Custom/Preset White Balance with the ExpoDisc

I'm always on the lookout for neat photography tools and my latest purchase has given me great results.


It's an ExpoDisc, a white balance filter, used to achieve accurate white balance results.

You use it to set a Custom or Preset White balance on your DSLR, much like you would use a grey card. The difference is that you place the ExpoDisc on your lens and shoot through it at the light source rather than shooting at a grey card. Because you shoot through it, it gives more accurate white balance results than a grey card.

Here is an example of the ExpoDisc results (all photos are SOOC).

Using the Auto White Balance setting on my D300, I snapped a picture of a bamboo plant sitting by the kitchen window in the morning sun:


Auto White Balance does the best it can to estimate the proper white balance, but has rendered the scene on the cool side. The resulting photo doesn't represent what my eye saw - no golden morning light on the stalks.

After using the ExpoDisc to set a Custom / Preset White Balance, here is the result:

This is what the bamboo really looked like in the morning light.

Normally, I don't get all that excited about White Balance because I shoot in RAW format and can adjust the White Balance in post processing. But sometimes that can take a long time. I was really happy with the ExpoDisc results and happier to have one less thing to monkey with in post processing. Hopefully I'll be disciplined enough to take the time during while shooting to set that Custom white balance.

Finally, one more shot of the little bamboo plant that sits by the kitchen window.


Linking up with Deb Duty and This or That Thursday