Metal halide color?

I'm new to metal halide bulbs and I just acquired two fixtures yesterday night at a great deal. I went to the store and picked up a few from each just to test them all and take back what I don't need. From firing them all up and waiting about 30 minutes they all seem fairly yellowish.. none of the boxes say the actual kelvin rating on them.

I got them from one hardware store, lowes (sylvania 400w MH) and home depot (phillips 400w MH). Are these probably 4000k bulbs with the yellow tint? I've reviewed lighting charts online and most say 4000k is the standard clear bulb but from what I'm seeing I wouldn't call that a clear white light. Is the 4000k bulb with the yellowish tint correctly the standard clear MH @ 4000K? and is it ok for vegging with? I know the higher I can go the better but I will never get anything shipped to me related to the grow-op so If i need it I have to find it around here locally. We do have two hydro stores but the bulbs there are so overpriced it just seems crazy. Not being cheap, but I do plenty of retail and can imagine the profit built into those bulbs for marketing. If its that big of an overwhelming difference in responses here i'll buy one, it just didnt seem like it, however.

Thanks guys.

I use a 600W MH for veg, check out my journal for how the light looks.


MH lights are high in the blue spectrum and the produced light should be a bright white/blue color.

JJD

What kelvin is your 600w bulb? Mine definitely do not look like that. What kind/where did you get yours?

This is what I bought,

http://www.thegrowlight.com/600w-mh-conversion-bulb.html

Thanks for the link... One thing I thought of.. perhaps this ballast i got is for HPS and not MH... If i had a MH bulb in that fixture would it necessarily change colors due to the ballast powering it?

I don't think the ballast changes the colors, but it could be possible.

What kind of ballast did you get?

I got a craiglist deal for a 400w metal halide w/ bulb, ballast & reflector/enclosed hood and 400w HPS w/ bulb, ballast & reflector/enclosed hood for $200. The ballasts really don't say to much on them except the max wattage, ED type bulbs and that they're by Sunlight Supply.

I just picked up another bulb on my way back in which is a fatter shape and not the lean narrow ones, going to let what i had on cool down and change it to see if there is a difference after it fires up for a bit. Thanks for the replies.