By divyak/Terry (1,805) 
on July 19, 2005 7:03:55 PM CDT
With all the high tech gadgetry that the digital world has brought to photography, one low tech way to get a perfect white balance is as close as your kitchen pantry. This little tip is one that I use every time I shoot and it never fails me. The trick is to set your custom white balance setting on your digital camera by placing a coffee filter in front of the lens and shooting the test shot in the custom white balance setting mode.
Since I shoot with a Nikon D1x, I'll show you how to do it on that camera. Follow your camera's instructions for exact instructions if you don't shoot with a D1X
First I set the focus to manual mode by moving the focus lever on the left side of the camera to M. The camera will try to focus and will be unable to with the filter on, so setting to manual will make it easier. I then place a single white paper coffee filter over the lens. You can either hold it or use a rubber band to secure it on your lens. Just make sure if completely cover the front of your lens and your camera is pointing towards your subject.
Next, hit the MONITOR button, then the MENU button.
Make sure your cursor is to the left and then scroll down to the Shooting Menu.
Highlight White Bal cursor and move your cursor pad to the right.
Choose WB Preset and then choose set, press shutter, cursor right to choose OK and your set.
From then on, every shot will be setup with a perfect white balance. You can do this with flash as well as cloudy and sunny days. The trick is to make sure if your lighting changes drastically, to reset the balance. Especially if you put your camera away and then shoot on another day. Shooting in RAW mode, will at least offer a recovery plan.
I have seen other discussions on the net for using plastic lids and other opaque plastics, so experiment and see what works best for you.
I know this is a low tech trick in a high tech world, but this technique works every time.
Terry Divyak
www.terrydivyak.com
Read 9,968 times
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From nicodemus/Martyn (1,190)
on July 20, 2005 5:39:42 AM CDT
Hi Terry,
I like the idea of the coffee filter, its amazing what we end up using to solve problems. One thing on the technique though. If you point the filtered lens at your subject, then your white balance will be affected by the colour of that subject. Now if the the subject is on average pretty neutral then thats no problem. However, if you are photo graphing say a very green environment, say in a field or forest, then your white balance will cause the image to end up shifted away from green, i.e. towards the magenta hues.
I would recommend where possible to point the filtered lens towards the light source rather than the subject. More often than not this means pointing the diffuser towrards the sun or main light. That way you are balancing for the light hitting your scene rather than the scene itself, which will give a more accurate result with tinted subjects.
Hope that helps.
Martyn
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From snowmoon/Eric (1,209)
on August 5, 2005 2:52:28 PM CDT
The Canon 300D is very similar. First I have decided not to use auto WB except in cases where I desperatly need it, leave it on sunlight most of the time actially. For indoor shots I just find the whitist item I can and shoot it. I can use that as my custom WB index and keep shooting. Works 90% of the time and no extra gear invloved. Just moving away from auto WB has improved my out-of-camera shots 400%.
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From jandrade/Jose Paulo (37,682) 
on August 11, 2005 10:47:46 AM CDT
Very good tip this one! I use the Fuji S2 Pro and the protocol is similar. Thanks!
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From ncochise/Jon (771)
on October 6, 2005 4:50:31 PM CDT
"Out of camera shots?" Is that like an out of body experience?
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From holden/Deian (2,284)
on October 19, 2005 1:46:13 AM CDT
LOL
// What does LOL mean, again? Everybody seems to use it ;-)
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From dwb/Dan (3,708)
on December 5, 2005 7:05:22 PM CST
Check it out here...
http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?String=exact&Acronym=lol&Find=Find
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From spevas/Spevas (0)
on August 27, 2005 4:48:29 PM CDT
*Some* coffee filters will give you a fairly neutral white balance, but many have are distinctly not neutral, or change with exposure to the sun and air. You might have to experiment with different brands to get the best WB.
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From ncochise/Jon (771)
on October 6, 2005 4:54:29 PM CDT
These little tricks are often helpful. Years ago (1972,1973 and 1974 to be exact) when I went to the Nikon School of Photography, my instructors Michael Newler and Bill Campbell taught us to use FADED blue jeans as a perfect 18% gray reflectance. No need to carry around a gray card, because back then virtually everyone had a pair of FADED blue jeans. I mean REALLY FADED! Today you pay extra for STONE WASH which we used to create for FREE back in... THE DAY. All you had to do back then was take a reflective meter reading off your KNEE and you had a very good 18% gray reflectance as a guideline. Later when DOCKERS became popular, I cut the knee out of a pair of FADED jeans and kept in in my camera bag... JUST IN CASE!
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