white balance card
- Thread starter scotman
- Start date
IBEJohnson
Well-known member
Scotman,
I wanted so badly to post a picture of a bare white @$$, but I don't know that the moderators would've taken it very well.
I just came across this little guy. Never used it, but I believe its what you're looking for...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...868&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation
Good luck!
Eric
I wanted so badly to post a picture of a bare white @$$, but I don't know that the moderators would've taken it very well.
I just came across this little guy. Never used it, but I believe its what you're looking for...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...868&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation
Good luck!
Eric
wrxguy
Member
you can buy many different WB cards, B&H has a good selection but I saved the cash and I use a peice of foam core, but that is just for random shooting nothign really special...so if you are not doing alot of really intense shooting then I would just save the cash and use a peice of foam core or something. They also work good as a light bounce
JRAnderson
Well-known member
Warmcards are bit pricey, but get great reviews...they have a slightly blue caste to trick the white balance into giving warmer skin tones. I just got some, but haven't used them enough yet to feel comfortable giving a full endorsement. (So far so good though) I know some shooters just use a light blue paint sample card and the get the same result, I was just looking for a something that would take a little more wear and tear and keep that professional vibe with clients.
Here's a link:
http://www.warmcards.com/
Here's a link:
http://www.warmcards.com/
IBEJohnson
Well-known member
Nice dbarak!!! I hadn't thought of that.
JRAnderson
Well-known member
If you are in SoCal, you can go to S&W plastics, or Hastings Plastics and get a whole sheet of the same exact stuff that is used to make the white balance cards you see everywhere. I believe it's vinyl or pvc. Cut a large card out of it and apply a Kodak grey scale and/or the color strip to the card as well as a focus chart. Works very nicely and I always get guys asking where did you get that from?
filmguy123
Veteran
this is more than you spend, but its nice and fancy, and collapsible, and big. Has white on one side, 18% gray on the other.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=375202&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=375202&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
bilgami
Veteran
The warm cards all have a basic white on the back so either way you get the white along with the green and blue. i dont even have a dvx i have the lil bro the dvc80 and sometimes with rite lites white balance and with my polarizer it looks 24pish cuz its very compatible with my friends dvx footage.
filmguy123
Veteran
scotman said:
they are different. 18% grey helps for setting proper exposure when you white balance... you can read about that @ b&h they have an intro to lighting/exposure section you can read up on if you so desire.
IBEJohnson
Well-known member
filmguy,
Can you link that intro to lighting/exposure for us? Thanks!
E
Can you link that intro to lighting/exposure for us? Thanks!
E
howdy, does anyone have any experience with these?
http://www.expodisc.com/index.php
pricey but seems to look good.
thanks
keith
http://www.expodisc.com/index.php
pricey but seems to look good.
thanks
keith
dbarak
Well-known member
>>Why use the grey side??
The average scene in the world reflects 18% of the light that falls on it.
If you were determining exposure using an incident light meter -- the kind with the dome that measures the light source, or the light falling on the dome -- then the meter would indicate a "correct" exposure assuming that your scene reflected 18% of the light falling on it. (Correction after the fact: Using a grey card would provide a "correct" exposure regardless of how much light was being reflected from the scene, not only if it reflected 18%.)
So if you were using a reflected light meter, such as those in a camera that are reading the light being reflected from the scene, then you could either trust that the scene in fact did reflect 18% of the light, or you could get an "accurate" exposure by pointing the meter (camera lens) at a grey card and using that exposure. In other words, a grey card serves as a "perfect world" representation of an average scene.
Keep in mind that there really isn't any such thing as a perfect exposure. For instance, let's say it was a sunny day in Antarctica. If you let the camera decide on the exposure for you, the camera would assume it was looking at a scene that reflected 18% of the light, when in fact snow and ice reflects something more like 90% of the light. So what would happen is your camera would try to make the snow and ice look like 18% gray and then your scene -- especially the snow and ice -- would be underexposed. What you would likely want in a situation like that is bright snow and ice so that it looks right, as opposed to looking grey. If you exposed using a grey card, the snow and ice would be "overexposed" (appearing as brighter than 18% grey) as it should be.
Another instance would be if you were shooting a photo of a dark-skinned person leaning against a white wall, where the person only takes up a fairly small portion of the frame. The camera's reflected meter would see a mass of white with a small dark blob, and try to make the whole thing (mainly the white wall) 18% grey. As a result, the person's face would come out way too dark.
Setting a manual exposure using a grey card (or an incident light meter) in these cases will trick the meter into thinking the scene is an average scene, and the exposure should then be "correct" based on the amount of light falling on the scene. Of course, fine tuning that suggested exposure is important. The beauty of video, though, is that you don't really have to meter, since you can set your exposures using whatever sort of monitor you have on hand.
Another reason to use the grey side is that if you're white balancing, sometimes the white side is too bright. A correct grey card will be completely color neutral, just like a white card, but it just doesn't reflect as much light and is easier on the camera when you're white balancing.
The average scene in the world reflects 18% of the light that falls on it.
If you were determining exposure using an incident light meter -- the kind with the dome that measures the light source, or the light falling on the dome -- then the meter would indicate a "correct" exposure assuming that your scene reflected 18% of the light falling on it. (Correction after the fact: Using a grey card would provide a "correct" exposure regardless of how much light was being reflected from the scene, not only if it reflected 18%.)
So if you were using a reflected light meter, such as those in a camera that are reading the light being reflected from the scene, then you could either trust that the scene in fact did reflect 18% of the light, or you could get an "accurate" exposure by pointing the meter (camera lens) at a grey card and using that exposure. In other words, a grey card serves as a "perfect world" representation of an average scene.
Keep in mind that there really isn't any such thing as a perfect exposure. For instance, let's say it was a sunny day in Antarctica. If you let the camera decide on the exposure for you, the camera would assume it was looking at a scene that reflected 18% of the light, when in fact snow and ice reflects something more like 90% of the light. So what would happen is your camera would try to make the snow and ice look like 18% gray and then your scene -- especially the snow and ice -- would be underexposed. What you would likely want in a situation like that is bright snow and ice so that it looks right, as opposed to looking grey. If you exposed using a grey card, the snow and ice would be "overexposed" (appearing as brighter than 18% grey) as it should be.
Another instance would be if you were shooting a photo of a dark-skinned person leaning against a white wall, where the person only takes up a fairly small portion of the frame. The camera's reflected meter would see a mass of white with a small dark blob, and try to make the whole thing (mainly the white wall) 18% grey. As a result, the person's face would come out way too dark.
Setting a manual exposure using a grey card (or an incident light meter) in these cases will trick the meter into thinking the scene is an average scene, and the exposure should then be "correct" based on the amount of light falling on the scene. Of course, fine tuning that suggested exposure is important. The beauty of video, though, is that you don't really have to meter, since you can set your exposures using whatever sort of monitor you have on hand.
Another reason to use the grey side is that if you're white balancing, sometimes the white side is too bright. A correct grey card will be completely color neutral, just like a white card, but it just doesn't reflect as much light and is easier on the camera when you're white balancing.
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