Since I've been taking more and more shots with old manual-focus lenses these days, even with the 7D (which allegedly has great Auto White Balance), I've noticed the colours are a bit out.
It's most visible with an Asahi Pentax Takumar 50/1.4 I got recently. I love it already, built like a zeiss tank and sharper than the nifty fifty by a long shot. Problem is, it has the same problem a lot of Takumars get, some elements in the glass react with age and the whole thing goes yellow. I've tried the trick of putting it in the sun, the UV has gotten rid of some of the yellowness, but there's still some there.
Have some sample photos why not, Takumar vs NiftyFifty at f/4, Camera's Auto White Balance, dpp-raw converted.
Thankfully for this shot, there were a few signs around the place whence to get a 'click' white balance.
But in general, I've been wanting to add one to my kit anyway, question is, what to get?
I know some of you use the Spyder Cube, but they're fairly steep at $75 around here.
I've found some genuine Kodak Grey Cards for about half that online, and cheaper-brands are a lot less again. Also a lot easier to slip into the laptop-slot in my bag that a spydercube taking up a lens-space (how big are they?)
But then there's the "white balance filter" style, which i'm presuming you just put over your lens, take a shot, then use that for custom white balance for future shots. They go down to practically free on ebay (there may be a bit of a "you get what you pay for" situation) up to $100 for an expodisc.
So who's used what types of system, brand-name or rip-off, what's your experiences and what would you recommend?
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