Expodisc with D100

[HMC]

Dear Nikonian,

Need advise if expodisc is a must have or good to have item. At the same time if some kind D100 user can advise on how to use the Expodisc with D100.

Thank you

[espn]

The same as on any other camera, put the expodisc infront of your len, fire towards the lightsource and achieve preset WB on the D100. Then shoot with your D100 on preset WB.

I still advise on RAW though

[Gymrat76]

Unless you do a lot of indoor shots with tricky lighting, the Expodisc is an unnecessary expense (in my opinion). Like espn says, just shoot in RAW when in doubt under those conditions, of if you can afford larger capacity CF cards, then shoot everything in RAW

[ANEWUSER]

So does it mean that it is only good to have and not a must have item?

[Gymrat76]

Yep, most photographers I know just WB off a grey/white card, else use a Pringle's cover... at $250+ the expodisc is waaaay to expensive for what it does

[Witness]

how to use the pringles cover??/

can teach??

[acrylonithrill]

expodisc? no way... ask denniskee... he made a new generation of expodisc... Home-made expodisc..

[ANEWUSER]

denniskee, are you there. Teach us how to make the 'Home-made Expodisc' lah.

[Denosha]

I posted a test i did using coffee filters as a cheapo expodisc substitute some while back. Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.sgl.per.sg/~denosha/CoffeeFilterWB

Yesh, it's not perfect but for that kinda price difference I think it seriously works better than expected?

[ANEWUSER]

Wonderful. I will try that out. Anyone try using lamp diffuser and photowhite paper together like a expodisc. I think I would like to try that out.

[bernardsia]

I tried those photopaper, they don't work very well. Just go on down to CP and get the Kodak grey cards for $24. One side is 18%, the other side is white.

[ericp]

Pringles cover :

a. Buy tin of Pringles in your favorite flavor. Look at the translucent cover to check that it's in pretty good shape (no scratches, etc), though that's not very important.

b. Consume contents, enjoy with a nice beverage. Better yet, share with your friends. Clean fingers.

c. Set your camera to manual exposure, manual focus. Turn lens to infinity.

d. Put translucent cover over lens, point it at light source (or brightly lit part of scene), and shoot a frame to set white balance.

e. Finish Pringles and dispose of rest of container.

[espn]

Alternatively, do I what I did when I shot JPEGs.

1) Set to AWB
2) and do a meter on a white object (eg, wedding gown, t-shirt) under the lighting you're shooting,
3) then use that as your WB to shoot.

The images will minus the reading on the preset wb to give you the right image. Not recommended for hardcore places like disco where the lights change often.

Ask sykestang on the effects of the preset WB, I remember he has some shots with preset WB.

[2100]

It works but way too expensive lar (like most photo stuff). Now, i don't believe in the saying that even if you are a full-professional, you need it as it would pay itself off anyway. There are many other professions which would not stand for this kind of pricing.

And you need several sizes. If you say you buy the biggest and then hold it in front of a small lens then what's the diff between that and filter/pringles cover etc?

Besides, absolutely correct WB in your workflow may not mean pleasing results on different mini or pro labs, papers etc. So this "absolute accuracy" is pretty moot, again.

Just use the pringles cover, filter etc...... If it's so darn big/important you would be shooting in RAW anyway. Nowadays compressed RAW somemore, 5MB nia and 299 for 2GB Lexar. A pro should have enough computing and storage anyway.

[denniskee]

Originally Posted by ericp Pringles cover : a. Buy tin of Pringles in your favorite flavor. Look at the translucent cover to check that it's in pretty good shape (no scratches, etc), though that's not very important. b. Consume contents, enjoy with a nice beverage. Better yet, share with your friends. Clean fingers. c. Set your camera to manual exposure, manual focus. Turn lens to infinity. d. Put translucent cover over lens, point it at light source (or brightly lit part of scene), and shoot a frame to set white balance. e. Finish Pringles and dispose of rest of container.

Can I contribute my effort for (b) .

Anyway, CWB can be done using expo-disc, coffee filters, tracing papers, ect. And it is not limited to tricky indoor lighting. You should use it outdoor, if you realise the color on your LCD seems to be off (note, here I am assuming you LCD is correctly color balanced). Let quote example.

I took photo of flamingo @ the zoo. Using auto white balance on my D60 and leadwe's 10D, the pinkish color of the flamingo's feather is not present, it is abit to the warm side due to the fact the birds is surrounded by greeneries. As such, in AWB mode, any digital camera will shows the slight yellow cast. You can try it.

After doing CWB using my little gadget, we were able to get the pinkish feather of the flamingo.

Since most of us shoot in jpeg, it is very important to get the "correct" image the 1st place. Any PSing should be minimium, nothing can be gain without the expense of other stuff. Not to mention the time spend on "correcting".

For those interested, you are welcome to join me @ the zoo, this coming saturday, 06/11/04 (unless it rains). I will be there the whole day. Not only will I show you how easily you can make the gadget, the ease of using it, the effectiveness of using it to set the CWB, I will also show you how to improve you black & white photography taken with your digital camers (note, I say digital cameras cause this is not limited to DSLR). However, will need someone to bring a laptop (cause I dont own one ) to show and explain the before and after effect.