A few months ago someone posted a method for White Balance measurement and customization. If I recall correctly, this had to do with pasting two Pringles caps on top of each other, holding this in front of the lens, and measure the WB by aiming the lens to the light source.
Can anybody please respond to the correctness of the above.
Another thing... Can anybody please tell me how I can set the WB custom on the 300D. I am not too familiar with this camera, and a friend of mine is struggling with this. Aparently you have to shoot a white card and then tell the camera to use this image as the WB.
Are there more ways in which one can set the WB on the 300D for specific lighting? Will the "PRINGLES" method work on this camera's WB as well
Do a search for posts relating to Tom Hicks' "HickspoDisc", which involves using respirator filters as white diffusers over the lens. The idea is simply to have a completely color-neutral diffuser, so that the camera reads the overall color balance. A white or gray card works very well, too, and the owners' manual will tell you exactly how to set a custom WB (I don't use a 300D).
Unfortunately, all the sample photos and reference links stopped working. At least the ones that THicks posted. I'm more confused than ever in how to get this to work.
I didn't try the respirator filter but had much better luck using three bleached white coffee filters than the pringles lid. Three coffee filters achieved a white balance within 5% of my calibrated expodisc. Here is how you use them or a pringles lid.
Set your lens to manual focus to prevent hunting. Stand in the approximate location of your subject to be photographed. Cover end of lens with three coffee filters and point lens back towards where you will be taking pictures from. Take one exposure. Go into menu and select Custom White Balance, the last frame you took (pretty much solid grey) will display on the screen, press set. Then select custom white balance on the LCD screen, it is the Icon that looks like two triangles with a dot in the center, see manual if necessary. Don't forget to set your lens back to auto focus and take pictures before lighting conditions change. Repeat when lighting conditions change.
The pringles lid is a very good method for doing a WB. It's better than AWB but not as accurate as the Expo Disc or the Hicks method but it is very fast to a quick WB and it's cheaper than an Expo Disc.