I've been making notes and buying bulbs, and more bulbs :-D and I thought this may save someone some headaches.

Easiest to find in many sizes and shapes, 5000K bulbs. Read carefully! Also the new Energy Star regulations version 4, demand that makers list the color temperature, so more and more are labeled. In the past it was digging and begging, to get a response from some of the companies. You'll find all kinds of Natural Light, Full Spectrum and other names, that mean nothing, if the packages don't list the color Temp.

Linear Fluorescents Most Mfg.

3000 Kelvin (Warm White)
3500 Kelvin (Neutral)
4100 Kelvin (Cool White)
5000 Kelvin (Full Spectrum) Phillips "Natural Light", GE "Sunshine", Others
(5500K Have never found a tube by any Mfg. I'm still looking)
6500 Kelvin (Daylight)

Spiral / Twist Fluorescent

Kelvin 2700 (same as standard incandescent bulbs)
Kelvin 3500
Kelvin 4100
Kelvin 5000 Most Brands "Daylight"
Kelvin 5100 Some Phillips
Kelvin 5500 N:Vision "Daylight" Home Depot *
Kelvin 5800 Some Feit "Daylight"
Kelvin 6500

Circular Tubes, which I thought might be nice for an even lighting, are hard to find, come in all kinds of odd sizes, and so far the packages have very little color temperature information. Same problem as the tubes... no 5500K to match my Twist Lights. I'd love to be able to shoot through the center of a ring light, or use them for background fill, behind something translucent. No luck.

Most tubes, CRI 80-85. Twists run as high as the low 90's. So, OK they aren't perfect, but they run cool, don't use as much energy, are inexpensive compared to studio lights, last a long time and so far I find them a nice continuous lighting solution.

I found some bulbs marked Daylight that were 3200K. The term "Daylight" on the package, means nothing!

Good news is all the 5000K Daylight and ? Soft White bulbs are going into every lamp in the house and office, so they weren't a waste.

* This is my bulb of choice, because it's closest to balancing with Xenon flash color Temp. 5600K. So far it's the only 5500K bulb I've found and only available at Home Depot. Yes I've painted myself into the 5500K corner, but balance with flash was more important in the long run.

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