Expodisc?

[Az2Africa]

Has anyone had any experience using the Expodisc for setting white balance? I am new to this forum, so it may havbeen discussed before.

[PhotosGuy]

I only use white paper, or sometimes a gray card in the "studio".
Gray Card…White Paper. What’s best?
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58677
+
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54281

[mjordan]

Yes, it comes up from time to time. It seems to do an ok job under the conditions that it is designed to do white balance checks (ie pointing directly into the light source), but it's way over priced for what it does do. There are a lot of ways to get accurate white balance a lot cheaper. How and what you use depends a lot on what kind of photographer you are doing at the time... studio, outdoor, arena, sports, etc. Some are harder to get a good white balance with than others. There are white/gray cards, McBeth charts, Digital Calibration Target, coffee filters, white plastic lids (the Pringle chip lid is used a lot) and just about anything where you can get a neutral color reading off of.

Mike

[NGrinerPhoto]

i have one. it works good. if you have an extra $100 to burn, get it. gray cards are your best bet. the problem with white paper is that it might not be true white and it will shift all your colors.

[ohenry]

Price aside, it works very well.

[musthavemuzk]

i have considered one, but the price is definitely hard to swallow.
so i think for now i will do the grey card. 7 vs 107....

Monty

[davidwegs]

Get a Gary Fong's LightSphere II and use the dome. :)

[morgan349]

Get a Gary Fong's LightSphere II and use the dome. :)
great idea, but does this work?!!

[Mat Fitzsimmons]

Heh, yeah, I've had an expodisc on my adorama wishlist for a -long- time ... just can't quite bring myself to buy it because of the price.

[morgan349]

i meant does using the dome from the lightsphere work...

[hemuni]

i meant does using the dome from the lightsphere work...

I haven't tried the dome of the lightsphere, but im pretty sure it will work. Like mjordan said you can use just about any translusent piece of plastic. I personally use a lid from a Lavazzo espresso can, but the pringles lid is always mentioned.
Turn of AF and shoot a jpeg of your subject, while holding the lid in front of the lense and use the resulting jpeg to set the custum whitebalance - works everytime.

[Az2Africa]

Just an update on my post from last year. I did get the Expodisc and it does work as advertised very well. It is a good quality product if you have the extra money. I tend to use it less as I learn more. Then there is the fact that pulling out $10K worth of gear and a Pringles lid does look a bit odd.;)

[tdaugharty]

Love it and use it daily. Works really well indoors for natural light i.e. a window

[photographer unknown]

Works very well for me. I have tried the other various methods but for me the expo is the easiest to use.Plus I got a geat deal on ebay for a 77mm. You should have seen the looks I got when I showed up to shoot Judo tournaments, monster white lens attached and then I pulled out the coffee filters. But the questions were even more humorous.

Mel

[FlipsidE]

I know it's expensive, but I would definitely go with one of these digital calibration targets. They come with a DVD explaining how to use them and showing examples. I recently bought a 34" one. The DVD itself is worth the money, IMO. Not only did it sell me on Capture 1 also, but showed me how to do some incredible post processing in the RAW conversion stage.

http://www.photovisionvideo.com/target.html

[yenoram]

I have had one for several years, I use it all the time and it works great. Yes, it was difficult to swallow the price at first but I have no regrets now. Since the ExpoDisc only needs to cover the centre metering area, I bought a 72mm version and added a stepping ring to 77mm - this has allowed my to replace the lens cap on my walkaround lens with the ExpoDisc so that it's available whenever I need it. Don't overlook the durability and convenience of the ExpoDisc - I can slip it in my pocket and I don't worry about it getting wet or scratched. You may also want to take a look at WhiBal which is a lot less expensive than the ExpoDisc.

[Jon]

A full DVD on how to use them?

1) Take picture (filling finder) of grey card/white card in subject area.
2) Go to "Custom WB" in menu on back LCD.
3) Selecct picture you just took
4) Select CWB on White Balance menu

I hope they include Doctor Zhivago or Lawrence of Arabia on all the otherwise wasted spece.

[SuzyView]

I bought one, looked at it, thought about it, never used it. I just might take it out and play with it again. I think I have it for my 28-135. Can I use that to adjust, then change lenses?

[Jon]

Yes. White balance won't change markedly from lens to lens, unless one of them's really bad!

[SuzyView]

Okay, what do you consider "really bad"?

[photographer unknown]

Susyview,

You can use whatever size expodisc you have in front of any lens. Just hold it in place by hand and snap the shot. It really doesn't have to actually mount to the lens. The shot doesn't have to be in focus just properly exposed.

Mel

[SuzyView]

Thanks. I keep wanting to get it out, but keep leaving it in the wrong bag. I will try it tomorrow and report. With the 20D, I don't have as much trouble with white balance as my 10D.

SuzyView

[mjordan]

A full DVD on how to use them?

1) Take picture (filling finder) of grey card/white card in subject area.
2) Go to "Custom WB" in menu on back LCD.
3) Selecct picture you just took
4) Select CWB on White Balance menu

I hope they include Doctor Zhivago or Lawrence of Arabia on all the otherwise wasted spece.

Some people that are new at photography or with digital cameras and white balance don't instinctively know what a black/gray/white card or a McBeth Chart, or even the lowely 18% gray card, are and how to use them. For those that are trying to learn everything they can and maybe even need the help from instructions, guidence or even a visual aide like a DVD, the DVD that comes with the WhiBal is not bad. The DVD that comes with the Digtal Calibration Target (another excellent choice) is also not bad.

For those that don't care about the "whys and how comes" your simplistic instructions would probably be over kill. For everyone else, there's instructional media available.

Mike

[BDM]

I have a few in several different sizes because I use them to set the white balance when shooting color negative film. The resulting gray negative is read with my color analyser and makes getting good color balance under different lighting conditions very easy.

Be sure you aim the disk at the light source and not the subject. Think of it as sort of an incident meter for color balance. I don't see why the substitutes mentioned in other posts wouldn't work very well. Just be sure they are really white with no color tint. Gray cards are also OK except I've come across a few that are not really gray.

Btuce