custom w/b

[mr michael]

stoopid question coming up.... is it best to use custom all the time to get correct w/b or are the camera w/b settings usually pretty accurate (i have a 30d)......just wondered if i should invest in a gray card and say bye bye to the sunny/tungsten/cloudy settings forever...... michael x

[hijinks]

Shoot raw use the gray card.

[Dan-o]

Outdoors I think the setting do allright. Indoors in another story. I shoot auto and in RAW. Also I do have a grey card and shoot it in the scene to use later in CS2. My kids love the shot of them holding a big gray card. :)

[Mark_Cohran]

Depends on how precise the control you need? I shoot fairs and festivals. I'm wandering all around the fair grounds all day long in changing lighting conditions. I shoot RAW+JPG and generally just set the white balance to what is appropriate - daylight, cloudy, shade, etc. It's simply not practical to set up a custom WB in those conditions.

Mark

[kholubek]

Michael x,

I've done both and my CWB with gray cards have a strong yellow cast so make sure you get a gray card for CWB. I was told that Kodak and Delta cards are just for exposure. Also there's a great topic here somewhere on regarding gray cards to set exposure and shooting a white card to set CWB. I'm going to try the White Card today to see how that works - I think it's "Photo Guy" that suggests a Mr. Coffee coffee filter to shoot.

One last note - Mark is so right about changing conditions. If you set your CWB and then walk into a different condition in 10 minutes CWB can be a PITA, and with 2 young children I don't have time to always CWB or I miss the shot.

I'll try to find the thread I read yesterday and post here for you.

Karen

30D
50mm 1.4
24-70mm 2.8L

[kholubek]

Here's the tread on grey card vs white card for CWB, I think you'll find this very interesting.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58677

Karen

30D
50mm 1.4
24-70mm 2.8L

[mr michael]

thanks karen, most helpful. x