Expodisc or baLens?

Anyone use any of these?
I am interested in baLens 77mm White Balance Lens Cap or the expodisc. Which is recommended? Expodisc also has a few different type so which one would be best for all type of photography?

You would be much better off with a good gray card. The best of them today is the WhiBal. This will cost you far less than the "magic lenses" and be much more versatile.

As an example of what a gray card can do that you cannot do with the lenses: You can place a gray card in a scene for a test shot, shoot in RAW mode, and do all your color correction VERY easily during RAW conversion post-processing.

A gray card can also be a valuable tool for exposure control. Using it will let you measure the amount of light falling on a subject (rather than light reflecting from it).

SkipD wrote in post #7448012
You would be much better off with a good gray card. The best of them today is the WhiBal. This will cost you far less than the "magic lenses" and be much more versatile.

As an example of what a gray card can do that you cannot do with the lenses: You can place a gray card in a scene for a test shot, shoot in RAW mode, and do all your color correction VERY easily during RAW conversion post-processing.

A gray card can also be a valuable tool for exposure control. Using it will let you measure the amount of light falling on a subject (rather than light reflecting from it).

I've done well with my grey card. My only problem is holding it infront of the cam on a long lens. BLAH.

I agree about a grey card such as the WhiBal. It is convenient to use. Just throw it out on the ground in front of you and take the shot. It doesn't need to be in focus. Then correct your images in post. White balancing a snap.

I have the expo disc and i like it alot, I snap it on, no need to worry about the reflections, shade.... just snap and go... It is a bit on the steep part price wise but I went for it and I did not regret it.

On another note, most of my lenses are 77mm but the 16-35 (82mm), I wish I got the 82mm expo disk... I could have used it on the 82 and 77 for a few more $

just get a reducer. its not going to affect your stuff.

I also had this question. I read an article where the writer was bashing the balens when it first came out. The interesting thing was the comments on the article.

People said yes, a gray card is probably the way to go if you want to do post processing, but if you are like me, and several others, and would rather get it right in camera, and spend less time in front of the computer, then it seems like one of these WB caps/lenses would be a real time saver.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, and see if we can get some responses on the original post, because I am interested.

So, if you were to not want to do post processing, would you still be better off with a gray card, or one of the WB lenses?

With a grey card. An ExpoDisc is supposed to be pointed at the light source, and that can be difficult if you're in mixed lighting conditions. A grey card is receiving whatever mix of light your subject is, so it's more likely to cope with a mix of light sources.

Melitta...

So, you are saying to drink coffee to stay up late editing photos?

Not necessarily - "picture this".... if you are using the lens cap/Expodisc and are photographing a group, you would have to go to the position of the group and point the camera back to where you will be standing when you snap the picture. This may or may not be practical. Also, you may get some ribbing from the group - "Dude, we're over here ."

Now, if you are doing a scenic type shot, and the light is pretty uniformly the same everywhere, you can point the disk anywhere and get an accurate reading. But if it's a sunny day, or cloudy, etc., you really don't need it as those particular WB settings will get you in the ballpark.

The problem as has been pointed out, is mixed light settings. These can be shots indoors with windowlight mixing with lamplight mixing with flash. I've seen people use the disk/cap type product in the studio where things are fairly controlled and static.

I like my gray card or white disk. But then I shoot RAW and use the eyedropper to adjust WB in ACR . - Stu

geogecko wrote in post #8110482
So, you are saying to drink coffee to stay up late editing photos?

What exactly is a reducer?

yokotas13 wrote in post #7457055
just get a reducer. its not going to affect your stuff.

sapearl wrote in post #8110664
What exactly is a reducer?

Also known as a step-down ring, will give you 77mm filter threads on your 82mm lens. No optics or anything, so its not tremendously useful outside of this, unless you intend to crop images all the time.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Step_Down_Ring​_Lens.html

That's pretty much what I thought, and couldn't see how that would aid in WB.

JHunter wrote in post #8111324
Also known as a step-down ring, will give you 77mm filter threads on your 82mm lens. No optics or anything, so its not tremendously useful outside of this, unless you intend to crop images all the time.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Step_Down_Ring​_Lens.html

The reducer would allow you to use your 77mm WB lens on the 82mm lens. If I remember correctly, most cameras use only the center circle (spot) for it's custom white balance setting. So if you had a reducer, and could see the reducer in the picture, I wouldn't think it would affect your WB picture...but I could be wrong, I am still a newbie.