White balance card


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cavemonkey

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Aug 26, 2007
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I'm thinking of getting a white balance card. But is there really a need for that? I have taken photos with my camera and the outcome of the photo on the screen of the camera and on my computer monitor are completely different.

And what is the difference between these 3:

White balance card

Midtone gray

Colour card (don't really know what is called, basically its just a card with all the colours)

But more importantly, where can I get them, assuming if I want to get?

Thanks
 

White balance is essential, that if you are serious about the shots. In many instances, the difference from casual camera users and photographic enthusiasts is only the white balance. I have seen tons of photographs with everything right, but the scene was either too blue or too orange, i.e too cool or too warm respectively. The typical is to use a neutral 18% grey card. Yes, a "white balance card" is a "18% grey" card. The colour temperature is the factor, not the card colour itself. If you want to know more about colour temperature, I suggest you google a bit else this will become a very very long post.
 

White balance is essential, that if you are serious about the shots. In many instances, the difference from casual camera users and photographic enthusiasts is only the white balance. I have seen tons of photographs with everything right, but the scene was either too blue or too orange, i.e too cool or too warm respectively. The typical is to use a neutral 18% grey card. Yes, a "white balance card" is a "18% grey" card. The colour temperature is the factor, not the card colour itself. If you want to know more about colour temperature, I suggest you google a bit else this will become a very very long post.

I see, putting colour clibration of the monitor aside, I always find my pictures not being in the correct white balance that I wanted. Irritating me. So is there anywhere in S'pore that I can get it?
 

I see, putting colour clibration of the monitor aside, I always find my pictures not being in the correct white balance that I wanted. Irritating me. So is there anywhere in S'pore that I can get it?

I recommend getting one of these "kill 2 birds with one stone" type of product.

It's basically a mcrofibre cloth which can be used as a 18% Grey Card too. Small and compact and highly portable. Also, very handy if you ever need to wipe your lens.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/387585-REG/Spudz_PHOTO25_Micro_Fiber_Cleaning_Cloth.html

I'm not sure if this is available in Singapore coz' I got mine from an online store.

Cheers!
 

I am currently using THIS .. works well ... bought it directly from their site...
 

White balance card= there are many types of WB tools, some are like a round filter type, eg Expodisc, some are like small foldable reflector with one side white and one side gray, some are like credit cards size with white, gray and black

Midtone gray = 18% gray card

Colour card (don't really know what is called, basically its just a card with all the colours) = I think you are refering to GretagMacbeth ColorChecker


tools one and two are mainly for measuring custom W/B for your camera, and has nothing to do about "outcome of the photo on the screen of the camera and on my computer monitor are completely different", reason is camera monitor is for your reference, can't use it for color judging, and your computer monitor need to calibrate for rendering accurate color.

the use of custom W/B is to minimize the post production workload, to some, they think is not nessaery, and some, think differently.
 

White balance card= there are many types of WB tools, some are like a round filter type, eg Expodisc, some are like small foldable reflector with one side white and one side gray, some are like credit cards size with white, gray and black

Midtone gray = 18% gray card

Colour card (don't really know what is called, basically its just a card with all the colours) = I think you are refering to GretagMacbeth ColorChecker


tools one and two are mainly for measuring custom W/B for your camera, and has nothing to do about "outcome of the photo on the screen of the camera and on my computer monitor are completely different", reason is camera monitor is for your reference, can't use it for color judging, and your computer monitor need to calibrate for rendering accurate color.

the use of custom W/B is to minimize the post production workload, to some, they think is not nessaery, and some, think differently.

One kind of the colour chart is known as IT 8.7 Colour Calibration Targets :)
 

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I'm thinking of getting a white balance card. But is there really a need for that? I have taken photos with my camera and the outcome of the photo on the screen of the camera and on my computer monitor are completely different.

Reason is that your camera LCD is not profiled and the image is highly affected by any surrounding light. The LCD is to change settings and to quickly review the pictures and the histogram.
Your computer monitor needs profiling before you can make any reasonable judgment about the colours. You can check in Digital Darkroom here in CS, there are several threads discussing the tools and the techniques. Using RAW format gives you all freedom to adjust the White Balance later, using the gray cards will then just help you to get a good preliminary adjustment.
The basic presets as available in all cameras are quite good in natural light or in case you have only or mainly the respective lamps / bulbs / flash. The challenge is to get the correct WB settings for mixed light conditions. Here the gray cards or other tools will help you a lot.
 

White balance card= there are many types of WB tools, some are like a round filter type, eg Expodisc, some are like small foldable reflector with one side white and one side gray, some are like credit cards size with white, gray and black

Midtone gray = 18% gray card

Colour card (don't really know what is called, basically its just a card with all the colours) = I think you are refering to GretagMacbeth ColorChecker


tools one and two are mainly for measuring custom W/B for your camera, and has nothing to do about "outcome of the photo on the screen of the camera and on my computer monitor are completely different", reason is camera monitor is for your reference, can't use it for color judging, and your computer monitor need to calibrate for rendering accurate color.

the use of custom W/B is to minimize the post production workload, to some, they think is not nessaery, and some, think differently.

After hearing so much I am quite confuse as to which one should I use? the midtone gray or just use the white balance card? Is there a difference?
 

After hearing so much I am quite confuse as to which one should I use? the midtone gray or just use the white balance card? Is there a difference?


can understand your situation ... after hearing, must also read up hor.. try this link.. thereafter, san san go and try it out.

Cheers!
 

After hearing so much I am quite confuse as to which one should I use? the midtone gray or just use the white balance card? Is there a difference?
some are cheap, some are expensive, some are compact and convenient, some are not.
basically all serve the same purpose, to do custom WB, if you use it properly it will give you accurate results.

just like camera metering methods, some says spot metering better some says matrix metering good, some say center weighted more accurate, so can you tell which is good?
 

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