# Paint chips for white balance cards?



## JustJazzie (Jan 13, 2014)

I know grey cards are cheap, but I just can't spend anymore on picture stuff for a while. So I'm wondering if anyone has used a paint chip as a grey card, would it work? Would it be better to choose a grey one that looks "right" or better to choose a white card?


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## SnappingShark (Jan 13, 2014)

ooh picture stuff tapped out.

What Body did you go for in the end?


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## JustJazzie (Jan 13, 2014)

BrightByNature said:


> ooh picture stuff tapped out.  What Body did you go for in the end?



Oh you didn't see my update?! I FINALLY got it to work. I had to turn off live view, turn off my af lamp, clean my lens, change focus peaking settings, and use my stronger modeling lamp as a key light!  

I was cringing at the thought of going back to a dslr. Ive come to rely on focus peaking and being able to focus at 100% crop far to much to ever love another DLSR again. Not to mention that a smaller body feels better between my tiny fingers. I'll be on edge until the a7 take two comes out!


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## KmH (Jan 13, 2014)

The reflectivity of a gray card is a critical feature as is being sure it is color balanced so each of the red, green. and blue color channels the camera uses all record the same luminosity value (neutral gray) so there is no color cast.

So you would want a color chip that gives each RGB color channel a value of right about 209 - R = 209, G = 209, B = 209.
Hopefully you can get a large enough color chip.

When you can afford to buy a quality gray card I highly recommend the GENUINE WhiBal G7 Certified Neutral White Balance Card - Studio Kit (3.5"x6")

For doing portraiture and display calibration I also recommend X-Rite CMUNDISCCPP ColorMunki Display and ColorChecker Passport Bundle (Black)


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## snowbear (Jan 13, 2014)

In the interim, some bodies (my D40, for example) will allow you to shoot a featureless white or black surface to set a custom WB.  For a quick exposure target, I've read that you can use the palm of your hand.


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## table1349 (Jan 13, 2014)

A kodak gray card is about $2.00.  Cheap and pretty reliable.  Paint chips just like paper may appear a certain color to your eyes however your eyes are much easier fooled than a sensor will be.


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## JustJazzie (Jan 13, 2014)

snowbear said:


> In the interim, some bodies (my D40, for example) will allow you to shoot a featureless white or black surface to set a custom WB.  For a quick exposure target, I've read that you can use the palm of your hand.



I can do this, but I thought having a grey card would make it "fool proof" I was hoping there was a free way to accomplish it.


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## Ysarex (Jan 13, 2014)

If you're not trying to use it for exposure and all you want to do is set a custom white balance then a piece of white Styrofoam (grocery store salad bar) is ideal and it's free.

Joe


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## runnah (Jan 13, 2014)

I just use my pasty white Maine skin.


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## 480sparky (Jan 13, 2014)

Forget paint chips.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			







Use the Formica sample chips from the Kitchen & Bath section.


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## runnah (Jan 13, 2014)

480sparky said:


> Forget paint chips.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



All this talk of chips is making me hungry...


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## 480sparky (Jan 13, 2014)




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## JustJazzie (Jan 13, 2014)

Ysarex said:


> If you're not trying to use it for exposure and all you want to do is set a custom white balance then a piece of white Styrofoam (grocery store salad bar) is ideal and it's free.  Joe


  perfect!! I also just tried a coffee filter which worked okay, but foam would certainly hold up longer!



480sparky said:


> Forget paint chips.    Use the Formica sample chips from the Kitchen & Bath section.


Brilliant! Were at Home Depot way too often! I'll sneak a peek next time we are there!


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## KmH (Jan 13, 2014)

Not everything that looks white to the human eye looks white to the camera.
Our brains often adjust our color perception so we see what we expect to see.


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## table1349 (Jan 13, 2014)

KmH said:


> Not everything that looks white to the human eye looks white to the camera.
> Our brains often adjust our color perception so we see what we expect to see.


Geeee.......I wish I'd said something like that.:lmao::lmao:


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## KmH (Jan 13, 2014)

I know you believe you understand what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what I said is not what I meant - Robert McCloskey.


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## runnah (Jan 13, 2014)

As mentioned our brains are easily fooled. Bright colors look darker against dark colors and vice versa. The light in which you view colors make a difference as well.

Better off shelling out some cash for a proper card.


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## Gavjenks (Jan 14, 2014)

I'm not of the opinion that you really need or should use a gray card at all.
It helps you get your color balance right in-camera, but if you shoot RAW, you can pretty much always fix it fine in post-processing, unless you make a tremendously far off error in-camera in coloration.
It also helps you match the scene more "realistically," by having a reference point for what was actually there. But when you really get down to it, why does that matter? Are you doing crime scene forensics? If so, strict reality is important, go get your gray card. If not, I think it's fine to just color the scene later to what LOOKS realistic, and *often you will actually be able to make the colors look more realistic than reality actually did in post-processing yourself, *based on what humans EXPECT to see in that situation.

Like, maybe you're in a room at sunset, but you're taking an interior shot, and it's not obviously sunset from image cues. In such a situation, I might actually want my final image to be much bluer than reality, because otherwise the room has a weird cast from the sunset, but the viewer has no way to know it's supposed to be sunset, so it ends up just looking like you did a bad job photographing the place.  In such a situation, the way it "should have looked" reads as more pleasing and accurate than the reality that the gray card would lead you to.

So I just shoot RAW to give myself latitude later, whenever I can, and then color it in post processing to be whatever I think that scene should look like, without worrying a bit about what it was.
(NOTE: if you shoot a whole series of images like for a client in a photoshoot, choose one color adjustment for the whole set and apply it evenly! You can choose what looks real to you, but only once. Otherwise it will look tacky and inconsistent)


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## gsgary (Jan 14, 2014)

If its for when using your studio light set you camera to the temperature of the lights

Sent from my GT-I9100P using Tapatalk 2


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## Gavjenks (Jan 14, 2014)

Hence my note at the bottom. Most RAW converters allow you to set one temperature correction and then just auto apply it to further photos until you tell it otherwise.  Which has the same unifying effect on a studio shoot as gray carding beforehand would.
The only difference should be that the gray guard guarantees a reference point for "realism" whereas eyeballing it in post once and then applying consistently is based on your own subjective opinion of what looks most realistic. And usually I think the latter provides better results anyway.


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