White Balance Card

[WithTheBirds]

Brett: I seem to remember that the last MPB has really serious CPU throttling due to thermal concerns. Perhaps that had something to do with the announcement of a new one when the previous model hasn't been out very long.

That might be the case. I suspect the real reason a lot of us didn’t like the trash can design was the upgrade prospects were very limited. We kept upgrading our old machines. The new models look like a serious reason to upgrade.

 

[brett8883]

Brett: I seem to remember that the last MPB has really serious CPU throttling due to thermal concerns. Perhaps that had something to do with the announcement of a new one when the previous model hasn't been out very long.

I don’t really know anything about that. This is the Mac Pro not to be confused with the Mac Book Pro. It’s been forever since they came out with a viable Mac Pro. We’ll try to forget the one that looked like a CPAP machine.

 

[WithTheBirds]

I don’t really know anything about that. This is the Mac Pro not to be confused with the Mac Book Pro. It’s been forever since they came out with a viable Mac Pro. We’ll try to forget the one that looked like a CPAP machine.

We could talk about how useless the task bar was/is.... On the MBP

 

[kilomikebravo]

My mistake, Brett and I hope that the new Mac Pro helps a lot of video editors.

 

[johnmeyer]

One way would be for you to place the white card close enough to completely fill the camera frame. Got to custom settings and dial in the Kelvin setting that makes the white card look neutral without a color cast. Be sure the card is in the same light as the Mavic Will be.

In other words, don't balance the card in shade if you will be photographing in sunlight. Guaranteed to be off color then.
NB

I thought about doing this, but as someone who owns a Spyder calibration tool, this won't work because the iPad screen (or whatever you use) is not color-calibrated. If your screen is too warm or too cool compared to a properly-calibrated screen, making the card white look white (by sliding the controls) on the un-calibrated screen will make all your photos uncalibrated.

I think you would be better off leaving it alone and using AWB or one of the presets, rather than trying to create a preset using this technique.

I guess the only recourse is to bring along some color bars, shoot that in RAW just before or after the flight, and then use the color bars to create a post-processing color correction filter in Lightroom.

 

[CanadaDrone]

How do you get the M2 Pro to read the white card? I saw the "Custom" button, but all you can do is change the Kelvin color setting. I'd love to be able to use a white card, like I do on many of my other cameras, but I can't find any instructions on how to do this.

Can anyone point me in the direction of how to get a custom setting using a white card?

Easiest way is to do it after the fact. Right after you take off (or while it's still on the ground), stand in the same light you will be photographing in and turn the drone towards you for a picture while holding the grey card or colorchecker. Then, continue on as normal and take as many photos you want in RAW. Later, in post processing, just grab the WB value from the card in your first picture and batch-apply it to the rest of the images.

 

[CanadaDrone]

and right on cue, just 11 hours ago Apple announced this:

I may have missed it but I didn't see anything that says that display can display 100% of REC 2020, let alone be properly hardware calibrated on a regular basis with a colorimeter and LUT. The stand alone is $1000 USD and VESA adapter is $200 USD. To get rid of the glossy coating that I would guess very few people want costs you another $1000 USD. I am not impressed by that to be honest, there are much better monitors out there for a fraction of the price. Even the number of local dimming zones are unimpressive compared to other monitors. Looks like you're mostly paying for 6K resolution (a relatively unpopular resolution) and the Apple logo.

 

[Northern_Bob]

Actually, Canadadrone got it right. Having the drone shoot a photo Grey card first lit under the same lighting conditions as the drone and then carrying on the mission is the easiest way.
Afterwards using a White Balance tool on the card will get you to neutral. One thing to be aware of: Photoshop by default samples a 1 pixel area with the WB eyedropper.
That could be dangerous. You might be sampling a dead or stuck pixel, or dust on the sensor surface. I always choose 3x3 or 5x5 pixel average in tool options to avoid this.
NB

 

[kilomikebravo]

I always choose 3x3 or 5x5 pixel average in tool options to avoid this.

Bob: Excellent PS tip. I discovered this years ago but forgot about it while perusing the "White Balance Card" thread. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[jwt873]

I have a grey card in my DSLR kit... But what I found to be a bit better was the Expodisc. It's basically a diffuser that captures the general color of the light in your surroundings. ExpoDisc 2.0 Professional White Balance Filter

Considering that the light might be different at 300 feet than it is on the ground, it would be interesting to put some sort of expodisc arrangement on the lens.. Head to 300 feet, take a reference shot, then land and take the diffuser off. After that you'll have a baseline image white balance image to apply to your RAW files for the altitude you are flying at.

Of course, the problem is that they don't make such a device

 

[globetrotterdrone]

I have set the WB manually to Sunny to avoid mixed results while panorama shoots or slightly different angles.
As I am certainly using DNG, I am free to alter the WB to my liking later however I find it more difficult to find a proper one in post. It drifts to magenta or green on the tint or too warm/too cold. Not a real issue, but comparing to my 5D Mark IV, it's a bit more tricky tbh.