There is "white" and there is WHITE.

Because I haven't got a gray card, I pressed a sheet of inkjet paper into service tonight as a "white" surface to do a Preset White Balance exposure. then I proceeded to take a couple of photos (this is in a room with CFL's). The color was way off and at first I suspected a fault with the camera. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I notice a piece of white melamine and I glanced back at the piece of paper I'd just used for the Preset exposure. By comparison it looked ever so slightly purple. I've been using this paper (for printing) for years and always considered it very "white".

I took another preset exposure off of the melamine, took a couple of shots, and lo and behold, the white balance is dead on.

Morale: get a gray card or KNOW that your "white" object doesn't have an imperceptible tinge of color in it.
--
Dave

1954 Sears Tower Companion> Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta B> Retina IIc> Minolta 16 II> Polaroid 230> Mamiya Sekor 1000 DTL> Polariod SX-70> Minolta XD-11> Canon MC-10> Minolta Maxxum HTsi> Olympus XA> Olympus Accura Zoom 105> Canon S45> Sony DSC-W170> Nikon D3100> Nikon D5100