White Balance Lens Cap

Mike K wrote in post #10255477
Here is a survey/review of available on lens white balance products...

Thx

Unfortunately they didn't have the White Balance Cap that I was curious about... . However, this Lally Capseems to be a nifty idea, easy to transport, etc. I'm just a bit confused, though: why grey? Is there no difference between white and grey, in terms of "neutral" color casts?

I'm only familiar with using the grey dropper in Pshop with a grey card...

I use white matte hemisphere - Kenko white balance setter.
I'm 360VR photographer and this device significantly accelerates processing RAW files. Expo disc, flat white balance сap, 18% gray card - not for mе.

Travelller,

I have both the ExpoDisc and the BRNO BaLens cap. I like to travel light and fast. I usually only have a backup battery and a backup memory card in my pocket so being able to set my white balance with just my lowly lens cap I found intriguing.

All in all I can't tell the difference between a photo where the white balance was set using the ExpoDisc or the BRNO BaLens cap. The BRNO BaLens cap is a quality lens cap in it's own right. It is heavy and well made. The only thing I don't like about it is the dome sits up around a quarter of an inch and when you place your lens down on the lens cap to swap lenses it becomes very wobbly. You have to be extra careful your lens doesn't either fall over or it rolls off onto the floor. You can set your lens down on the rear cap but that is much smaller and the lens is top heavy by design.

Travelller wrote in post #10255803
Thx

Unfortunately they didn't have the White Balance Cap that I was curious about... . However, this Lally Capseems to be a nifty idea, easy to transport, etc. I'm just a bit confused, though: why grey? Is there no difference between white and grey, in terms of "neutral" color casts?

I'm only familiar with using the grey dropper in Pshop with a grey card...

Its the same thing when establishing white balance for converting RAW in ACR or DPP. The important thing is to calibrate WB with something with no color, so Gray is fine. When converting RAW with the dropper click on pure white, or any other pixel with no color. If the standard 18% density, gray has the secondary advantage of calibrating exposure as well, but that is another issue. Thus including a WB target in an initial RAW shot provides you with a WB reference under those specific lighting conditions. Subsequent shots under the same lighting conditions can use the same recipie. With the on-lens devices you are simply making sure that the lens gets a uniform WB target and are setting up a WB recipie in-camera for that lighting condition.
Mike K

Headshotzx wrote in post #6633126
Mennon WB cap for cheap, and it does the job pretty well.

However, sometimes it can be a very little bit warm.

I have to disagree with the mennon WB caps as they generally run cooler in color temperature than the expodisc caps.

coffee filters = free = right wb

whibal card = easy to use and awesome!

Has anybody here used a Dörr White Balance Lens Cap? German company and much much cheaper than the almost identical looking BRNO BaLens for us non N Americans.

http://www.dorrfoto.co​.uk …etail.kmod?Prod​uctid=8224

DC9 wrote in post #10256415
I have both the ExpoDisc and the BRNO BaLens cap ... being able to set my white balance with just my lowly lens cap I found intriguing... The BRNO BaLens cap is a quality lens cap in it's own right.

Thanks for the mini review I take it you use the "neutral" version?

Mike K wrote in post #10256809
The important thing is to calibrate WB with something with no color, so Gray is fine ... gray has the secondary advantage of calibrating exposure as well ... With the on-lens devices you are simply making sure that the lens gets a uniform WB target and are setting up a WB recipie in-camera...

Thx for the clarification

c2thew wrote in post #10257584
whibal card = easy to use and awesome!

I take it this solution requires one to snap a shot with the card in it and then use the result to produce a levels profile for all subsequent shots?
If so, yes, I guess that sounds easy enough, but I'd just assume get correct WB "in-camera" so that you have one less step in post-processing...

Lara loo wrote in post #10257595
...Dörr White Balance Lens Cap... http://www.dorrfoto.co​.uk …etail.kmod?Prod​uctid=8224

Thanks for the link. Having read DC9's testimony to quality, I think your question's justified.
EDIT - Having just looked at it on the German site, it has to be the exact same cap... I think they must be the EU distributor... On the other hand, a 77mm cap is "list" priced at €79... not cheap at all... but I will try to hunt down a "vendor" (like Amazon EU); maybe the price will be more reasonable...

Thanks for the link. Having read DC9's testimony to quality, I think your question's justified.
EDIT - Having just looked at it on the German site, it has to be the exact same cap... I think they must be the EU distributor... On the other hand, a 77mm cap is "list" priced at €79... not cheap at all... but I will try to hunt down a "vendor" (like Amazon EU); maybe the price will be more reasonable...

Dörr is a German company.
There is no Amazon EU. And it deffo isn't on Amazon UK and on Amazon Deutschland it works out at 85.93€ including p&p for the 77mm to the UK.
http://www.amazon.de …-de&qid=1275003818&sr=1​-1

I too noticed the price discrepancy between the two Dörr sites. Are you in an EU country? Because if you buy it from the UK Dörr site the 77mm is only 42.59GBP's which is about 50.19€ a massive price difference compared to the 79€ price tag on the German Dörr site.

N.B If you can make any sense of this post then you are more awake than me

I love my expodisc, I use it when I photograph events performed on stage.
(the lights in the auditoriums have a red tint to them. )

Lara loo wrote in post #10258118
Dörr is a German company. There is no Amazon EU ... I too noticed the price discrepancy between the two Dörr sites ... if you buy it from the UK Dörr site the 77mm is only 42.59GBP's which is about 50.19€...

I meant any of EU's Amazon sites... I'm in Austria, btw.
You can't buy directly from the German Dörr site (so I'm not sure one can from their UK website either...). I found the Amazon.de entry but it's sold from a third-party partner (QF-Foto). I even found it a bit cheaper, from a joint called Koch. At €58, it comes closer to the UK amt (once shipping is factored into it).

But even at that price, I'm starting to feel a bit queasy spending roughly €65 for a WB solution that only works with 77mm lenses... although I guess I could hold it in front of my 67mm & 52mm lenses as well, lol...

I'm also done for the night...

Travelller wrote in post #10258206
I meant any of EU's Amazon sites... I'm in Austria, btw.
You can't buy directly from the German Dörr site (so I'm not sure one can from their UK website either...). I found the Amazon.de entry but it's sold from a third-party partner (QF-Foto). I even found it a bit cheaper, from a joint called Koch. At €58, it comes closer to the UK amt (once shipping is factored into it).

But even at that price, I'm starting to feel a bit queasy spending roughly €65 for a WB solution that only works with 77mm lenses... although I guess I could hold it in front of my 67mm & 52mm lenses as well, lol...

I'm also done for the night...

Ah little Österreich.
Yes you can buy directly from the UK site. It is reasonable only 1.99 to the UK. Same day dispatch.
And they do ship to you.
http://www.dorrfoto.co​.uk …Customer-Service/Delivery

Might be cheaper to get it from Germany/Austria for you though. I'd email them or start the checkout process to see what the postage is maybe.

SnapLocally.com wrote in post #6634218
Caps = Overpriced gimmicks

Try using a coffee filter. Put your lens on manual focus, aperture priority, cover your lens with the filter, aim it at the light source, and there it is- your source image for CWB.

That's what I've never understood about these things: most of the time there doesn't seem to be a single directional light source, so how does one decide where to point?

Travelller,

I don't make my living off photography and most of stuff is shooting my kids at school functions. If I just had to have something that was dead on accurate I would use the ExpoDisc exclusively. It is bigger and just sucks in more of those elusive light photons.

As to your questions:

(1) I like the warm version of the two domes. It comes with both and one has a little dot on the edge so you can tell the difference. My shooting is under those super bright football stadium lights or gym lights. They look cold anyways so the warm dome I like better. The back side of the BRNO BaLens cap unscrews so you can swap the domes. It would only take a minute or two to swap domes if you wanted to change your shooting style.

(2) The Dörr White Balance Lens Cap has to be a repackage version of the BRNO BaLens cap. It looks to be an exact copy down to the red ring and the dual domes.

(3) I have both normal and warm versions of the ExpoDisc and I use the warm one most of the time too. I just like the warm fuzzy feel of the photos vs. the colder neutral white balance.

DC9 wrote in post #10258987
... I like the warm version of the two domes. It comes with both and one has a little dot on the edge so you can tell the difference ... The Dörr White Balance Lens Cap has to be a repackage version of the BRNO BaLens cap...

Thx agian for the info, DC! I figured that Dörr had to be repackaged (hopefully legally...) I came across a very similar situation with the Black Rapid and Sun Sniper "sling" camera straps, however in that case, the German firm went off to develop their own version. (Maybe BR's patent ran out, or was not valid "World Wide"...).

Well it's good to know that for that kind of money, the BaLens has two different WB options (domes). It almost makes the price easier to swallow...

Travelller wrote in post #10261036
Thx agian for the info, DC! I figured that Dörr had to be repackaged (hopefully legally...) I came across a very similar situation with the Black Rapid and Sun Sniper "sling" camera straps, however in that case, the German firm went off to develop their own version. (Maybe BR's patent ran out, or was not valid "World Wide"...).

Well it's good to know that for that kind of money, the BaLens has two different WB options (domes). It almost makes the price easier to swallow...

I've emailed Dörr already this morning regarding this. The pictures are identical down to the tiniest detail. I don't believe they are likely to be breaking the law though. They have been around a good while and have a decent reputation. It could be the age old 'they're both made in the same factory in China' story. Hopefully not in the same factory were the suiciding iPad workers are. If they respond I'll post.