nat
Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA
There seems to be a difference of opinion on whether to use 18% gray card or white card to set custom white balance. Which is correct?
nat wrote:
There seems to be a difference of opinion on whether to use 18% gray card or white card to set custom white balance. Which is correct?
Either one should work. You might check your camera manual and see if they specify one or the other. Mine says to use white, and as a bonus, if the exposure is too high and blows out the white card, you get a "no good" and know to reduce the exposure. If you use gray, make sure it is a fairly new card as some of the ones made for film exposure weren't necessarily color neutral, or the color could have shifted on old cards. I use a Lastolite WB collapsible target which has white on one side and gray on the other and has hash marks to focus on so you don't have to turn off autofocus to use it.
nat
Loc: Martha's Vineyard, MA
Apparently there were some replies, but I got a message that I had blocked certain things. Don't know how to unblock.
pmorin
Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs
nat wrote:
Apparently there were some replies, but I got a message that I had blocked certain things. Don't know how to unblock.
Go to your profile page and click on the ignore list at the top just under the account setting banner. If you have someone blocked, they should show up there.
...either one can work....
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
nat wrote:
There seems to be a difference of opinion on whether to use 18% gray card or white card to set custom white balance. Which is correct?
I have found the white card to be more accurate on my Nikon's.
Custom white balance was discussed here a short time back. I posted the cards that I use. I either use my own "Zebra Card" which consists of Black, Gray, and White strips. Include this in your first shot. Then when using photoshop, you can use the 3 eyedroppers in Curves to correct. Easy. Peasy. Japanesey.
nat wrote:
There seems to be a difference of opinion on whether to use 18% gray card or white card to set custom white balance. Which is correct?
Both are valuable approaches, a custom WB is more precise and gives better results in challenging situations!
Ether... but be sure to shoot the card out of focus. Both are numerical standards.
You just need to be certain the gray card is truly neutral gray. If it has any sort of tint at all, it will bias the Custom WB. If you shoot RAW, it's pretty easy to correct. But even easier to simply use a pure, gray card.
I use an 18% gray target a lot (a Lastolite EZ Balance, fabric white on one side, gray on the other, folds up for storage). It allows me to set both an exposure and a Custom WB, at the same time.
BTW, I don't do it (don't have anything that would work), but a pure black target also can be used to set a Custom WB.
Try them and see what you like
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