Getting Accurate Colors in Camera
I think it is safe to say that RAW workflow is the standard for almost all professional photographers. Even with that, I am sure there are still many pros that choose to shoot JPEG files. There is nothing wrong with either method. If the shoe fits, right? I personally prefer a RAW workflow myself but to each his own right? Applications like Adobe Lightroom further sweeten the deal for me. Programs like this make RAW workflow a breeze. Batch processing allows you to correct one RAW file and process the same settings across multiple images. Presets can be created to recollect your favorite settings and effects even. These various methods all help save you time and allow you to spend more time behind the camera rather than editing photos on your computer. For JPEG shooters, this luxury really can only be done through the use of your in-camera settings or custom actions in Photoshop. And good luck if you need to make some drastic white balance corrections!
Your in-camera white balance setting is a great asset to JEPG and RAW shooter alike. Nailing an accurate white balance in the camera is one of the biggest time savers that I have noticed. The camera’s presets come close to accurate colors but many times they still require additional fine-tuning in order to get the most accurate colors. Auto white balance is fine for a snapshot but the white balance values are all over the place from shot to shot and good luck color correcting those JPEGS! In this article, I plan on going over how to obtain the best color directly in-camera and the tools which work for me.
Color correction was always a nightmare for me. This was my primary reason for shooting RAW for the longest time. My previous gray card targets like the Whibal and so on were ‘close’ but I always had too much magenta or something that looked just plain off. The RAW file has a lot more leverage when it comes to obtaining the best white balance and exposure correction. Now I don’t know about you but the perfectionist in me always questioned my white balance. I have purchased my share of gray cards and color checkers but even the most expensive one is no use when you forget to take it out of your camera bag!
Well, color correction issues became a figment of my imagination once I discovered the BRNO BaLens. The BaLens replaces your lens cap and comes in a variety of sizes so it is likely to fit any of your lenses. Its design is simple; a white translucent dome, which is about the size of a quarter, sits in the center of the cap and can be swapped out with a warmer portrait dome for warmer skin times if need be. The BaLens comes with a neutral and warm dome. The neutral one is ideal for any situation where the warmer one is most beneficial for skin tones and portraits. I prefer to just keep the neutral one on and simply dial in a little warmth to skin tones in post-production if need be.
It is very easy to switch out the different domes but I could just slide the Kelvin slider a couple hundred degrees and that seems to always to the trick for me. The BaLens did require some more steps to follow. It relies on using your test image to be stored as a white balance preset in the camera while gray cards can be captured and worked with in post-production. The steps require me to take the test shot using program mode, manual focus and auto white balance. I use Program mode only for this purpose simply because it takes care of the exposure for me without me having to fidget with my exposure. My camera is set up so it doesn’t take a picture unless focus is acquired so putting my lens into manual focus bypasses this. Because of the BaLens’ design, they recommend taking the test image using auto white balance. It’s quite straightforward from there. I have the BaLens lens cap on and take a photo of the main light source (or in between the two light sources if there are different casts to acquire an average balance). The last step is for me to use that image as the white balance preset value. Refer to your camera’s user manual for instructions on how to set the white balance preset. It sounds like a hassle but I can pull all this off in half a minute tops. Yeah the first couple tries seemed like I was all thumbs but the more you do it, the faster you get. For weddings or portraits, I just make sure to spark up a conversation or have my second shooter take them for a few images while I go through the white balance settings to make the shoot flow seamlessly.
You’re probably wondering what the results are like. Let’s take a look at the differences between my old means of white balance calibration and the new. If your computer monitor isn’t calibrated then don’t expect to really see any color accuracy since your monitor’s color is probably off in some way. I would recommend picking up a monitor calibration device if that is the case.
Image 1: Auto White Balance *WAY too cool.
Image 2: Whibal card: 3050K / -4 *better than auto but it isn’t quite there.
Image 3: BaLens Neutral: 3300K / -13 *notice how that -13 value is what fixes the magenta issue I complained about earlier.
Image 4: BaLens Warm: 3350K / -11 *notice the slight variation in temperature readings. This one wins it for me.
*NOTE: Check out these images for better examples of what the BaLens can do: http://www.michaelalanphoto.net/?p=137
Image 5: Lightroom WB Dropper Tool: 3100K / -2 * Close, but still too much magenta.
There definitely wasn’t much of a difference is the Kelvin temperature but look at the differences in the tint. As mentioned a couple times before, I always noticed that my images had too much of a magenta cast to them after using my other white balance correction methods. This was always bothersome to me and caused me to always be “pixel peeping”. The BaLens did an amazing job of taking care of this for me automatically. FINALLY!
So long story short, the BaLens out performs all my other white balance targets. Are there better white balance targets out there? Probably. Are they as easy to use and convenient as the BaLens? Probably not.
I hope this article was useful to you. As always feel free to get in touch with me by commenting below or register with the inLIGHTin Forum and we can chat about all things photography there. Thanks for reading and take care!
You can purchase the BRNO BaLens at the following locations:
www.balens.ca
http://amplis.com
or at any of these other fine retailers:
HERE
*
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Anything before the Nikon D300 isn’t really the best thing Nikon put out. Their newer cameras are amazing with white balance, even under auto mode. I am afraid that I cannot vouch for how things are done with your two lenses. The 24-70 is an amazing lens and the optics are par none. The 18-200mm is a kit lens meaning that it is affordable and comes with cameras quite often. They unfortunately aren’t of the best caliber of equipment and many people have issues with them. I just use aperture priority wide open with my BaLens and point my camera directly towards the light source to take my WB Preset and things work great. I have done this with all my pro lenses without issues. If you know that the 24-70 does a good job then just take your preset with that lens and then it shouldn’t change when you shoot. Hope that helps.
I am using a D200 with two lens – Nikon 18-200mm and Nikon 24-70mm f2.8. I have a BaLens cap for each lens. I get good white balance values when using the BaLens cap on the 24-70mm lens, but not with the 18-200mm lens. When I take white balance readings I have the camera in Aperature priority with lens at f8, select Preset White balance, point the camera toward the light source and take a reading. With camera set to Pre white balance and D-0 selected I then take pictures.
If I use an ExpoDisc on the 18-200mm lens I get a correct value for white balance. Nikon says you need to fill the screen when taking white balance readings and the BaLens does not meet this requirement. What is the correct way to use the BaLens cap for a Nikon camera?
Thanks for any inputs.
I hear you Lori,
Shooting in RAW can definitely be a pain but if you have a set workflow then it can actually save you time! Say you mess up your WB, you can get it back to the correct color cast no sweat. It’s even easier if you take a photo of a white balance card beforehand!
If JPEG is still your thing then just keep looking at your LCD screen. They are accurate enough to let you know if you are in the ballpark. If you look at an image and it is too cool or too warm then just re-do the WB preset…
Thanks Michael. I already get how to do the manual WB setting from owning the Whibal gray card. I nervous about using the setting for the day because if I got it wrong, all of the photos will be bad. When I use the Whibal, I tend to shoot L and RAW just in case, but that just adds more work load at the end to sort through duplicates of everything. I think I will take the plunge here and try this gizmo out. Thanks again for you time and experience.
Lori
Hi Lori,
I have tried a lot of different White Balance tools and the BaLens is one of the best out there. It isn’t as straight forwards as other methods but the results are fabulous when you take the proper steps…
1.) Put the camera into Program Mode ‘P’ (all you want is an well exposed image so P mode will do that and it will get all your settings quickly) This is the only time I use P mode by the way!
2.) Make sure the BaLens is attached.
3.) Look in your camera’s manual for how to set a CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE. This is essential. For Nikon, you just move the WB until it is set to Custom. Once it is set to that, hold down the WB button for a couple seconds until it asks you to set the WB.
4.)Look through the viewfinder and point your camera towards your main light source.
5.) Take a picture. For Nikon if it was an alright WB reading then the camera will say GOOD or something like that.
6.) You will not be able to see the photo you just took. The camera only keeps the WB variables and stores them in the camera for you.
7.) Put your camera into Av mode or Manual mode, take off the BaLens and start shooting.
The BaLens will work for both JPEG and RAW. All it is doing is setting up the prope white balance for whatever lighting condition you are under. There shouldn’t be any plug-ins needed unless you have an old version of Photoshop or equivalent photo editing software that is older than your current camera. What “plug-ins” you must have been downloading were ones that will allow your editing software to read the most current RAW files from your camera model…
Hope that helps.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your informative article. I have been using the WhiBal card for a few months now, and have had limited success. I was looking for more of a way to set the white balance in manual mode and be done with it instead of fixing them all in post production. The BaLens cap sounds like exactly what I have been looking for, so I am researching it now.
The question I have is, have you used this product in jpg or strictly in RAW? I think the Whibal was a little misleading when it stated you could use it for jpg or RAW, but when it arrived, it stated you had to download a plug-in for it to work effectively in jpg. Also my photo editor does not have an option for plug-ins, so the only way the WhiBal works for me is in RAW using post processing batch editing.
I want one that I can use either way, and I am hoping the BaLens alows both things.
Thanks,
Lori
Hello James. You can pick up the BaLens at the following link:
http://www.balens.ca/
or
http://amplis.com (do a quick search for the BaLens)
Hope that helps!
Michael
Where can I buy these BaLens caps? Your results look good. I have been using the Photovision in studio and the Coloright away from the studio.
Best regards,
James