There are dozens of websites discussing white balance. There are so many products out there to help correct white balance, but which one to choose? After reading several reviews, I finally decided to test two of the most popular gray cards; WhiBal G6 Pocket Kit from www.rawworkflow.com and Premium Digital Grey Kard from www.digitalimageflow.com.
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WhiBal G6 Pocket Kit cost me $29.95 (no shipping cost to The Netherlands). The kit includes WhiBal Pocket Gray Card, quick-release lanyard, table stand, and lightweight carry case. The card is made of extruded cellular PVC; a sturdy foam-like material. It is slightly thinner than a CompactFlash card and about the size of a business card.
Premium Digital Grey Kard is $ 20.99. However, it cost me $22.98 with the shipping. The package includes set of three color balance cards (grey, white, black) and lanyard with detachable clip and safety release. The cards are made of PVC plastic, each the size of a credit card.
The table stand and carry case are a plus for WhiBal. I found the table stand of WhiBal very useful for ease of setup on tables or flat surfaces. It is not easy to set up Digital Grey Kard as WhiBal. The carry case is good enough to protect the WhiBal card from scratches.
The test image above was captured in RAW with Canon 5D Mark II using AWB under tungsten light mixed with a little daylight. The original RAW file can be downloaded from here.
I corrected the image using “White Balance Selector” (eyedropper) in Adobe Lightroom. Strangely, different areas of the cards produce different results. Therefore, I selected a random point from each card.
The first image was corrected using Digital Grey Kard. It is slightly warmer compared to the second one which was corrected using WhiBal. In both cases the cards provide a useful white balance reference. After this point it is up to the photographer to fine-tune the photographs.
Personally, I like warm tones. Digital Grey Kard gives pretty good results and is cheaper than WhiBal although the money is not the most important consideration for me. However, I found the lack of a table stand inconvenient. Although, it requires a few more clicks with WhiBal to get warmer tones, it is very easy to set up.
Edit (June 7, 2010): Here is the proof that I didn’t pay for the shipping. So please don’t debate the shipping cost.
Thanks for the excellent review of the DGK. I’m glad you liked the color balance you got with the Digital Grey Kard. Both cards work well, the Digital Grey Kard costs a LOT less. I don’t agree that there are no shipping charges to the NL for the WhiBal – please check their website. The actual cost is 3.00 USD, giving a total cost to a NL customer of 32.95 for the WhiBal vs. 22.98 for the Digital Grey Kard.
That means you save 40% if you buy the Digital Grey Kard. In these tough times, most photographers would like to save USD 10.00 if they can!
One other small note: You did not mention that the Digital Grey Kard is three cards, the WhiBal is only one card. We have many customers who insist on the three card set.
Henry – Your an idiot. We have to make a law where the biased can’t leave comments. It’d be like a Captcha except all they’d have to do is spell -H0N3STY- or -i.n.t.e.l.l.i.g.e.n.c.e.- so we wouldn’t have to deal. First off Digital Grey Kards DON’T costs a LOT less. Your dumb. Another reason your stupid is he never said there’s no shipping cost, he said no cost to The Netherlands, meaning ADDITIONAL COSTS. Shipping costs do change retard. And what are you talking about with the three cards? At the fact you didn’t even read the article before you exposed your ignorant mind is pretty sad. He wrote right in the article ””””The package includes set of THREE COLOR BALANCE CARDS.”””” THEN HE LISTS THE COLORS after that and shows them in multiple pictures! Your stupid and that’s exactly why you sell Digital Grey Kards. Your about as creative in life as you were in this page. YOU LACK.
Pop,
Speaking of intelligence, ‘your’ is possessive, ‘you’re’ is a contraction for ‘you are’. If you attack people, you’re advised to learn the difference since people will validly question your lack of intelligence. You also apparently cannot comprehend basic subject verb agreement i.e. ‘don’t costs less’.
In my search for the perfect white balance tool for shooting RAW, I’ve used WhiBal cards, grey cards, ExpoDiscs, X-Rite Color Checker, and every setting a camera has to offer. My results have shown that I get very similar white balance results from most products, with the exception of the WhiBal cards. WhiBal cards give me results that are too cool, and are not neutral, like you see in your example. I’ve tested this under controlled studio lighting, and the WhiBal results are always too cool.
Currently I use an ExpoDisc most of the time, as it allows me to shoot JPEG as well when needed. However, if I was purchasing a card to do post correction, I’d recommend the Digital Grey Kard over the WhiBal.
[...] WhiBal un Digital Grey Kard būtībā ir identiski produkti, tikai pēdējais ir lētāks (man sanāca nepilni 24 USD ar piegādi). Lietošanu var apgūt [...]
For those who say the WhiBal images are “too cool” or that you “like the warm tones”, I think you are missing the basic point of using a white balance card in the first place, which is to remove ALL light generated color cast from the image and obtain an image that is true to the color of the objects being photographed. You can only do this by using an absolutely neutral reference, which is what the WhiBal provides. Once you have the color cast removed, then you can tweak the image to be warmer if desired. The fact that the Digital Grey Kard produces warmer tones compared to the certified neutral WhiBal card indicates the Digital Grey Kard is not neutral (i.e., there is color cast still left in the image). Considering the cost of even mediocre camera equipment, the price difference between the two products is really irrelevant. I would much rather put my money on a known certified neutral reference than save a few pennies on something that gives me “warm tones” and therefore doesn’t perform its basic function as well.