where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
Out of interest. Are people shooting jpeg or RAW are you setting the W/B in camera or correcting it in post
Most of the time I use AUTO on a D700 and very rarely need to correct it
for critical or difficult things I shoot a grey card then batch process in LR3
In really difficult condition eg flashing disco lights, I tend to convert everything to B/W in post
As mentioned in another post I only shoot RAW
Only RAW and use auto as per my post and like you rarely need to do much to it.
Only RAW, use auto W/B as per my post and like you rarely need to do much to it.
SkintBrit said:
I know his products receive mixed reviews, but I have been using a Gary Fong collapsable light sphere for a while and have had some good results. Quick question.....I have found a YouTube video where he shows using the domed plastic top of the Phere as a means of taking a White balance reading. Has anyone any experience of how successful this is? I have given it a limited trial and it does seem to work, but what are the benefits of the bespoke products on the market?
I'll answer your question!
That probably would work. His products seem to be "neutral balanced" or care is given not to have any tint to them which is important. I still use Expodisc but have also bought a bunch of lens white balance caps from ProMaster which are not as "perfect" as Expodisc but are good enough for almost everything. Makes everything simple as well. They are cheap so loosing them is not costly either. I have used or tried almost anything in a pinch from tissue paper, styrofoam cup, white shirt, paper, almost anything. Some really have a "tint" to them that doesn't work real well.
I think even shooting raw, setting custom WB is more beneficial which with lightroom, seems to add more leeway for going for a "look" if that is your thing.
I have been using this product with great success to take a custom white balance in gymnasiums.
One frustration with any custom white balance method: different light bulbs over different parts of the court so the exact white balance changes from spot to spot on the court. Since you never know where the player will be on the court you cannot get a precise white balance for each spot under each different light bulb and have to go with an average white balance.
Thanks for taking the time to reply TTJ and donaldejose, I can't believe that after nearly a year I still haven't taken the plunge and bought anything, I think it's because all the bespoke options seem to be very dear for what they are? That's why I liked the scrooge option of making do with something I already own :-) it was only when trying this out that I learnt about storing multiple profiles in the camera, I didn't know you could do that. I wonder what else it does that I don't know about after 2 years of use!
I've noticed Grey cards come in two different % values, why and where would you use one but not the other? Is the filter over the lens approach always better than the Grey card in the test picture option?
SkintBrit said:
I've noticed Grey cards come in two different % values, why and where would you use one but not the other? Is the filter over the lens approach always better than the Grey card in the test picture option?
18% is the norm but I dont think, most of us would notice the difference, if you used 25%
Back in in the dark ages, of 5x4 sheet film and manually adjusting YMC on the enlarger. I was taught to allways use a grey card
I have never used a filter but would guess a grey card would be more consistent
sevencrossing said:
I have never used a filter but would guess a grey card would be more consistent
It depend on your post production on "Consistent". I did use a white,grey,black card when I used NX for the white, mid/color, & black point and it worked quite well but you have to shoot this constantly with any change of light color or otherwise. The "expensive" WB "caps" Expodisc and a few others are very consistent and doesn't change with the amount of light. I find it to be much quicker and a lot easier to do batch WB changes.
If I did a lot of studio, white,grey,black card would probably be more beneficial. At non studio or mixed lighting even with strobes, I find the high end WB caps invaluable.
With all of this said, one thing that is important to point out, if you gel your flashes, the WB caps neutralize that as well and finds a middle point that never looks right. That is where RAW is the best choice.
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