DGK Color Tools Optek Premium Reference White Balance Card Set- 3 Card Set- 3 Card Digital Color Correction Tool

These 3 cards are precisely the size of a credit card, so they will fit in your wallet or a cc holder. The surface of each card is matte black, white, or gray...which reduces color casts from reflections. Each card colors is solid through the plastic; the finish won't scratch off. To my eyes, the three shades appear perfectly neutral, but since plastic often yellows with age, I'll keep these away from sunlight and open air. For the price, they look very durable; the lanyard them secure on outdoor shoots. If there's any downside to these cards, it's that the size is a bit too small for getting a positive reading off wider angle lenses. So far in use, these cards have helped me accurately set white balance; I'm a very satisfied buyer. Made in USA.

Bought this set to use with food photography. Having accurate colors is incredibly important when doing food photography. This set works like a charm. Fairly accurate, the cards are a thick plastic that seems quite durable, you can wipe dirt and such off the cards with a wet rag to clean them, the lanyard clips off at the bottom making it easy to hand these to a client quickly!, they hang around your neck which helps keep them constantly at hand! I usually get quite flustered on shoots and tend to stuff everything in my bag but with this lanyard I finally KNOW where I put it! lol Great buy and well worth the $8 that I paid! I have recommended this item to friends and strongly think that it is a must for people who shot a lot! (WORKS GREAT WITH MULTIPLE SPEEDLITE AND STUDIO LIGHT SETUPS EVEN OUTDOORS!)

For starters, these cards are inexpensive, compact, durable, and come with a lanyard that makes it easily accessible when worn. I think they are great for up-close portrait photography if you have the subject or an assistant hold the cards for some test shots while while you dial in your white balance and get some metering done. However, I found it difficult to measure my manual preset white balance on the fly when taking photos in real world situations. When holding the white card to the lens very closely (using manual focus), a shadow or finger in the in the frame which would result in a less accurate reading. A larger card that can be held at an arm's length would keep me from switching back and forth between auto and manual focus. I was looking for a small white card so I can set my manual preset white balance and it does an okay job. The white card that was included with the set I purchased had a little piece of black lint underneath the laminate - not a big deal. The grey card for metering is alright, but for metering purposes I use the palm of my hand (a trick during my film days when I was a photography student and kept losing my grey cards, but it still works just fine for me to this day), so I hardly use it. In conclusion, I feel like these cards' greatest asset will eventually become their greatest flaw as some users may find themselves using them less and less. You should get these cards If you are ONLY going to be carrying your camera or have a small camera bag (body and lens only), because they will do the trick. However, if you have a medium to large camera bag that holds more gear, then I would recommend spending a few more dollars and getting cards in a larger size since you can carry them in your bag anyway.

One real plus about these is that they are plastic, not laminated cardboard, so I expect to never need to replace them. I have read some place where people pan the little cards as too small to get a good reading for white balance in the light they are working in. That suggests that they haven't ever used the click custom white balance available in a lot of photo editors. When you have your lighting set up (or have set up your shoot in outdoor lighting - in outdoor lighting you should probably take reference shots frequently as the light change) you either have someone hold the white balance card in a shot or put the white balance in the shot (i.e., product photography). Then when you go to post process you click on the card as the reference and auto correct your white balance. It doesn't have to be the size of a posterboard to accomplish that. Pfeh - it's some plastic cards on a lanyard that could have been made from shoe laces. It works, it was affordable... that's all that matters for something like this.

I ordered this item to help me improve my photo taking, more specifically, my to help with my post-processing workflow. The cards are plastic and not laminated paper stock like some and they are waterproof and easily cleaned with water or household cleaner. They are compact and fit easily in either a pocket or your camera bag. The included lanyard is a nice convenience feature also. I've always had trouble finding the correct white balance in post processing and this tool has helped immensely. I'm sure I have not used it to its potential yet, but I got it just before Christmas and used it on Christmas Eve during setup at my parents' house for Photos of the grandkids. It did a fantastic job of helping me correct the color balance of the pictures during post processing. It's very simple to use: just take a photo of one (or all - one each) of the cards under the lighting conditions that you will be shooting under. When you go to post process you correct the color balance in your photo editing program for the test photos and copy the settings to the entire shoot. I personally use Lightroom and it was a very simple process to complete that took under 5 minutes total to correct all of the pictures I took that night. I would highly recommend this product for any photographer who is starting to take their craft more seriously. For under $10 you can't go wrong with this product.