Custom WB

[Damian S.]

Hi all. First post! Exciting. I've been reading, learning and enjoying all of the posts and photos put up by the community. This is my favorite site for Canon stuff - Bryan is awsome. Just curious as to how addicted I should be to using my grey card. I love it. I recently read about using a white card (in place of the grey card)incertain conditions. How much do you guys use (if you use one) your grey card?


Damian

[btaylor]

I don't really use a grey card at all. I always shoot in RAW then just adjust the white balance when processing the RAW files to what appeals to me.

[Alan]

I don't really use a grey card at all. I always shoot in RAW then just adjust the white balance when processing the RAW files to what appeals to me.
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That's what I do, too. Most of the time, you might have trouble with AWB with tungsten light, but a simple adjustment of the color temp in the RAW converter will fix that. Most other shots are fairly close, so a gray card isn't much use to me.


But, if you wanted, you could use it for various lighting conditions, and keep the file in your camera, for each situation. Then, you could set your custom WB accordingly.

[Sean Setters]

I have a grey card, and like the others, I rarely use it. I simply adjust the white balance in post (of course, I shoot in RAW). I find that sometimes "accurate" white balance isn't necessarily the best one...most people look best a little warmer than "accurate."

[clemmb]

As you can see there are both camps here. Those who shoot raw and those who shoot jpeg. I shoot jpeg. I started using a grey card but it became a hassel. I now use a Lastolite EZ Balance. It also doubles as a reflector. It has both white and gray sides and has a focus target. I do not use the white side for color balance, just for a reflector.


Mark

[msmiley]

I, like others who've chimed in, use RAW for images, so white balance becomes a non-issue.


However, for shootingvideo on my 7D, adjusting white balance in post is a hassle, so for those situations I use a white sheet of paper.


Mike

[Tom Wertman]

I find the ExpoDisc to be the easiest and most convenient tool for setting a CWB. Costs about as much as a UV filter and screws onto the lens just like a filter would making it small and easy to carry. Once the CWB is set remove the ExpoDisc and shoot. You will find very little post processing necessary. I use it indoors mostly at hockey rinks which are known for difficult lighting situations. [img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.22.75/CC_2D00_JV_5F00_HFL002-copy-copy.jpg.jpg[/img]

[peety3]

I shoot RAW, and I use a grey card. I'm learning to use my X-rite passport too.


I use remote flash a decent amount. In order to know what gels to put on the flash to match ambient light, I shoot the grey card, review with an RGB histogram, and adjust K and WB SHIFT to get accurate color in-camera. This also helps me pick the correct gel(s) to put on the flashes to match ambient. That's something you can't fix by changing the white balance values during RAW conversion.

[neuroanatomist]

Just curious as to how addicted I should be to using my grey card.

Welcome,Damian!


I'd say not too addicted, especially if you shoot in RAW. Personally, I shoot a mix of RAW and JPG. For the RAW shots in a portrait setting, I'll put a SpyderCube in one of the shots, handy for exposure and WB adjustment on the RAW files in post (I also include an X-Rite ColorChecker Passport in that reference shot). For the JPG shots, I mostly rely on one of the preset WB settings (daylight, cloudy, etc.) as appropriate for the scene. When I'm in a tricky lighting situation (e.g. indoors with equal lighting from windows and tungsten), I'll sometimes use my ColorRight to set a custom WB.


FWIW, the Canon manual suggests using a white card to set white balance. In reality, gray vs. white makes no real difference as long as they are spectrally neutral (but note that you'd want a white balance card, not a sheet of copy paper - papers usually have bluing agents added to make them appear 'whiter and brighter' meaning they are not spectrally neutral). The 18% gray card was primarily used for setting exposure, not white balance (because in the days of the gray card and manual exposure settings, white balance didn't exist - we bought color-balanced films for the conditions we'd be shooting in, with no way to change 'on the fly'). However, gray cards are spectrally neutral so they work well for setting a custom WB.

[peety3]

FWIW, the Canon manual suggests using a white card to set white balance. In reality, gray vs. white makes no real difference as long as they are spectrally neutral. The 18% gray card was primarily used for setting exposure, not white balance (because in the days of the gray card and manual exposure settings, white balance didn't exist - we bought color-balanced films for the conditions we'd be shooting in, with no way to change 'on the fly'). However, gray cards are spectrally neutral so they work well for setting a custom WB.
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The big difference with a white card is that it's easier to overexpose a white card than with a grey card. An overexposed &lt;neutral&gt; card will come up white "automatically" (all of the RGB values will be maxed out, and if R=G=B=max you have white).