Without a doubt, the biggest obstacle in my quest to take the best pictures I can take has been white balance. I love my Nikon D80, but I honestly believe that it came with a default white balance setting of “Jaundiced,” particularly noticeable on indoor, nighttime shots without flash. Unfortunately, that comprises a good portion of my family photos. I’ve experimented with all the white balance settings, including adjusting the Degrees Kelvin.
Enter Photojojo’s White Balance Lens Cap
I was so excited when I read about this lens cap! Could it be the answer to my white balance problems? The folks at Photojojo were nice enough to let me test it for review.
The night before the lens cap arrived, I took some shots of my daughters reading by lamplight. They were so yellow that the one I posted for my Project 365 was converted to black and white. Here are a couple of shots from that night:
See what I mean?
The next night I recreated the same scene: same lens, same settings. The only difference was the White Balance Lens Cap.
Here are a couple of sample photos taken at night in my dining room.
Without White Balance Lens Cap:
With White Balance Lens Cap:
The difference is amazing, isn’t it?! I’m now saving loads of editing time and frustration.
To use the White Balance Lens Cap, you have to set a custom white balance on your camera with the lens cap in place. After Googling and reading my manual, I figured out how to do it. Now I probably could blindfolded.
Here’s how it’s done for my Nikon D80:
- Set the White Balance to “White Balance Preset” either through the menu or by pressing the WB button and rotating the main command dial on the back of the camera until you see “Pre” in the lower right corner of the control panel on top of the camera (faster). (Pages 58-60 in the manual.)
- Hold down the WB button on the back of the camera for a couple of seconds until you see “PRE” flashing on the control panel on top of the camera.
- Take a reference exposure shot with the lens cap on the camera. The lens cap instructions say: “To set an accurate custom white balance, point the camera towards your subject’s main light source or towards the light source from where you will take your photo.” After taking the shot, “Good” will flash on the control panel if your camera was able to measure a value for white balance (mine has every time).
- Remove the lens cap and be prepared to love the white balance on your photos!
I’ve read about other methods of setting custom white balance, such as using a gray card; holding toilet paper in front of your lens; or making a custom filter using a coffee filter. All of them involve carrying around something extra, and as a busy mom I don’t have enough hands as it is. I’ve always got a lens cap with my camera, though.
Simply replace your lens cap with Photojojo’s White Balance Lens Cap and you’re all set! I’ve been testing the 52mm model since it works with both my 18-55mm and 50mm Nikkor lenses; when I change lenses, I just switch the lens cap.
Photojojo’s White Balance Lens Cap comes with both neutral and warm interchangeable color domes and is available for lens thread sizes 52mm, 55mm, 58mm, 62mm, 67mm, 72mm and 77mm. (Don’t know your thread size? Just check the outer rim or bottom of your lens for one of these numbers.) Prices range from $45-$65 depending on size (the one I’m using is a $45 model).
WOW what a difference it made! Thanks for sharing!
Nikowa@KHAs last blog post..Our own "Mt. Vesuvius"
When I started to read your post, all I could think was, “I don’t recall seeing anything about this lens cap.” Then I saw that they sent you one to try out. Color me jealous. Looks like a wonderful product though. Maybe I’ll ask for one for my birthday . . . in May. How nice to have that yellow cast out of there. Thanks for sharing this! 😀
Diannes last blog post..32/365
Thank you! After sharing with my husband about this post he surprised me today with the lens cap… oh my goodness! I am in love!
Trinity Mommys last blog post..A four year old little boy and great art!
Trinity Mommy, thank you so much for telling me this! I’m loving mine, too!!!
Congratulations!
Dawn
Wow, that is EXACTLY what I need for my D80! I’m glad I’m not the only one with that issue.. but I had no idea there was such an easy solution!
Marshas last blog post..Anybody wanna do this with me? and stuff
I so did not understand fully what this was on your camera 🙂 Now I’m sure I need to get one myself! This is awesome 🙂 Guess I need to make my wish list out. Oh, and I’m totally assuming it’ll work on my Canon. I need to talk to you sometime about lenses 😀 HAHA! We need to room together again — too much to talk about!
I’ve seen various posts and reviews on these and I want one SO BAD. I shoot with a D40 which also tends towards yellow. I can usually fix it in processing, but STILL. How wonderful to have perfectly balanced shots right out of the camera! Totally going on my wish list. 🙂
YOU ARE MY HERO!!!
I got my lenscap and read the instructions. Ummm… yup. Followed them and it was completely useless. I reread your post, followed your instructions and WOW! I LOVE HOW MY PHOTOS LOOK!!! Shooting outdoors with the D80 has always been amazing. But shooting indoors only worked if we got the lighting juuuuust right (read: middle of the day or being by a northfacing window a la Kelby).. but now? I love my camera that much more b/c my indoor pictures (at night!) aren’t orangey anymore! Woooohooo!!!
Marshas last blog post..Boys are just weird, take today’s conversation for example
Ok, I got mine and started playing with it today. It made a noticeable difference when I was taking pictures of a Coke can under a lamp. But, I’m still not entirely sure I’m setting it right. I have a Canon Rebel XTi so your instructions above don’t make sense to me. I think I just push the button down with the lens cap on and it’s taking a reading — but I’m so not sure. I’m going to take it to dinner tonight, so I’ll see if I come out with any great shots in the restaurant. It’d be a miracle I tell ya — pure miracle 🙂
Lisa B @ simply Hiss last blog post..I’m so much cooler online 😉
I just clicked through your site to order this for my hubby. Shhhh! Don’t tell him. 😉
I shoot with a Nikon DSLR as well- and I find that I DO have white balance problems, but only when I’m shooting in jpg instead of RAW. Do you not shoot in RAW? I find I can fix a lot more “problems” easily if I shoot in RAW instead of JPG. Then again, since many of my shots are of my two year old, I’m not always in the mood to RAW shoot…
Melanies last blog post..I <3 Faces.
Melanie, I’m sure I could fix white balance issues easier if I shot in RAW, but I just don’t have the computer space. I’ve got over 70GB in my pictures folder with no external hard drive (stupid, I know). I’m shooting in JPG Fine.
Ahh, I see. I’d be terrified of having no backup, lol! you’re a brave woman. It really is easier to shoot in jpg- and this really does look like it would help with white balance issues.
Melanies last blog post..I <3 Faces: Creative Cropping, the Adult Version
I know, I know – I should have ordered this already… but now I’m less than 48 hours away from delivery and too late to ship. Guess I’ll be going to Wolf Camera tomorrow to see if they have it – after the doc checks my cervix. LOL
I’m certainly going to need it in a hospital setting! Hope I can find one before the baby gets here!
sprittibees last blog post..What Do You Blog About?
I am such a blonde! Got my baLens today from Photojojo after reading your post. I thought you were supposed to keep the cap on! I am thinking, I can’t see anything. So I came back to your blog, looked up this post and thank goodness for your blonde proof directions! And thanks for talking about the cap- beautifuls pictures!
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