Color temperature & mired shift
From your light's colour temperature to your film's balance — what shift do you need?
Negative mired = cooling (blue, e.g. 80/82). Positive = warming (amber, e.g. 81/85).
About this tool
Film is balanced for a specific light colour, and mixing sources leaves a colour cast. Enter the source colour temperature in kelvin and the target you want to reach. The calculator returns the mired shift between them and tells you the warming or cooling filter needed to correct the difference, so daylight film matches your light.
How to use it
- Enter the source colour temperature in kelvin.
- Enter the target colour temperature you want.
- Read the mired shift between the two values.
- Read the suggested warming or cooling filter to close the gap.
FAQ
What is a mired?
A mired is one million divided by the colour temperature in kelvin. Filters shift colour by a fixed number of mireds, so working in mireds makes the correction a simple subtraction.
Warming or cooling, which do I need?
If your source is cooler than the target, you need a warming (amber) filter. If the source is warmer, you need a cooling (blue) filter to raise the effective colour temperature.