Izzy Video 131 – Getting a Good Exposure with an 18% Gray Card
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We’re returning to some video fundamentals with this episode. This tutorial is all about getting a good exposure. Also, I demonstrate how to to use an 18% gray card.
The specific gray card I’m using is from Lastolite. Here is an Amazon link (where I purchased mine): Lastolite 12-Inch Ezybalance Card Gray Card
You can watch the high quality version of the video here.
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May 9th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Hi Izzy,
Never leave home without your gray card.
Most gray cards can be used to white balance a camera too, as it’s chrominance value is neutral, just like a white card.
Mark
May 9th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Mark,
Excellent point!
I’ve tested this, and I get the exact same results from white balancing on the white side as I do on the gray side. I suppose it’s just a habit to use white for white-balancing.
All the best,
Izzy
May 10th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Thank you for this good information. It will come in handy when doing videos. Keep up the good work.
Dan and Deanna “Marketing Unscrambled”
May 12th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Great video … as always. Just recently found out about grey cards myself. They have made an ENORMOUS difference on the color balance in my indoor video shooting. For years, my son’s Taekwondo tournaments have looked just awful – the mats are blue and red. The colors were OFF the chart!
As far as the Canon HV20 camera Izzy was showing. I have this particular camera. You can change the white balance in the menu to different settings, Auto/Daylight/Shade. The final setting is called SET. Here is where you can custom set the white balance with your grey card.
Detailed instructions can be found in the HV20 manual page 51.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Marlo,
Thanks for the very specific feedback! Very helpful!
All the best,
Izzy
May 12th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Just a side note. I was watching some of my own video and started to think, “What would Izzy do?”
Then I thought, “What a great topic! People submit their ‘finished’ video and you put in what you would change and WHY you would do that!”
Then that person makes the changes and posts a before and after video….What do you think?
Here’s my video – http://vimeo.com/3022129 – to be honest, for my “What would Izzy do?” I thought about cropping, key frames …. who knows? I’m not Izzy!
Marlo
Marlo