible to adjust for colour temperature and colour casts, my previous experience of attempting this produced rather disappointing results, even in tungsten lighting. Having reviewed the results of this exercise, it seems that photography in available light is probably only suitable for record type photographs where there is little or no alternative.