WB Tools - What do you use? (And recommend)...

Nikon Rumors Forum » Weird & Fun

[closed]

WB Tools - What do you use? (And recommend)...

(9 posts) (9 voices)

Started 2 years ago by rbid
Latest reply from NikoDoby
Related Topics:
1. Budget Macro

Tags:

white balance

rbid

preferred member
Joined: Jan '11
Posts: 344
offline

Hello,

Inspired by some messages regarding an ExpoDisk with TaoTeJared in a different thread:

TaoTeJared said:
Expodisks and some other custom WB tools are great. They are not a solve all, but they sure can save a ton of time and save many unusable images. Much easier with batch global changes as well.

I decided to open a new thread in order to read/share/learn/discuss about White Balance Tools you use.

From what I have read, there are at least 3 types of tools:
- Filters/Lens Caps (ExpoDisk, ExpoCap, ClearWhite, Colorright, Potato Pringles Cup)

- Reflective Cards (Whibal, McBeth, Styrofoam cup)

- Calibration Cards (Taz's Calibration and Color Correction Kit, Macbeth Color Checker)

I guess there are a larger number or products out there that do the same job, some very expensive that may be calibrated, while others may give good results on a low budget price. (e.g. a Pringles Potato Cup).

From what I have read, the ExpoDisk is the most popular.. but also one of the expensive ones.

What kind of WB tool you use? (Filter, Reflective, Calibration Cards)

When do you use it? (All the time, or only when you don't trust the camera WB?

When do you apply it? (for setting the on-camera Custom WB setting, during RAW WB tweaking, or while Post Processing (e.g. in Photoshop)

Disclaimer: I do not have any relationship with any of the products mentioned above, I just want to learn what you do on this topic, also for allowing us photographers get better results on our photos.

--- Ricky Marek.
P.D. Searching the forum did not point to threads on this topic.

Posted 2 years ago #
warprints

preferred member
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 769
offline

I shoot RAW images, and correct for white balance in post processing. My corrections are done by "feel" - no test shots. Maybe not the best, but it works for me.

In other words, sorry, I can't give you any good input.

Posted 2 years ago #
TaoTeJared

preferred member
Joined: Apr '10
Posts: 2,422
offline

Well since I was named ;)

ExpoDisk Neutral. It is neutral and the images come out that way but become extremely editable afterwards. 77mm = $100 - $125.
I found the "Warm" version started to pull out the good ole' Nikon Magenta channel and over saturated oranges. If there are any warm lights people may turn out to look like one of the Muppets.

Promaster white balance cap. Keep on my 35mm 1.8 and 50mm 1.4G. Not as good as expodisk but good enough for friends/family.

I did have Black / Gray / White collapsible target when I used Capture NX and it worked in conjunction with expodisk. It was a good starting point and do your edits from there. Stopped using it when the wind caught it and dropped it in the "Mighty Mo" (Missouri river - 1/2 mile wide at that spot). I don't really miss it. It did help with getting the right Black. If I shot weddings, it would help with the tuxedo black for sure.

I shoot probably 95% Jpegs and use a custom WB from my expo disk and can work with 99.999% of my files and spend only a couple of seconds tweaking color. I find that I no longer shoot RAW in fear of the color cast issues. There are times that the lighting is so bad that it can not handle but those are far and few between. Raw wouldn't even handle it.

Many shoot RAW for the WB capabilities since their Jpeg images come out with a color cast that is unrecoverable. (I know there are a ton of reasons other than WB but please use other threads for those.) I am surprised how many people have not taken the small amount of time to learn WB on their camera and what it can creatively accomplish with Jpegs. I love Nikon's "color" in their jpegs and find the amount of time to bring back the flatness of RAW files annoying. I also hate spending more than 10minuets "working" an image in the computer. I find if I hit the exposure and have the right WB, the need for Raw really dwindles down to using it just for dynamic range reasons. I think many others would find the same if they tried a WB tool.

Posted 2 years ago #
jerl

preferred member
Joined: Dec '10
Posts: 425
offline

When I used my D70, I found the automatic white balance was often hit or miss- adding trims (once I figured that out) helped a lot, but there were still many circumstances where I needed a custom balance- typically in those situations I used a sheet of white paper or anything that looked white to my eyes (and therefore wanted to look neutral). I don't shoot any color critical work so keep that in mind.

Today, I find my D90 is actually pretty good with auto white balance, and I rarely if ever have to select a preset program, much less a custom setting. In many difficult situations, I also find it nice to shoot in raw (mainly because I don't like the noise reduction), but even then, I rarely have to change the white balance setting from "as shot".

Posted 2 years ago #
bjrichus

preferred member
Joined: Nov '10
Posts: 921
offline

warprints said:
I shoot RAW images, and correct for white balance in post processing. My corrections are done by "feel" - no test shots. Maybe not the best, but it works for me.

Initially I used nothing! Several years ago I was given a copy of a "Field Guide" book that ended up on a bookshelf (nice thought on the part of my wife), but it came with a grey and color balance test card and I still use it.

Posted 2 years ago #
NSXType-R

preferred member
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 2,803
offline

Nothing really, I don't edit too much. I don't find the need to- I shoot for myself, not a client.

Posted 2 years ago #
sevencrossing

preferred member
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 1,265
offline

I shoot RAW and mostly of the balance by eye in Lightroom

but for tricky or critical shots (eg x10 ND filter) I shoot a test shot of a Lastolite Ezybalance then LR

Posted 2 years ago #
ProImages

member
Joined: Apr '11
Posts: 39
offline

XRite ColorChecker Passport creates a custom camera profile. I use it with the included Lightroom plug-in and shoot RAW. Not only does it correct WB, it corrects difficult colors like purple. There's no need to stop and preset WB. All you do is take a shot of the color checker card each time lighting changes, everything else is done in Lightroom. Few other adjustments are necessary, usually none at all.

Posted 2 years ago #
NikoDoby

The Terminator
Joined: May '09
Posts: 6,598
offline

Please do a forum search. There was a white balance (card/cap) thread a few weeks ago. There are also several other threads discussing white balance in-camera versus software (RAW)

Posted 2 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Topic Closed

This topic has been closed to new replies.

The new Nikon Rumors Forum is now live at http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussions. This forum is now in "read only" mode until I figure a proper way to import all data over to the new platform. Please register over at the new forum.

WB Tools - What do you use? (And recommend)...

Topic Closed