White Balance Card or Lens Cap?

[jason_conway1]

<p>What is better for setting white balance a lens cap, or a white card?</p>

<p>Also, do they make a universal white balance lens cap? I have all kinds of different size fiilter lenses, is there one that will fit them all?</p>

[mark_sirota1]

<p>Generally the card type works better if the subject isn't in the same light as your camera. The lens cap style works like an incident meter -- it needs to be in the same light as your subject.</p>

<p>You can just use a too-big lens cap style thing and hold it over the lens. You don't actually have to attach it.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>I tried white, conical coffee filters (size #4) over the lens, which seem to work pretty well. For a more sophisticated approach, use an X-Rite Color Checker chart (24 patches) and X-Rite "Passport" software. This creates a 3-D color profile which covers the whole range of reflectance.</p>

[stephen_hedley]

<p>I have been using lens cap as quick and convenient. I shoot a lot of weddings and messing around with white cards was impossible.<br>

I am getting results that need no adjustment as close to actual. Some tweaking could be done however difference would be so subtle that don't think it worth the time and effort.<br>

I bought one lens cap initially and shared it on 24-70 and 70-200mm lens. After 1 month eval going to purchase a second. You can leave cap in place like ordinary lens cap when not in use.</p>

<p> </p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>White balance can be quickly and easily adjusted in Lightroom. I don't see the point of doing this on the job, when the light can change quickly anyway. I do the color correction in blocks, corresponding to changes in the environment. Video is different, because color correction takes a LONG time in post.</p>

<p>If you're shooting in JPEG, it makes sense to do color correction on the fly. But then, JPEG shooters need all the help they can get.</p>

[yuri_sopko]

<p>Jacy, I noticed that in another post about a lens that you stated that you have a D300. The D300 is fairly accurate in its white balance. If you had an older camera, like a D50 or something, then the issue of white balance might be an issue. But, an ExpoDisc would be the fastest and you would probably never use it. I have one and I used it all the time on my Olympus C-8080 and then my D50. But, as mentioned before, the D50 white balance was not so hot. The C-8080 would fluctuate on scene so I had to do custom WB.</p>

<p>For you, I would worry about setting up a proper color profile within the camera as far as skin tones, etc are concerned. I shoot landscape so I like vivid colors which may not be a good idea for shooting people (: But, their are plenty of threads concerning how to set up a D300 for portrait photography and that is where I would focus. If, after you have mastered the D300 and all its settings, it has a lot, then I would look into WB solutions.</p>

<p>Or, a D3. :)</p>

[john_narsuitus]

<p>I have tried a number of different methods for setting a white balance.</p>

<p>1. Light reflected off an 18% gray card--this method is recommended in my digital camera instruction manual but I seem to get better results using a white card.</p>

<p>2. Light reflected off a white card--very useful when subject is illuminated by different light sources. For example, I was shooting available light wedding candids and the subjects were illuminated by incandescent lights, fluorescent lights, sunlight from a large open door in the rear of the church, and sunlight coming through stained glass windows. Using the reflected method enabled me to reflect all four light sources off the white card. Using an incident method would have been useless because I would be able to point the camera at only one of the light sources and be forced to ignore the other three.</p>

<p>3. Expodisc--works very well for performing incident white balance settings. However, some find the price for this excellent product too expensive.</p>

<p>4. Expodisc knock off--on eBay, there is at least one company in Hong Kong that sells an inexpensive white balance lens cap that works very well. Just be aware that the shipping time is long.</p>

<p>5. Gelatin Filter Holder--I use white paper (coffee filter, tracing paper, or typing paper) in a 52mm Nikon AF-1 Gelatin Filter Holder and a 72mm Nikon AF-2 Gelatin Filter Holder to perform incident white balance settings.</p>

<p>6. Opaque white plastic lid off a food container--Pringles Potato Chips once made a lid that was the perfect size and opacity for performing an incident white balance setting. However, they now use a clear lid. I have, however, taken the clear lid and lined it with white coffee filter, white tracing paper, or white typing paper to make it opaque. This works almost as well as an Expodisc.</p>

<p>7. White coffee filter--since it is light weight, pretty accurate, and very inexpensive, I tend to keep one in my camera bag regardless of which white balance method I plan on using.</p>

[walterh]

<p>Jacy both work in different ways.<br>

1) A white (or gray) lens cap measures the light that reaches your camera. You point it into the direction of the light that shines onto your target. So you pretend to be in the place of the target. Very useful if you cannot get close to your target or place a color checker card next to your target.<br>

2) A gray card (or similar object) is placed close to your target (e.g. included in a test shot)so that is reflects the incoming light as closely as possible.</p>

<p>So in short it will be good to have both types of tool available to be prepared for the upcoming situation.<br>

Be aware that most objects you image are not two dimensional. Very often there is more than one light source from one direction (like the sun) or more than one type of light sources with identical spectra.<br>

For example a person is 3D and if there is more than one light source chances are that the light from different angles are of different color temperature. If you try to determine this by using a two dimensional card or lens cap you will get errors. Even a spherical object on your lens can be misleading since it will integrate the light sources. A spherical gray object placed next to your target will show you different reading for the different light sources and directions. Not necessarily a solution but it gives you information about the light sources.<br>

A person in sunlight might be illuminated by one light source. But it may sit next to a red wall on one side and next to a green bush on the other side. So you got three light sources. If you can determine the correct WB for each side of the person it is still a tough decision to choose the WB since there is no "correct" WB.<br>

This may be confusing but it shows that a basic understanding and a good look at the scene are the best tools :-)<br>

A simple Kleenex in the right spot can be a better tool than a magic best ever "nano - high tech tool" for a lot of money. This is not to say that a calibrated tool like X-Rite color checker does not work better than a simple sheet of paper. But a simple tool used correctly works better than a pro tool (or self acclaimed pro tool) used in the wrong way.</p>