Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

I have not thought about the Expodisk in quite a while, until there was a recent thread hereabout it. It reminded me that I always wanted to test a theory I have, and if I happen across my Expodisk, I will. But while it's missing, let me ask what you folks think. You use the Expodisk by standing where your subject is, point the camera to where you will be shooting, and take a custom white balance. Fine--but what if you're shooting a sunrise or sunset? Would you not want to point the Expodisk toward the sun and set your WB?

One of life's deeper questions...

Ben

melismus Loc: Chesapeake Bay Country

If you do, you will remove most or all of the red from the scene. Try it.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

That's the problem; I don't remember when I last saw it!

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

On the expodisc you always point towards the main light source; not the subject.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I only use mine inside for getting fairly accurate color balance. Never outside.

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

I only use my expodisk indoors when I shoot without flash, something I am called upon to do fairly often. Also, you point the expodisk to your light source, that is what you are trying to balance. The objective of this exercise is to ensure that the existing light, regardless of its source, will render colours perfectly.

That said, one of the reasons I don't use it outside is because it's not practical. With a sunset or a sunrise the lovely colours of the event would be lost as the expodisk tries to balance the light source to something more white. If you're shooting into the shade you will need to use it again and the moment you're done with the shade you'd need it again too. Basically there is too much fuss and bother trying to use it outside particularly since outside there isn't usually a major colour problem to begin with or, if there is, like in a sunset, you actually want that colour.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Thanks, guys. Again, I don't use my Expodisc any more, but I wanted to test my theory about using it differently for sunsets. Melismus says I'm wrong and the reason makes sense, so I'm putting it to bed.

BebuLamar

Similarly! If you were to shoot the image on an TV or computer monitor screen how do you set the white balance using the expodisk? Basically the expodisk doesn't work if the subject is the light source. The expodisk does an incident measurement.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

There you go. Well said. I had the wrong answer, but the question is valid.

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

The Expodisc lets you quickly set both white balance and exposure. Take readings from the position of your subject, aim towards the final camera position and get both white balance and incident exposure. That said, it's not always possible or necessary to get to the subject's location. Also, a custom white balance setting will neutralize the "golden hour" look. Except for the shadows, why not sleep late and shoot at noon! Personally, I shoot sunrise/sunset pictures using the camera's "daylight" white balance setting to preserve the golden hour colors. Bottom line: The Expodisc is a great tool for many but not all situations.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

This is exactly what the manufacturer says. However, in reality, we do not but the ExpoDisc still does the job.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Too bad you do not use it outside. It works just as well there too. I do not know how auto white balance works in the camera but I found it to produce a lot of variability. I would not even use the presets.

AircraftGuru

I have used an Expodisc for at least 12 years ..... before I bought it .... I was using my first DSLR camera (Nikon D70)..... before it, I was not happy with the color of the photos, in spite of all the settings on the camera .... I am a retired Aeronautical Engineer and had to be a perfectionist and brought that thinking home and drove my wife and children up a wall (grin)... I saw the ad on the Expodisc and was at the local camera shop (Campus Camera, Kent, Ohio) .... and they had the Expodisc in stock .... I bought it and have been very happy since. I point it at the light source ulluminating the subject. We lived in NE Ohio ... on 5 acres ... half was wooded with maple trees .... part of the time I shot in shade ... no direct sun .... so the light was filtered thru green leaves and also a lot of blue sky on the side .... and no direct sun ..... and the color accuracy of the photos were exact to what I wanted .... I had gotten tired to color correcting my photos with the old Photoshop. I didn't use the Expodisc for all of my shots ... but I would guess 80% of the shots. And over the years moved the camera to a D7100.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Another place where the ExpoDisc does not work is in photographing candles. Same problem as a sunset.