WarmCards? White balance cards?
 

I need a good white balance system for my Canon XL2. More often than not, it's darn difficult to reproduce the correct colors during a shoot. Either I'm out in the sun and can't find the right white to adjust the setting, or I'm indoors and the lighting inside is creating havoc for my camera. Turning to auto white balance does help a lot, but still leaves the colors very bland and ugly.

I hate the idea of purchasing a white balance card because I've tried them before with lackluster results.

On the other hand, I've run across these "WarmCards" at B&H http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...rds_White.html and would like to know if these are any good at reproducing, capturing skin tones. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

By the way, I'm primarily shooting weddings and commercials. Thus, the skin tone and background really need to be vibrant.

Thanks for any help!

The XL2 lacks the color temperature adjustment that the Panny cameras have so white balance is a critical and important tool. I dont remember the last time I actually balanced to white, I just dont care for that look very much. I use the Warmcards religiously and love them, I have the full set, even cool cards and the smaller ones I use for still pics. HIGHLY recommend them.





ash =o)

You won't be disappointed with those warm cards. Just make sure to practice with them with different subjects so that you'll have an idea of how much difference they make before you use them on a paid shoot. The lightest blue of that set has been my new white since I got them.

Hope this helps...

Kevin (or anyone else for that matter), have you tried the Minus Green card in their Plus set? Ordered both sets because a lot of my shooting is indoors and I don't have the time or money to set up 3- or 5-point lighting; I couldn't find any reviews about the green card but the official Web site said it was used by broadcast TV (and they did show several example stills that were remarkably improved with the card).

This video might help http://link.brightcove.com/services/...bctid900554631

Wow, thanks, Guy. Too bad I didn't watch this clip yesterday or I could have saved myself 10% from the discount code at the end of the video!

Boy, I suggest EVERYONE takes a look at that video. What a big difference! It usually takes me five to ten minutes to find an adequate white balance under any situation, but with these cards I can probably do it in one minute.

You're welcome :)

I could have explained with words but I thought the video we shot did a better job.

Oh, most definately! It really is amazing how many 3rd-party vendors are out there providing unique and useful products. Glad these WarmCards are available or I'd continue to think my camera was screwy.

Thanks again!

I've found using a digital target (white, grey, black) The going into post and doing a color correction over the whole clip by telling the program what is really white, grey and black helps more than anything i have tried before.