I just ordered a pocket sized WhiBal card. Which will probaly help me out with some scenes that are tricky. I usually dial in by eye but sometimes I start fiddle alot with white balance and cant decide which is most correct one. I usually go after the clouds.

I was thinking about the GretagMacbeth ColorChecker if that help me ?

Or is more for people that are in need off a "color correct" photo. Mostly I dial around my settings to fit my view as colorcorrect isnt what I want. As sometimes use the whitebalance also as creative tool. But white balance I mostly want spot on.

What are the use of a GretagMacbeth ColorChecker really ?

I guessed it was for gettin color right which I hope as I just didnt ordered it and it was 12 dollars shipment to sweden. So trying to convince myself that made right choice and wont add to my photgraphy approach.

I guess my post doesnt make much sense. I am still learning alot about photography so I try to figure out if I really need stuff or not. Just calibrating my monitor is hi-tech stuff for me ;-)

Cheers,

It depends of your view of the world !

If you are shooting coloured handbags for a client in a studio a colour card is very useful

Because the client want accurate colour else theyll get complaints from thier customers and returned goods

If you are shooting suntsets a colour check will kill the golden glow if you just grey click the file

IF you are shooting tungsten, you may want to kill the yellow cast - or you may find it pleasant

Mostly IMO you want a picture some where between 'neutralised' and the 'un neutralised'

Having a grey card or colour checker is no bad thing - because you cant know too much and can give you a good starting point for making artisitic processes of your images

Shooting RAW and some frames with a colour card will always put you in a good position for processing images - you cant have too much information

a colour card can also help you 'calibrate' your camera which can also be interesting


S

I don't know, what the white balancing card is good for. I use a piece of PVC, which is perfectly white. PVC reflects all visible light (but it has to be pure PVC, otherwise it may become yellowish).

I sanded the surface with grid 600, so that it is not specular, and now I have a perfect, sturdy card.

The color checker is a different issue. If you are working with ACR, chances are, that you need to calibrate it for your camera, if color truthness is really important. You need the color checker to create calibration shots.

Thanks that really got me understand it for it use in shoots. But I maybe shall get one just for use some shoots.

I was shooting some mountains in Cyprus. They tend to have some beige/yellow grass combined with red sand. This is some shoots I really had some real problems to get balance in. As never gotten the colors right.


I bought the WhiBal cards as they was in a very pratical size. Big as a creditcard. Nice to have made your own.

As for calibration of the camera I dont really know if I need it. I tend not to like true colors in most cases.

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As a conclusion I think I am gonna get color checker. Even if doesnt know how much I will use it. So I will get another pocket size one.

Just for fun, if I were you I would check that piece of PVC against a real industry standard white balance card.
I would first use the white balance tool in ACR (RAW file) on the piece of PVC. Record the temp and tint numbers. Then shoot a Gretag Macbeth color checker card and then again, use the White Balance tool. My guess is that the two white balances are quite a bit different - with the Gretag Macbeth being accurate.
For those of us who shoot skin (people), accurate white balance is ultra important.

The original poster will be glad to have purchased a WhiBal card. It is almost as good as a Gretag Macbeth card and easier to care for during trips. Good luck.

> check that piece of PVC against a real industry standard white balance card.
1. PVC is suspect. They can have color and change over time. Wash it!

2. Try the white balance tool in ACR (RAW file) on a Gretag Macbeth color checker card and check the temp and tint for White square, then all the grays, and the Black. I find the White to be 50 kelvins lower than the grays all the time. So, I use the first or second gray for white balance or average them all, white through black.

3. White balance doesn't reuire absolute white, it needs to be a perfectly balanced gray, up to and including pure white. So I carry a piece of photo paper, Velvet Fine Art, credit-card sized plus a little for fingers, which is very close to pure balance.

4. Advice: Shoot that WB card or GMCC whenever the light changes (sun to shade, time of day, etc.) just to keep things accurate. If you make an album of travel photos, it is nice to have the green grass the correct color from picture to picture.

You will be glad you bought it! - Angst

I posted, just for the sake of those, who don't know it, that pure PVC is white and does not change the color.



50 Kelvins is nothing. It is the very minimum you can adjust. Picking from the supposedly uniform grey card can yield much larger differences, depending on the spot you pick.



It does not require white, but the nature of the beast is, that it is easier to get/make something, which reflects all visible light than something, which reflects a certain, fixed proportion of all visible light. Therefor, whites are more reliable than greys (although, honestly, I don't care if my white card is more perfect than a grey card).

However, my main consideration is the ruggedness of the PVC card. Now I plan to glue a piece in all of my lens caps. Paper would get dirty, would wear off, would get scratched, etc.

Shooting in my studio - the chart is priceless. Shooting outdoors - go for an expodisc!

As for calibration of the camera I dont really know if I need it. I tend not to like true colors in most cases.

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Well you talk about getting good colour on red sand etc

It is important to understand the difference between a calibated camera and 'true colours'

If you mean 'true colours' as in grey card sampled shots

This is my take

Say for example your camera is a little oversensitive to blue

You make a calibration by photographing your card in a neutral environment - a grey day

You then get a profile which will cut the blue a little - you save this in your raw settings

When you shoot, maybe at sunset, you apply the settings you shot in the neutral environment

This does not push the image to 'true colour' unlike clicking on the a grey card shot at sunset

The golden hue of the sunset is kept but the blue is cut a bit to compensate for your blue strong camera

I would suggest that that is the truest form of recording colour - certainly the best way of replicating film - others no doubt disagree

S

Thanks, I never really understood that part. I use a CC40M filter as in very green blue scene as it balances out the channels as they become overloaded.

So in theory you could make calibration that takes away the "color cast" the filter introduce? Heh but maybe I lose the good thing about it.

I learnt this technique by Julia borg in Dpreview. Most useful in some situations.

But I am grateful I kinda have hard time to learn all stuff without trying myself. So thats why I try to find out what I will benefit from and not benefit from. The camera calibration part is one off few I really had hard time to understand.

Sunsets I wouldnt use whibal, but in some situations it will be helpful.

Heh I get more and more confused. I think I better buy one and find out what really does. I after all photo jewellery for online web store every two months there true colors is a must. This is probably my hardest time with post production as the client is most picky to get right colors. But I think she can blaim herself as I said to her many times I am no pro and there pros that do a better work. But guess she like my cheap rates.

Cheers,

Hi,
Have you ever considered the Photo Vision calibrator ? It really does work particularly in the studio. You can adjust your exposure and then set a personnal White balance on your camera.

You open your photos in Lightroom and there is practicly no adjustment to be made.

Any more, we only use our ColorCheckers for product shots, especially when "new age" or unusual colors are involved. Manufacturers and art directors can be especially choosy about how their colors are portrayed, so you need some standard frame of reference for a spate of colors.

To just get the white balance setting right, the GretagMacbeth ColorChecker chart is not the right tool. You can use it for this purpose but it's like using a pair of pincers for a hammer. The WhiBal card is the right tool, and an ExpoDisc would be even better.

Still, a ColorChecker chart is a worthwhile thing to have, at times. Sooner or later you'll be happy to have one. It's very useful for critical colour work as well as for calibrating scanners, digital cameras, and image processing workflows.

-- Olaf

Thanks all I decided to pick up colorchart. Took the miniversion. Thanks all for explaining for me. I can be a real slow thinker. Sometimes I just dont get things.

Cheers,

I dont get expodiscs.

So you have a pink leather sofa on a magenta floor with orange wall behind

Line up your camera and stick the disk on and take a snap

no way does that create a white balance

where as putting a card, in front of the scene will

Yes it can work if you spin round and fill your light SOURCE with it

of course they dont work for sunsets either

S