Customer Reviews

Opteka Pocket-Sized Reference Color & White Balance Grey Card Set With Quick-Release Neck Strap for Digital Photography

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As you can see from the item description, you get three cards in the set; one black, one white, and one grey. I realize I could use the black and white cards, but the reality is that I'm only ever really going to use the grey one. Still, that's just fine with me. At that price, even if it had been just the grey card, I'd be satisfied. But it gets better ...

All three cards are exactly the same size as a credit card. So if you're like me and you're only going to use the grey one, that's perfect because you can just slip it in your wallet where a credit card would normally go and it fits perfectly. You don't have to bother with the neck strap. But it still gets better ...

The neck strap that comes with these cards is actually really nice. It's got a quick-release plastic buckle on the end. It's a pity to leave it lying around a drawer if you're carrying the card in your wallet, so you can use it for tons of other things. If you work at a place that makes you wear an ID badge, it'll work for that. If you want to carry your car keys around your neck, but still be able to quick-release them for driving or whatnot, it'll work for that.

So, to summarize, you get the grey card at a great price (which is probably why you're buying this anyway). You get a black and a white card that you're probably not going to use (no biggie). And you also get a pretty nifty neck strap that you can use for something else even if you don't use it to carry around these cards.

The only criticism I have is that the grey card comes with the company branded logo on a sticker on one side. Given that it's a small card, that sticker is pretty big and it means that you're going to be using the other side of the grey card unless you peel off the sticker ... except that the sticker is made of the kind of stuff that doesn't come off nicely. If you've got a bottle of Goo Gone, you'll be all set.

These color cards are only a thin veneer of color on a white core. Don't even think of keeping loose in a pocket. My cards are already transfering colors between cards from slight rubbing together. The gray card has also picked up a brown tint (making it useless for white balance) by simply sitting next to my leather wallet--and try as I might, I cannot clean this tint--it is pemanently stained it seems.
White card has black splothes that won't come off, black card has white showingvthru from wear, gray card stained. Pretty sad--especially since I kept these iny pocket just once.

I've used some great Opteka products before but this one turned out to be worse than I expected. I'm not going to say it won't work. It does exactly what it's supposed to do; help me get a better white balance at the shoot.

What I'm not happy about is the condition of the product when I took it out of it's own packaging. The box was cheap, clear plastic folded into a box shape. It offered no protection. Stuffed inside that were the cards, lanyard, and "instructions". The plastic box was scratched up and looked like it had been in the console in my truck for 6 months. The cards were scratched up pretty bad too and looked like they had been stuck to the bottom of my camera bag. If I buy something new, I want the chance to scratch it up!

A very helpful photography tool for setting white balance & compensation exposures. Glad I got it. The compact size (the cards fit in my Tamrac 515 camera case) and ease of wearing around my neck on the provided lanyard means I carry the cards with me anywhere I take my camera; without inconvenience, bulk or a lot of extra weight. It's a great product design. Glad I bought the set - it's useful to have the white and black as well as the 18% grey cards.

I am a little disappointed in these cards for a couple of reasons. First, they are smaller than I expected - but not smaller than advertised. They are the size of a business card. That makes them convenient, but not useful for setting the custom white balance in my Canon dslr cameras since Canon wants you to focus on a white or 18% grey object that completely fills the viewfinder. The cards also do NOT have the "individually numbered certification label and focus target patch" as promised in the instructions (but not the ad). I think the instructions, titled "DGC-Introduce" are written for another product. Since I shoot mostly raw, I will be able to use the cards as a reference when the subject doesn't include anything with a pure enough white color to be used as a reference in processing. But a bigger size would serve my needs better. The "convenient neck strap" will end up in the trash.

Nice for post processing White Balance start point.
Too small to be used for setting in camera custom WB.

This white balance card kit is a must have for most photographers. Even if you shoot it RAW which allows you to edit the white balance 'after the fact' using these cards will allow you to set the white balance correctly while you shoot and cut down on editing time later. Small enough to slip into even a small camera bag and connected to a lanyard so they're easy to carry, if you're anything like me you'll find yourself using them all the time. Especially useful if you're doing a series of photographs in a controlled environment and you want to make absolutely sure you get your skin tones correct.

For the price these are a no-brainer.

This is SO EASY to use! I get some of the best photos when I use these cards before taking photos. Inside or out... I now try to always use these to get the white balance perfect.

Great little cards for the money. I usually only use the 18% but it's nice to have a hard card that is so easy to use. focus lock in the distance, hold the card to where it will get similar light, take a pic. When I'm all done point lightroom to the grey pic and let it adjust the WB of all of the pics for that lighting environment. The lanyard is a nice little bonus also.

Not much to it. Not a lot of money for a simple device to speed up your photo processing work.