White balance issue/question/help...

[nightOwl]

Hi all,
I am having issues setting my white balance correctly on my camera now that I have a combination of T5's and VHO's over my tank. I have seen some great pictures on this forum and I was wonder are people using a white balance reference card or just the auto settings. My camera sucks but it works for me until I can afford a new one. It's old and I have had it for years now, but I like the other pictures it takes. It's an Olympus C770. It has some preset white balance settings, but they never give the correct correct color. It always looks blueish. I try use the one touch WB by pointing it at inside of my canopy which is white. When I load the pictures they either look over exposed, not the color of the corals in the tank, or have a blueish hue to them. Any tips or tricks will be greatly appreciated. By the way I shoot in tiff mode.

Thanks,

Henry

 

[edwing206]

Sorry don't know ho word it right but, the camera sensor uses an 18% greycard as it's reference for white.

You can use this.
http://www.linkwitzlab.com/images/photos/gray-18.jpg

 

[nightOwl]

edwing206,
Do I just print that out does it need to be on any special paper matte, photo, gloss, etc?

Thanks,
Henry

 

[edwing206]

Not really sure. Try and print it out then take some pics and see if it worked.

 

[gregr]

Something else to try is using an additive lid (like the bright white lid from a container of kalkwasser for instance) and holding it under water, directly under the lights. The lids are pretty much pure white and won't harm the tank.

 

[nightOwl]

Thanks so much to both of you. I will try both of these and see what I come up with.


THanks,

Henry