White balance tools.

Go to ebay and search for "18% gray card" they are pretty cheap.

Better still - shoot RAW and don't worry about WB at all.
 
I use the Lastolite card as featured in your second link. Dead easy to use but a b****r to pack away until you get the hang of it!!
I disagree with Gunnar's mind set. If you want to improve as a photographer then you want your images to be as accurate as possible. The less you have to do PP the better imho.

Andy
 
I use the X-rite Passport colorchecker

http://xritephoto.com/ph_product_overview.aspx?ID=1257
I don't agree or disagree with Andy or Alex. There are situation where you don't have time to set a custom WB or the shot is missed. There are occasions when it is convenient to do so and that's fine too. PP existed during film and no one complained at Adams and the rest when they did so.
Use the workflow you find best for the task.
 
I'm a bit lazy about this. I just leave the camera on AWB and shoot raw, you can tweak it till your heart's content in post processing. The only real advantage I can see in setting a custom WB for a series of shots is that it will be consistent, and remove one post processing step.
 
Keebsuk said:
I disagree with Gunnar's mind set. If you want to improve as a photographer then you want your images to be as accurate as possible. The less you have to do PP the better imho.

Andy
Click to expand...

What's setting WB got to do with photography skills? It is boring and error prone procedure. Isn't it better to worry about exposure, depth of field, composition, etc?

Besides messing with WB settings could cost you missed photograph of your life.
 
gunnar said:
What's setting WB got to do with photography skills? It is boring and error prone procedure. Isn't it better to worry about exposure, depth of field, composition, etc?

Besides messing with WB settings could cost you missed photograph of your life.
Click to expand...

Of course WB is part of the whole photographic "package", well in my opinion it is.
I prefer to concentrate on taking accurate images wherever possible and be less reliant on PP. Perhaps it's down to my film usage days.
I accept that there are times when AWB is preferable but as my passion is landscape, then I use custom WB as a matter of course.

Andy
 
Thanks for the answers.

I think i will try some manual WB as it will teach me something new.

I was hoping that this would work as follows, say i was out an event, country fair whatever, take WB readings and keep walking around shooting until i noticed a change in the light, say gets cloudy etc then do it again and carry on, can it work like this?

I would like to shoot RAW+jpeg but on my d40x you can only do RAW+jpeg normal not fine so i think the jpeg image would suffer to much.

Thanks again for the answers:)
 
Raw + JPEG normal will be fine for all practical purposes.
 
Thanks again folks.

Just 2 more question please.

If i shoot RAW+jpeg the jpeg files will go on whatever WB setting i set, but the RAW capture will ignore it and its up to me to set it on PP is this correct?

Also What program for converting the RAW files are best? I have been ton Nikon nx i think it was.

Again thanks:)
 
Last edited:
Yes you will be able to manipulate the WB in the RAW. Think of it as rather than being an image file, it's just a file of the "raw" data of the shop taken by your camera.
 
Russ77 said:
If you've got a Lowepro bag I believe the inside is 18% grey ;)
Click to expand...

No, internet myth. They're lighter, not neutral, and they vary ;)

I have three.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top