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Expo-disc question

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JohnM31499

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I shot a bunch of pics at Christmas, inside using my D30 & 550 EX flash with a Sto-Fen Omnibounce.

I did a custom WB reading in the living room with the Expo-Disc held in front of my 28-70L & the 550 flashing.

All the shots look too blue. I always shoot RAW files, so I switched the WB to daylight with Breezebrowser & they all look great but I'm wondering what happened to my custom setting??
 
John,

Did you remember to set the camera to Custom WB after you selected the picture via the menu? It is fairly easy to forget.

So far the expodisc has work well for me...

Bill
JohnM said:
I shot a bunch of pics at Christmas, inside using my D30 & 550 EX
flash with a Sto-Fen Omnibounce.

I did a custom WB reading in the living room with the Expo-Disc
held in front of my 28-70L & the 550 flashing.

All the shots look too blue. I always shoot RAW files, so I
switched the WB to daylight with Breezebrowser & they all look
great but I'm wondering what happened to my custom setting??
Click to expand...
 
JohnM said:
I shot a bunch of pics at Christmas, inside using my D30 & 550 EX
flash with a Sto-Fen Omnibounce.

I did a custom WB reading in the living room with the Expo-Disc
held in front of my 28-70L & the 550 flashing.

All the shots look too blue. I always shoot RAW files, so I
switched the WB to daylight with Breezebrowser & they all look
great but I'm wondering what happened to my custom setting??
Click to expand...
JohnM,

I am getting inconsistent results when using the Expodisc to sample my CustomWB.
I switched back to the good old Kodak gray card. ;-)

Colors look accurate since then. Contrary to what I used to believe, I do not think the expodisc is a reliable tool.

--Fred Mirandawww.fredmiranda.comDigital SLR Photo Talkwww.fredmiranda.com/forum
 
I agree with Fred. Sometimes, the ExpoDisc is way off.

I also used it at Christmas (indoors, with a flash), and I wasn't pleased with results. I use the "point the ExpoDisc at the subject" method, and it almost always works perfectly. However, in this situation, there was a window behind most of the subjects. The window had a thin opaque curtain. This allowed a lot of backlighting sunshine into the room, and probably "tricked" the ExpoDisc. It seems that any kind of backlighting throws it off.

I don't really know how to overcome the problem of backlighting while using a flash. Anyone use the ExpoDisc successfully in these situations?
--Steven Donahue
 
I generally find it useless to use the ExpoDisc for Flash photography. The Flash setting in the camera seems to be pretty damn accurate, so I rely on that more. However, I always set to custom WB as I can change it later in Bibble if I don't like it.

Peter
Steven Donahue said:
I agree with Fred. Sometimes, the ExpoDisc is way off.

I also used it at Christmas (indoors, with a flash), and I wasn't
pleased with results. I use the "point the ExpoDisc at the
subject" method, and it almost always works perfectly. However, in
this situation, there was a window behind most of the subjects.
The window had a thin opaque curtain. This allowed a lot of
backlighting sunshine into the room, and probably "tricked" the
ExpoDisc. It seems that any kind of backlighting throws it off.

I don't really know how to overcome the problem of backlighting
while using a flash. Anyone use the ExpoDisc successfully in these
situations?

--
Steven Donahue
Click to expand...
 
Did you FIRE THE FLASH when taking the picture to use for the white-balance ?

But really, when using flash, the Daylight Whitebalance works great.
Steven Donahue said:
I agree with Fred. Sometimes, the ExpoDisc is way off.

I also used it at Christmas (indoors, with a flash), and I wasn't
pleased with results. I use the "point the ExpoDisc at the
subject" method, and it almost always works perfectly. However, in
this situation, there was a window behind most of the subjects.
The window had a thin opaque curtain. This allowed a lot of
backlighting sunshine into the room, and probably "tricked" the
ExpoDisc. It seems that any kind of backlighting throws it off.

I don't really know how to overcome the problem of backlighting
while using a flash. Anyone use the ExpoDisc successfully in these
situations?

--
Steven Donahue
Click to expand...
--The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
 
DavidP said:
But really, when using flash, the Daylight Whitebalance works great.
Steven Donahue said:
I agree with Fred. Sometimes, the ExpoDisc is way off.

I also used it at Christmas (indoors, with a flash), and I wasn't
pleased with results. I use the "point the ExpoDisc at the
subject" method, and it almost always works perfectly. However, in
this situation, there was a window behind most of the subjects.
The window had a thin opaque curtain. This allowed a lot of
backlighting sunshine into the room, and probably "tricked" the
ExpoDisc. It seems that any kind of backlighting throws it off.

I don't really know how to overcome the problem of backlighting
while using a flash. Anyone use the ExpoDisc successfully in these
situations?

--
Steven Donahue
Click to expand...
--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Click to expand...
Check this example of setting wb with studio flash. It shows Auto, Flash and Custom wb. The Expo Disc works just fine with flash. I'm using it tonight at a New Years Ball where there will be 1000 people attending. It has never let me down and custom wb using it yields much better color than without.
http://www.expodisc.com/Gallery/gallery_page_2.htm

Look at this image with multiple light sources, neon, incadesent, flourescent and flash. Perfect skin tones and all other colors right on.
Custom wb with an Expo Disc.



Jan Sanders
 
Jan,

The example you reference at the expodisc.com site doesn't really have a strong backlight, just flash. Those situations seem to work okay for me. The image you included is more appropriate, with multiple light sources. It still doens't have a strong backlight, but is closer to my "problem" situation.

So how did you take the custom WB shot for that photo?

For my photos that ended up with a yellowish cast, I did the following:

1. Set camera to P mode, manual focus.
2. Flash on (if using a flash - not usually).
3. Attach Expo Disc to lens.
4. Point camera at subject.
5. Click.
6. Menu, Custom WB, select most recent image.
7. Set WB to Custom.
8. Fire away.

This has usually worked fine, but with the strong window backlight, I ended up with a very yellowish cast to my images.

--Steven Donahue
 
Nope, last Sat I shoot a number of indoor candid shots in my collegue's party using flash (Sigma EF500 S) with Expo Disc and I am very satisfied with the results, especially in terms of contrast and white balance. Here is one:



I took 2 WB templates using ExpoDisc for 2 different lighting conditions.

On the countray, when shooting outdoor night lights, ExpoDisc does not work well. :)

Griffin.
Peter Sills said:
I generally find it useless to use the ExpoDisc for Flash
photography. The Flash setting in the camera seems to be pretty
damn accurate, so I rely on that more. However, I always set to
custom WB as I can change it later in Bibble if I don't like it.
Click to expand...
-- http://www.pbase.com/griffin/
 
I don't have the expo disk, but if it were me, when shooting flash I would be in manual mode on the camera allowing the flash to be the main light. Also turn off fill in the D-30. When you shoot in other modes the light ratios between flash and ambient could change quite a bit at the time of the shoot. This could result in too much variance between the custom shot and the final shot. Try shooting manual and see if your color balance isn't better and more consistent. Because you will probably be using E-ttl on the flash you can still get some variance but at least the flash should be the predominate light source. In essence, it does you no good to shoot a white balance custom setting and use that setting in a different light ratio.

Roy
Steven Donahue said:
Jan,

The example you reference at the expodisc.com site doesn't really
have a strong backlight, just flash. Those situations seem to work
okay for me. The image you included is more appropriate, with
multiple light sources. It still doens't have a strong backlight,
but is closer to my "problem" situation.

So how did you take the custom WB shot for that photo?

For my photos that ended up with a yellowish cast, I did the
following:

1. Set camera to P mode, manual focus.
2. Flash on (if using a flash - not usually).
3. Attach Expo Disc to lens.
4. Point camera at subject.
5. Click.
6. Menu, Custom WB, select most recent image.
7. Set WB to Custom.
8. Fire away.

This has usually worked fine, but with the strong window backlight,
I ended up with a very yellowish cast to my images.

--
Steven Donahue
Click to expand...
 
PS

You will note that Jan's example is shot at night without any variant light source.
Roy said:
Roy
Steven Donahue said:
Jan,

The example you reference at the expodisc.com site doesn't really
have a strong backlight, just flash. Those situations seem to work
okay for me. The image you included is more appropriate, with
multiple light sources. It still doens't have a strong backlight,
but is closer to my "problem" situation.

So how did you take the custom WB shot for that photo?

For my photos that ended up with a yellowish cast, I did the
following:

1. Set camera to P mode, manual focus.
2. Flash on (if using a flash - not usually).
3. Attach Expo Disc to lens.
4. Point camera at subject.
5. Click.
6. Menu, Custom WB, select most recent image.
7. Set WB to Custom.
8. Fire away.

This has usually worked fine, but with the strong window backlight,
I ended up with a very yellowish cast to my images.

--
Steven Donahue
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Member said:
JohnM,

I am getting inconsistent results when using the Expodisc to sample
my CustomWB.
I switched back to the good old Kodak gray card. ;-)
Colors look accurate since then. Contrary to what I used to
believe, I do not think the expodisc is a reliable tool.
Click to expand...
I would have to agree Fred, sometimes it works great, but other times the auto WB or daylight setting actually works better for me when shooting with the 550 EX.
 
Steven Donahue said:
Jan,

The example you reference at the expodisc.com site doesn't really
have a strong backlight, just flash. Those situations seem to work
okay for me. The image you included is more appropriate, with
multiple light sources. It still doens't have a strong backlight,
but is closer to my "problem" situation.

So how did you take the custom WB shot for that photo?

For my photos that ended up with a yellowish cast, I did the
following:

1. Set camera to P mode, manual focus.
2. Flash on (if using a flash - not usually).
3. Attach Expo Disc to lens.
4. Point camera at subject.
5. Click.
6. Menu, Custom WB, select most recent image.
7. Set WB to Custom.
8. Fire away.

This has usually worked fine, but with the strong window backlight,
I ended up with a very yellowish cast to my images.

--
Steven Donahue
Click to expand...
Steven...

I set my WB the same way with the difference being I use manual mode and set my app. and shutter speed to what I will be shooting at. Here are examples from New Years Eve. I shot a party at the Peterson Automotive Museum in L.A. These were shot at 5.6 and 1/10 shutter speed to pick up ambient light. Flash mounted on a Stroboframe was just a Vivitar 283. All were hand held. ISO 200. Custom WB using an Expo Disc.















Jan Sanders
 
Very nice pictures!!!!
I do have Expo/disc and I had mixed result though.

What I found is that
1)First set the exposure adjustment (In my case +2/3)
many D30 has this problem.
2)take WB shot with P mode and +2/3 in my case.

and do the rest.

Hope this makes sense to everyone.

Paul J.
jan sanders said:
Steven Donahue said:
Jan,

The example you reference at the expodisc.com site doesn't really
have a strong backlight, just flash. Those situations seem to work
okay for me. The image you included is more appropriate, with
multiple light sources. It still doens't have a strong backlight,
but is closer to my "problem" situation.

So how did you take the custom WB shot for that photo?

For my photos that ended up with a yellowish cast, I did the
following:

1. Set camera to P mode, manual focus.
2. Flash on (if using a flash - not usually).
3. Attach Expo Disc to lens.
4. Point camera at subject.
5. Click.
6. Menu, Custom WB, select most recent image.
7. Set WB to Custom.
8. Fire away.

This has usually worked fine, but with the strong window backlight,
I ended up with a very yellowish cast to my images.

--
Steven Donahue
Click to expand...
Steven...
I set my WB the same way with the difference being I use manual
mode and set my app. and shutter speed to what I will be shooting
at. Here are examples from New Years Eve. I shot a party at the
Peterson Automotive Museum in L.A. These were shot at 5.6 and 1/10
shutter speed to pick up ambient light. Flash mounted on a
Stroboframe was just a Vivitar 283. All were hand held. ISO 200.
Custom WB using an Expo Disc.















Jan Sanders
Click to expand...
 
pauljuhn said:
Very nice pictures!!!!
I do have Expo/disc and I had mixed result though.

What I found is that
1)First set the exposure adjustment (In my case +2/3)
many D30 has this problem.
2)take WB shot with P mode and +2/3 in my case.

and do the rest.

Hope this makes sense to everyone.

Paul J.
Click to expand...
I think the variations people are having with their Expo Discs are because of the way in which it is being used. I have found it to be dead on using it the way I have laid out previously. In addition I should ad that I zoom my lens to the wide end to include as much of the secene I am shooting and therefore all of the available light can be taken into account by the Expo. I get a very accurate measurement and gray frame in this way.

Jan
Member said:
Member said:
Steven Donahue said:
Jan,

The example you reference at the expodisc.com site doesn't really
have a strong backlight, just flash. Those situations seem to work
okay for me. The image you included is more appropriate, with
multiple light sources. It still doens't have a strong backlight,
but is closer to my "problem" situation.

So how did you take the custom WB shot for that photo?

For my photos that ended up with a yellowish cast, I did the
following:

1. Set camera to P mode, manual focus.
2. Flash on (if using a flash - not usually).
3. Attach Expo Disc to lens.
4. Point camera at subject.
5. Click.
6. Menu, Custom WB, select most recent image.
7. Set WB to Custom.
8. Fire away.

This has usually worked fine, but with the strong window backlight,
I ended up with a very yellowish cast to my images.

--
Steven Donahue
Click to expand...
Steven...
I set my WB the same way with the difference being I use manual
mode and set my app. and shutter speed to what I will be shooting
at. Here are examples from New Years Eve. I shot a party at the
Peterson Automotive Museum in L.A. These were shot at 5.6 and 1/10
shutter speed to pick up ambient light. Flash mounted on a
Stroboframe was just a Vivitar 283. All were hand held. ISO 200.
Custom WB using an Expo Disc.















Jan Sanders
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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