Hey, I have an Cannon Eos 20D, I am trying to decide if i should continue setting my custom white balance everytime i shoot in manual or should i just use automatic white balance.  How much of a difference is there?  Are there settings where i should always set my custom white balance.  As you can probably tell i am a little confused about it and would really love for someone to give me some insight on the subject.

I also shoot with a 20D.  Any time I'm shooting inside without a flash, I set the custom white balance using a gray card.  It makes quite a difference, depending upon what type of lighting there is.  I'm usually shooting in a gym.  I always leave it set on automatic when shooting outside or with flash.  That's just what I've been doing, we'll see what other thoughts there are.

I agree with the guy below - although i don't set the white balance often (I mostly shoot outside) if you're shooting indoors a  lot even CS2 has a hard time taking the yellow out of everything.

Auto White Balance is like a crutch that has been half sawed through.

It might hold the weight fo a while but will eventually break when it is tested hard.

indoor house lighting needs a custom WB; and if you don't want to spend that effort, go with the "incandescent" setting.

Simple.... Just include a gray card/white card in one of your shots and then shoot as normal.  At this point it doesn't matter what wb setting you have since you will set it later.  Then, after the shoot, open up your raw editor and use the shot with the gray card to set wb.

I use custom white balance all the time no matter what the lighting conditions.  I also shoot a "reference shot" with the gray card in frame during every photo shoot.  The purpose of the reference shot is to check that my custom white balance is correct and make slight corrections if needed. 

It's the difference between hoping everything is going to turn out ok and knowing everything is correct. 

 

What do you all know about the expodisc?  Is it worth the money?  My camera store guy told me no, but I wanted your opinions.

Thanks!

People who use it love it.

They work... but so does a gray card at 1/100th of the price.    

In my opinion the expodisc folks are masterful at promoting their product using the technique of "It's more expensive so it must be better."

 

 

Be careful using grey cards for color balance unless they were specifically designed for it. Grey cards were initally designed for exposure use and may not  be neutral for white balance.

trwheels:

Be careful using grey cards for color balance unless they were specifically designed for it. Grey cards were initally designed for exposure use and may not  be neutral for white balance.

I shot thousands of images using a ten year old zone system gray card that yielded fantastic results.  It was designed for exposure and color balance in the film days and it still works just fine for digital white balance.  (film color balance instructions are printed on the back)

Now recently I've upgraded to a Digital Gray Card from Robin Myers Imaging. It's a lighter shade of gray that is supposed to yield superior white balance results.  I tested it against my old beater and it was a tiny bit better. 

My main reason for the upgrade is that my old cardboard card was starting to show it's age.  The corners were all bent and the surface was starting to polish from years of rubbing against stuff.

This new card is made of a solid gray composite material.  It feels like wood but it's some kind of plastic.  The nice thing is that it's washable!  I can use it in the rain if needed and I can even resurface it with an orbital sander if it starts to lose it's matte finish. 
 

Obscura:

It was designed for exposure and color balance in the film days and it still works just fine for digital white balance.

It doesn't have to be specifically designed for digital white balance, for film works too.

cort

Brooke J. Rules!!  Sounds like you were doing it right all along...shows what you get for listening to me!

I use the expodisc and love it . The yellow is not an issue with my pics now because of the disc. It is easy and I use it in the manual setting on my camera. I have the Canon EOS 5D slr and love it. You can not beat the camera. White balance is no longer one of my many issues. Mine cost about 150.00 dollars and it is worth every penny.

That thing costs $150!?  Yikes.

Somehow, I think a gray card is a better value.

Ok, can someone tell me how to USE that darn grey card then?  I can't ever seem to get it in focus to take the shot.  Doesn't it have to fill the entire area?  Or can it have something around it and actually focus on the grey card itself?  I'm just confused.  Help???? Please?

One way is to focus on the edge of the gray card and then recompose so that the gray fills the circle (or most of the frame).  As long as the gray fills the center of the frame you'll be able to run the in-camera white balance.  You can also draw a small cross mark near the edge of the gray card for your auto focus to pick up on, then recompose so the mark is not in the center of the frame.  Or, you can manually focus.  The better lenses allow you to manually focus even when the auto focus is turned on which is very helpful for this situation.

The method I use is to place the gray card somewhere in the scene where the focus of interest is, like near the subject's face when doing portraits.  Then I take the shot.  Sometimes I'll do the same at the end of the session to account for any changes in light temperature.  I then skip the in-camera wb and usually leave it on auto or daylight since most my portraits are outside though it really doesn't matter.  Later, in Lightroom or ACR,  is when I do the custom wb.  I've found that even after I get the "correct" wb (wheather in-camera or later in Lightroom) I still adjust it to taste to get pleasing skin tones or to what I think the light should be, not what it actually was.

The price of the ExpoDisc depends on the size. I have the 77mm size so that it covers all my lenses. If you're concerned about color balance and convenience, it's a great gadget to have. Or you could take a clean, white terrycloth towel with you and determine exposure and color off that. Yes, a good, non-flourescing towel works great. Have your subject hold the towel in the lighting you want and check for "blinkies". Reduce exposure until the blinkies are gone and viola! you'll have perfect exposure. Also take a WB off the towel. Cheap, easy to do.

jjhat1:

That thing costs $150!?  Yikes.

I sometimes have trouble focusing on the gray card too.  I usually set it to one shot focus and focus on the edge of it.  On the Canon 20D it has to fill the center circle of the lens, which is usually no problem.

I just bought the WhiBal card. It rocks

Jeff, I am new so have pity on me. Please explain to me about the grey card. My Canon D20 is set on AWB all the time. So, if I am shooting inside with flash I should shoot a grey card first? And how does this work exactly? Do you mean to physically take a grey card and make a picture of it? Remember to have pity! Ha! Thanks so much, Cindy

Obscura:

I use custom white balance all the time no matter what the lighting conditions.  I also shoot a "reference shot" with the gray card in frame during every photo shoot.  The purpose of the reference shot is to check that my custom white balance is correct and make slight corrections if needed. 

It's the difference between hoping everything is going to turn out ok and knowing everything is correct. 

 

Obscura...or anyone who can help.... I just purchased the digital gray card you recommended and hopefully will get it next week. I have not used one.. so like others.. not sure the exact steps.. after I take a picture of the gray card, then what? do I need to set that in my camera as the custom white balance? If I do that can I use different settings, like portrait, manual, etc. without having to reset with gray card?  How do I know the white balance is correct? from the histogram?

thanks all!

Cindy,

I have a Canon D20 also.  I only use custom white balance when shooting inside without flash.  For outside or when using flash I use AWB.  Not saying this is 100% correct, but it's what I do.  Perhaps others will comment on that.  To set custom white balance just check out the manual, but yes, you take a picture of a gray card under the lighting you will be shooting in.  Get the gray card from a camera supply place.  After you take the picture you go to custom white balance on the menu.  It will tell you to select a picture and you select the picture of the gray card you just took.  It will then use this color to set the white balance.  Then close the menu and set to custom white balance on top of camera.  That's it!

chefdave....that whibal card....does it work in with jpeg? how does that work? i watched some of that video on there...but it looked like it was all RAW postproduction stuff....i have never used white/gray cards before....