darekstudio Loc: Minnesota

What is important to choose gray card for calibration ? The prices $ for cars it's so different make me confused 🙃😏

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I wouldn't call it great but the Robin Reliant had balance problems.
Had three wheels, one in front two in the back and tipped over when turning.

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

shades of Grey is how the camera sensor determines a mid point for exposure, So if you are photographing 'the same thing' with studio lights over and over again they will keep you on a similar exposure should you need to join or overlay your images. In Life, however: the exposure constantly changes.....so a Grey card will only give you the mid point once.

To use a grey card you need to understand the histogramme and how the bell curve 'should look'. ie even at the edges. So reading your histagramme is free (once you have established 'how')

Some photographers suggest taking a shot of your hand....it is in the same reflected light ....and Then decide which way to change the apperture to be within the bell curve.....If that is the case then 'any' grey card would do the same job.

You are looking at the finer points of photography. A 'correct' apperture is when all the detail within the blacks and whites are captured - in life it is not usually 'all there' , either mainly dark or mainly bright. Plus exposure is a constantly argued topic.....you can be absolutely 'on the button' and some 'expert' will disagree.

Personally, I bought a piece of grey card from a craft shop....it eventually got cut up and made into a matt for one of my pictures.

Have fun and don't spend the Christmas money

darekstudio Loc: Minnesota

Wow it's a lot information for me , thank you so much, 😊

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

My advice is to spend a $100 on a ColorChecker Passport and to shoot RAW. It is probably the best money I ever spent on photography. There are videos about using it on YouTube by Mark Wallace, Joe Brady and others...

Best,
Todd Ferguson

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

"Top Gear" featured them on a show, and it turned out that they had modified the cars so it was impossible for them to turn a corner without falling over.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Some useful links.
12%
http://www.bythom.com/graycards.htm

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-a-gray-card-to-get-more-accurate-exposures-and-color/
http://www.digitalphotomentor.com/how-to-use-a-gray-card-for-custom-white-balance-and-metering/?utm_source=Digital+Photo+Mentor&utm_campaign=f5fb80c5b2-DPM_Blog_Broadcast&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec33f1d0c3-f5fb80c5b2-263056661&mc_cid=f5fb80c5b2&mc_eid=fddc3ab094

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I assume when you said "grey card for calibration" you meant recording a white balance reference at a scene, or for setting white balance in-camera. Correct?

And yes the prices for cars varies, as well as the prices for gray cards. ;) You want a grey card that is grey and does not have a color tinge. And my experience is the larger ones are easier to use. The Passport product mentioned above is also a viable method. More expensive and more involved and more time consuming. The Passport can be used in the process of color management to get accurate color on monitors and prints. Monitor calibration, by the way, is something you should be doing, if you want accurate color.

You need a white balance reference when you want reproduce accurate color at a scene. Product photography, fashion, come to mind as areas where accurate color is important. Those customers do not want you to chance the color of their products, also portraits, although you might warm portraits a bit in post. You don't need to bother with a grey card if you are using the color of the light to create create a mood. You want a warm mood for sunsets for example, and blue hour should be blue. One last thought, for white balance ideally you would use a white card, not a gray card. The gray card was originally intended for setting exposure. However good white cards are much more $$ because they are difficult to produce with a flat spectrum. A good gray cards is a lot cheaper so many people use a gray card for setting white balance.

So why do you want to use a gray card? What is your intended use?

mtbear

I bought a 10 pack of QPcards about 15 years ago and still have 5 left. Each card is about 1.5" by 5.5 " and has white, black and grey sections as well as a scale for macro work. They fit easily into your pocket or bag so you always have them. The three colors correspond to the three droppers in Photoshop's Level command so good color balance is just 3 clicks away.

Buy them here http://amzn.to/2kUxFzu