Black card??


i-Noob

New Member
Jan 16, 2012
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Hi guys, I've read a few forums included Hanjie's blogs, but I still I don't really understand this black card methods.. Is the card totally black in color or just a piece of transparency in black color?
 

Yes, its just a black piece of 'something'.
Usually a black piece of card.
 

the idea of a black card is to block light from entering your sensor, especially during long exposures. you can either cover a part of the image (to prevent blowing of highlights while maintaining correct exposure to other areas) or totally cover (like shooting fireworks and waiting for the next to overlay the previous burst). so you have to use a matte (non-glossy) black card to prevent any light from accidentally entering the sensor. hope this helps
 

Does it work with reducing the brightness of the street lights or sportlights? let's say shooting landscape of the marina bay sand from far?
 

Does it work with reducing the brightness of the street lights or sportlights? let's say shooting landscape of the marina bay sand from far?

short answer is yes. if example you have an exposure of 15s metered for the scene and the street lights are blown out, by using a black card to cover the street lights for say 8s, you reduced the exposure of the street lights by 1 stop, making them, as you say, "less bright". do note however that everything else covered by the black card (like the scene behind the street lights) will be under-exposed, so this technique requires a bit of practice and patience.
 

Thank you so much for the explanation, guess it is time to practice more :)
 

I have maintained a personal handbook/notebook, and on the book cover, I pasted a black paper, and other colors like gray inside. so I got black card, white card and gray card to use.
 

What are those grey card & white card for ? =p
 

What are those grey card & white card for ? =p

Hi,For calibrating the camera's metering system for accurate white balance or colour.If factory setting
is not to your liking or expectation.Note that even with another same brand or model there is a small difference
in the sensor sensivity and circuitry because of manufacturing tolerance.The manufacturer will simply say that
the quality level is within tolerance or standards. :) Adjusting from setup menu or EV compensation.
 

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so if i dun have a manystop ND filter and I wanna take dreamy rocks on beach, can i long exposure and use a blackcard and wave it in front of the lens like a fan and expect similar effect as a ND filter ?
 

farbird said:
so if i dun have a manystop ND filter and I wanna take dreamy rocks on beach, can i long exposure and use a blackcard and wave it in front of the lens like a fan and expect similar effect as a ND filter ?

Black card is to prevent overexposure of highlights, not to prolong exposure.
 

one eye jack said:
Hi,For calibrating the camera's metering system for accurate white balance or colour.If factory setting
is not to your liking or expectation.Note that even with another same brand or model there is a small difference
in the sensor sensivity and circuitry because of manufacturing tolerance.The manufacturer will simply say that
the quality level is within tolerance or standards. :) Adjusting from setup menu or EV compensation.

Yes it's to get the accurate white balance. But I gotta admit I don't always use it also. Ha
 

farbird said:
so if i dun have a manystop ND filter and I wanna take dreamy rocks on beach, can i long exposure and use a blackcard and wave it in front of the lens like a fan and expect similar effect as a ND filter ?

I don't think that's possible. But I think can use it similar to GND instead
 

farbird said:
so if i dun have a manystop ND filter and I wanna take dreamy rocks on beach, can i long exposure and use a blackcard and wave it in front of the lens like a fan and expect similar effect as a ND filter ?

Think of taking pictures like painting with light, if you use a ND filter, u are still letting light in and painting on the sensor at slower rate, hence giving u the dreamy water effects. If you used a black card, you are simply blocking lights from entering the sensor, hence nothing is painted.
 

Cowseye said:
Think of taking pictures like painting with light, if you use a ND filter, u are still letting light in and painting on the sensor at slower rate, hence giving u the dreamy water effects. If you used a black card, you are simply blocking lights from entering the sensor, hence nothing is painted.

Is CPL filter working on those dreamy water effect beside ND filter? If yes, how often u guys using it?
 

so if i dun have a manystop ND filter and I wanna take dreamy rocks on beach, can i long exposure and use a blackcard and wave it in front of the lens like a fan and expect similar effect as a ND filter ?

Can, if you are the Flash.

If not, unless the light is low enough, waving the card frantically ain't going to help.

If you understand how light works, then you can probably see how if the required shutter speed at ISO100, F/22 is already 1/4000 second, for instance, waving your card isn't going to help extend the exposure, you need to wave the card for 8000 times a second to extend the exposure to 1/2000 seconds. (by blocking out the light half the time). That's one stop. Let's not even talk about 2 stops and beyond.. It means you have to wave the card even faster!

Alternatively, if you have a required exposure of 15 times per second, then you wave, it should help somewhat, since you ARE essentially stopping the light from hitting the sensor. THat's theory. Whether or not you will get the same amount of motion blur - I guess for the sky you would (because the clouds in the sky usually do not move as fast as water), if you're talking about waves, I think not, since you will have less overlap of the "motion".. Hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Cheers.
 

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Black card is to prevent overexposure of highlights, not to prolong exposure.

Well, in theory, you could prolong the exposure, but the effect may not be the same.

If a black card works as a GND, naturally it would have some amount of application as a ND filter as well, but only in certain circumstances. The black card is more versatile than a GND, but will be less versatile than a ND filter for all purposes.
 

erm... say I use a hand held fan to get the required frequency to block the scene [ ie reduce light going in ?] hehhe..

will experiment and let u guys know