18% grey card, where to get it

[matias_orchard]

Hello there,

 

I was wondering whether you can help me locating a place to get a good 18% grey

card for my custom white balance...

 

Not too many places online.

 

I would appreciate your input.

 

 

Cheers,

 

MO

[steve_parrott]

Go here:

 

www.rawworkflow.com/products/whibal/index.html

 

The "Whi Bal" card is a precision card which I have used for years.

[nickwhite]

Any reasonable size camera shop should stock them eg (in UK) http://www.jessops.com/Products/SearchResults.aspx?searchword=grey%20card or http://www.warehouseexpress.com/ or http://www.morrisphoto.co.uk/SearchResults.html?txtSearch=grey+card

[Matt Laur]

You might also consider killing a couple of birds with one stone. I use the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FLastolite-LL-LR1250-12-Inch-Ezybalance%2Fdp%2FB0009QZDL6%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics%26qid%3D1196695356%26sr%3D8-2&tag=uplandlife-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325" target="_blank"><b>Lastolite Ezybalance</b></a> for two reasons. First, it's a spring-loaded hoop-style thing that folds in on itself and gets really small in your bag/pack. Second, it's grey on one side, white on the other, and actually serves as a nice little shadow-filling reflector, too. And, not being cardboard, it doesn't crack/crinkle up, etc. It was worth it, for me, to spend the extra couple of bucks.

[frankz]

B&H carries a bunch of this sort of goodies.

[J.W. Wall]

B&H has them from about $1.90 up. Go to B&H and search "gray card".

[frank_dzambic]

Or just go to the local office supply store and pick up a sheet of white bristleboard or posterboard (whatever it's called locally). I have a Whi-Bal, and quite honestly, in the comparison shots I've done there's usually only a 50' difference in colour temperature between the bristleboard and the WhiBal which is completely insignificant. The WhiBal is much more durable, and will last much longer than a piece of bristleboard, but at 50X the price, it had better. The bristleboard on the other hand can be cut to a size that will easily fill your frame if you're setting a custom white balance in your camera on location rather than just using it for reference later on in post processing. You'll also get more accurate results using white rather than gray for white balance as long as you don't overexpose the white card.

[KenPapai]

If you had a halfway decent book photo library at home you'd already have one of these cards as they are often included in books.

[john_bellenis]

Some issues here - firstly an 18% gray card is an exposure aid (the 18% being deemed an

average reflectance) and not necessarily meant to be a white balance card. 18% gray cards

have been around for decades, long before the digital era, and while all of them reflect the

same amount of light, they are not standardized to a particular hue (if you look at a bunch

of them, the grays are cooler or warmer, but all give the same EXPOSURE reading).

 

Secondly, most commercially available white balance cards are in fact gray - white cards

can easily be too bright for post production software color temperature pickers to get data

from.

 

I also agree that in the vast majority of cases, and where overexposure is not a problem,

almost any white surface will suffice in getting you close enough to the correct color

temperature that a slight tweak will get you spot on.

 

I use a DGC-150 Digital Gray Card from Robin Myers - http://www.rmimaging.com/

information/dgc.html - as it fits easily into my camera bag and it's nice to have the

consistency. I shoot RAW, include it in one frame, use it as a color temp target and then

use that as my starting point (I usually alter it from there as every shot is different and

some images you WANT to appear cooler or warmer).

[mendel_leisk]

I picked up the Kodak package of grey cards from my local camera store, for about $20, four~five years back. Includes (2)-8.5"x11" and one compact card, maybe 4"x6". All are grey one side, white the other. I think they're still readily available.

[ymages]

if you can get a lastolite they are so practicle : http://www.lastolite.com/ezybalance.php

[jake_crews]

If you are open to alternatives, try the Expodisc, I love mine.

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=blended&field-keywords=expodisc&results-process=default&dispatch=search/ref=pd_sl_aw_tops-1_blended_30675195_2&results-process=default

[andre_reinders]

I noticed that the inside of Lowepro camera bags are 18% grey.

[darren_sandford]

The Whi-Bal card is great quality and I would recommend them, but it is NOT a 18% gray card. They say as much on the site. So if you get one, use it for white balance, not for exposure metering.

[mendel_leisk]

A couple of things to consider when using eyedropper to set white balance with grey card image: set your eyedropper sample zone as big as possible, and if you can, apply a strong gaussian blur to the image, to homongenize the tone as much as possible. In Photoshop's info pallet, you should be seeing very little fluctuation of r/g/b values as you move the eyedropper around the grey card.

[matias_orchard]

Many thanks, to all you guys. I guess I did the wrong search on B&H before... ;-)

 

Getting a Lastolite Ezy thing.

 

 

Cheers,

 

MO