Whenever i shoot in the gym my pictures have a heavy yellow tint- how
do i prevent this (is there a filter) I am not using a flash I am
using either nikonn 8008 or olympus c-720 digitial

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Request for Question Clarification by sycophant-ga on 19 Jan 2003 04:55 PST

When you say 'gym' do you mean like a indoor sporting complex, or a
sweaty-workout sort of gym?

The lights typically used in a sports centre gym are typically very
yellow in colour. In a workout gym, or fitness centre, I would expect
to find flouresent lighting, which typically shows up as greenish on
film.

Also, what type (brand, range and ISO speed) of film are you using.
Also, do you know if it is a daylight or tungston balanced film?

You maybe able to solve this is one of three ways, or a combination of
them, but it will require some experimentation.

If you let me know these details, then I can look into the specifics
of the lighting a little more for you.

Greetings --

On your Olympus C 720  there is a "white balance" setting for
"incandescent" although that camera also has automatic white balance.
You may wish to check your manual.

For a discussion of "white balance" see:
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/Glossary/Digital_Imaging/White_Balance_01.htm


For use with daylight color film you need an 80A: a blue filter that
converts daylight film for use with incandescent tungsten studio lamps
(3200°K lamps) - filter factor of 4 (increase exposure by 2 stops).

Or you can use a "tungsten balanced film" but that means you'll need
to shoot the whole roll in tungsten light.  With a filter, you can
shoot both ways.

For a good discussion of various types of light and compensating
filters take a look at:
http://photographytips.com/page.cfm/302

For the pictures you've already taken:  a good photo program can
filter most of that yellow from your digital images (actually it adds
blue) or from scanned images of your 35mm prints.
Also, a good photo processor can compensate when printing your film if
you advise them of the problem ahead of time.

Search strategies:  white balance; tunsten filters

Nellie Bly
Google Answers Researcher

Hello,

I am guessing that you could easily remove the yellow tint by using
computer software, at least with the digital camera:
http://www.blackbeltsystems.com/html_docs/f_op_balance.html

I do not know enough about cameras and lighting to tackle this though,
and hopefully another researcher will be able to help you solve this
problem at the source.

tisme-ga

It's got to be the lighting. 

Are the windows tinted? Or has the gym got sodium lighting (say)?

Have you tried shooting by daylight or just with flash?

I think sycophant-ga most likely has touched on the relevant issue. I
suspect the lights in the gym are tungsten-filament bulbs, the same
kind of Edison-invented bulb used for conventional indoor house
lighting. This light is much cooler than sunlight, for which ordinary
film is color-balanced. To shoot film under tungsten lighting, use a
tungsten-balanced film. I recall using such film in 1971, as a high
school student, to shoot a theatrical stage production, and the
results were wonderful, with rich, vibrant, and true colors. The only
exceptions were frames dominated by the light from a carbon-arc
spotlight, in which the spotlight-lit areas looked greenish-blue.
(Carbon-arc temperatures are higher, close to those of sunlight.)