After buying my 5 year old an Easy Bake for Christmas and realizing it didn't have a light bulb in it and suffering the reprecutions of my child's disappointment, I immediately hopped on Amazon and shipped these overnight. And all I can say is the Easy Bake cooks great. GE 48690 100-Watt A19 Reveal Bulbs, 4-Pack
So I needed to scrap together a light set up from whatever I could find at the local hardware store to make a couple portraits. Picked these up because they were "Full Spectrum." I was a bit worried at first because the lights were on the warm side compared to true daylight (light temperature is somewhere around 3000K, I used 3300k for warmer skin tones). When combined with a dimmer switch, they tend to go more yellow at lower intensities but I assume this is the same for all incadescent lamps. When I reviewed the photos, these lights really do, as advertised, make colors "pop." These lights provide good color saturation and contrast compared to normal incandescent lights and even compared to my flash unit.
As an every day light, I prefer flourescents for energy efficiency. But as an incandescent, I see how these could be pleasant once your eyes adjust to the light warmth in the color. If you are looking for a "full spectrum" flourescent, they do exist, just a bit hard to find at your local hardware store.
While not true "daylight," these lights do help bring out colors and are what I would use if I used incandescent lights.
Daylight ~5600k
Incandescent ~2700k
GE Reveal ~3000k
I've used GE Reveal bulbs almost everywhere in my home for several years now. I love the way they bring out and enhance colors and mood. The only major drawback to these, is the EXTREMELY short lifespan. It is not untypical for bulbs to last barely a month or two with infrequent usage. Sadly other 'normal' incandescents will last years with the same amount of usage.
Suspecting an issue with bulb life but not having any proof, I loaded a two-light fixture with one Reveal and one standard GE incandescent. Sure enough, the Reveal lasted barely 1/4 of the time of the standard incandescent. This wouldn't be so much a problem if the bulbs were affordable, but of course the fetch a premium price. So I'm paying double (or more) the money, and get 1/4 the life of a normal bulb. Simply not worth it in the final analysis. I am now slowly switching back to standard incandescents as I blow through the final stock of my Reveals.
I have to give this product 2 of 4 stars, simply for the lifespan issue. Sad, unfortunately.
I've always liked the light that the Reveal's put out. However, the durability is quite mixed. Of the 8 we got, 2 blew out in a very short time (just 2 weeks), while others were fine. Regardless, I will miss the ease of use and affordability of these bulbs when CFL's come to the forefront in 2012. Better stock up now!
Folks: Be warned, purchased four reveal light bulbs from these folks--and although the box arrived securely packaged only two of the bulbs worked at all. Two were "dead" right out of the package. Wrote an e-mail of inquiry about what, if any, remedies were available---and have never received a response.
I found this advertising somewhat misleading. I was thinking there were 4 packages of lightbulbs, but you only get 4 lightbulbs total, like one ordinary package of lightbulbs. To call it a "four-pack" is misleading, as most packages of lightbulbs contain four lightbulbs. Apart from that, they do give a very nice light and I am happy with that. It is noticeably nicer than light from ordinary lightbulbs, it gives things a nice kind of warm glow. I see the price has been reduced. $1.97 is reasonable for 4 of these as they are better than ordinary bulbs. I paid $4 something which was too much.
This is only 4 bulbs total. I saw another reviewer mention that but I figured that they were just mistaken. When Amazon listed the total price immediately followed by the price per PACK (not "bulb"), it can lead you to think that this is for a 4 pack of 4 bulbs each. Shame on you Amazon. I'll take my business elsewhere, like the big box stores, where they're half the cost.'
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