Grey card for custom white balance?? (Page 2): hear, hear! I knew that a white or grey image would be fine but had not 'registered' the neutral bit. Changing tack just a little: I...

dave.m

joecichjr wrote:

I learn something whenever I'm here⭐

hear, hear!

I knew that a white or grey image would be fine but had not 'registered' the neutral bit.

Changing tack just a little: I often use the user set colour balance with my Canon camera - just take an image with large white or grey area and select that as white balance source.

But on a city coach tour it was obvious the glass of the coach was tinted a strange green colour from the first image I took. The option of using a grey card was a total non-starter and a few quick test pictures confirmed that none of the colour settings of the camera would work.

So I took a photo of the light grey tarmac road through the tinted window and used that as reference - worked a treat! Now the chance of the road being a true neutral18% grey was nil but it was near perfect for colour balance for the rest of the trip and only a few images needed balancing with the LR eye dropper tools.

So coming back to the meat of this post - neutral (or near enough) is the key

bbrown5154 Loc: Baltimore, MD

bsprague wrote:

Grey cards are a holdover from when meters, especi... (show quote)

You can also use the palm of your hand for a pretty close approximation of a gray card.
We/I did that in my Zone System photography classes back in film days.

bbrown5154 Loc: Baltimore, MD

Strodav wrote:

I shoot raw and often take a shot of a 3 square gr... (show quote)

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Ben, I'd suggest using a white card for WB. The gray card is better used as a general exposure guide. I have a few gray cards that are gray on one side and white on the other. Though, I rarely use them "in the field". I've used them mostly in laboratory work to assess a digital camera's capabilities to hand additional exposure.
--Bob

Rab-Eye wrote:

Although the manuals for every camera I have says to use something white for setting a custom white balance, I have also read/seen videos that say to use something white or a gray card. This makes no sense to me (they are not talking about using the grey card as a reference for setting WB in post). How can telling your camera that a grey card should be white result in correct WB? Are these sources simply wrong, or am I missing something?

Thanks!

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

bbrown5154 wrote:

You can also use the palm of your hand for a pretty close approximation of a gray card.
We/I did that in my Zone System photography classes back in film days.

Huge advantage: You always have the palm of your hand with you!!
I've heard some not-so-nice words when someone realized they forgot to put a grey card in the camera bag and now they're 3 hours driving from home...

bbrown5154 Loc: Baltimore, MD

Morning Star wrote:

Huge advantage: You always have the palm of your hand with you!!
I've heard some not-so-nice words when someone realized they forgot to put a grey card in the camera bag and now they're 3 hours driving from home...

Silverrails

bleirer wrote:

For white balance anything with equal r, g, and b ... (show quote)

Wow, Totally Confusing answer for me, maybe to Technical for me to Understand, I personally have never used a "Grey Card" in my Photography, as yet, I have considered one, but never thought I would really remember how or when or why to use a Grey Card, now at 70, who really cares that much, I would never notice a difference anyway.

CO

I just purchased the large (8-1/2" X 11") X-Rite Custom White Balance Card. It's actually light gray in color.

Produced as a light gray target, the ColorChecker White Balance target creates a more spectrally neutral sample.

The light gray reference allows a lower light reflectance level to prevent over-saturating the camera sensor.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Rab-Eye wrote:

Although the manuals for every camera I have says to use something white for setting a custom white balance, I have also read/seen videos that say to use something white or a gray card. This makes no sense to me (they are not talking about using the grey card as a reference for setting WB in post). How can telling your camera that a grey card should be white result in correct WB? Are these sources simply wrong, or am I missing something?

Thanks!

For casual - not critical - white and color balance, a grey or white card will often be fine Either should provide a close enough balance between Red Green and Blue values - which would indicate no color cast. But for dead-on perfectly neutral color, the best tool I have found is the XRite ColorChecker Passport.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

At the end of the day, I always end up picking something from the shot in post for my white balance until I see what I remember at the time of the shoot and what I wanted as a result. No camera ever captures what my eye sees. Cameras are more limited than the complex vision of humans. So I know going in that I will need to correct in post to match both my physical vision and my "Vision".
Of course, those who want straight from the camera might like using a card. And that is OK.
There are times I use a card. When I think it will give me a better starting point in post.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

PHRubin wrote:

White balance is for tint, not exposure. Both white and gray are neutral in tint.

Good point, no one during film time could set there white balance, that was set by the film. What we were looking for was a neutral grey (not white which would of caused over exposure) for exposure. Two very different purposes and two very different things.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Rab-Eye wrote:

Although the manuals for every camera I have says to use something white for setting a custom white balance, I have also read/seen videos that say to use something white or a gray card. This makes no sense to me (they are not talking about using the grey card as a reference for setting WB in post). How can telling your camera that a grey card should be white result in correct WB? Are these sources simply wrong, or am I missing something?

Thanks!

Gray cards can be used for many purposes, including “quick and dirty” white balance, provided they are made with that goal in mind. I like the color I get from Delta-1 brand cards. I never liked the color I got from Kodak cards.

That said, a better approach is to use an ExpoDisc, which is a translucent lens cover used to diffuse light. (Google it).

Still better is to make a custom camera profile for each scene, using an X-Rite ColorChecker Passport.

Many other white balance tools are available. Most work well enough when used correctly. My favorite is the 24” One Shot Digital Calibration Target.

dandev Loc: Enumclaw, WA

I have a small collapsible gray/white card that I carry in my bag. (Similar to the one at B&H referenced below.) I use it when doing product, real-estate or portraits. Or when the colors have to be close to reality. Like making sure the shade of blue cabinet is correct. Sometimes the walls of a room give you a tint that your eyes don't even catch.

It just takes a single frame to capture it. If I'm shooting a person, I just have them hold it. When I'm in post processing, I use the eyedropper in Color Balance to figure out what it is. it's not perfect - but it's a good place to start. I also have a passport color checker that I use when I remember to pull it out.

The white side of the grey card can also be use as a bounce for a flash.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/981245-REG/impact_qbp_g_12_quickbalance_panel_18_percent_gray_12.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3smABhCjARIsAKtrg6J6OKlzhUaE1TruAXm9qzx7ki3pqtluHuYJpxYiYM0J7e-zCy7GF6UaAvueEALw_wcB

williejoha

In the days of old I thought you could not take any decent pictures unless you went through all the WB stuff. WRONG, who cares as long as it looks good and you do not shoot commercials. IMHO
WJH

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

So many good comments. Thank you all.