I wasn’t able to put a color meter to the various light sources but there shouldn’t be any problem with mixing the spiral flourescent daylight balanced lamps and the strobe. A simple visual check puts them almost right on when it comes to a match. FYI, the flash is putting out 5500K so lamps should be as close to that as possible.

As far as output, let’s use f8 as a target, usable aperture for your use. Doing the math, I come up with needing 8 of the 27 watt bulbs to get to 1/60 at f8 if the lights are 4 feet from the wall. So, wow, that’s a lot of bulbs. Let’s bump the ISO up to 200 so we only need 4 bulbs at 27 watts, or a total of 108 watts of comparable spiral flourescent output.

Unfortunately, adding the diffusion fabric is going to cut down light output by at least 1 stop. And, possibly, 4 feet may not be enough of a working distance for you to work with for your subject.

Taking it all into account I’d probably approach it this way:

1. No problem with mixing the spiral fluorescents and the strobe, it should work just fine. The diffusion fabric will most likely warm the color balance slightly but should cause no problem.
2. It’s going to take a lot of bulb power! I’d suggest buying at least two of the largest spiral fluorescents you can find locally and do a test. Even then it might not be enough to give a good working aperture and shutter speed.
3. If you’re shooting people and not still objects, definitely go for using all strobes if you can. Constant lighting is beautiful and easy to visualize, but strobes should provide a wider range of working apertures and a crisp image every time.

Whew, that’s it…months late! Again, sorry about that and thanks for sticking around. Now if I could just catch up with all the emails…:)

As for your other questions, the answers admittedly exceed my knowledge (without lengthy research) and your inquiries dive deeper than I had intended to go. The study of light (the very basis of photography) is a complex study and, in the context of using these bulbs in a budget lighting setup, I hadn’t considered your questions.

My intention was to show the pattern of light from each bulb (in the same reflector), the relative apertures at the chosen shutter speed and the visual color differences on a neutral background. I can see how my intentions failed to answer your questions.

Many of my posts are intended to help readers begin a journey and I’m sorry this one failed to deliver you to a final destination. It has provoked thought for many, I’m sure, and that’s the key to learning. Please let me know if you have any additional knowledge on the subject to share with readers, I’d be happy link to it.

These facts are kinda needless, as coverage depends on the power of each bulb and maybe on the used reflector, the proper white balance can be adjusted with most cameras. Unfortunately, more interesting questions remain unanswered, such as the spectra of the light (will all colors be reproduced properly?) and the tendency of the light sources to flicker in the frequency of the supplied electricity. And last but not least the stability of the color temperature over the life time of each bulb.