24ColorCard-2x3 with Grey Balance and User Guidebook

This is a nice mini color standard. Unfortunately the white balance side came damaged.

So the Europeans can suck cadmium for all I care. Why? Because of RoHS or Restriction of Hazardous Substances. If you are not familiar with RoHS, its a law that had good intentions, but has gone way too far. I bring it up because this color chart is the best replacement for the old standard that was eliminated by RoHS. The old standard chart, the x-rite Mini Color Checker, isn't ROHS compliant. Some of the pigments were "dangerous", boo wha! I'm not going to eat them. Those pigments have the advantage of absorbing light across the full spectrum that a camera sensor can detect. That matters to me since I use UV, Visible and Infra-red light in my lab. The chart is used as a way of normalizing image output as the temperature, humidity, and light output change. This chart, Camera Trax 24 Color Card 2x3, is a close approximation, but it is printed with ink that does not absorb IR. It will work for the visible spectrum, and the gray scale works for UV. The gray scale is not detectable in IR at all. To the camera it just looks like a piece of white paper. So for 99.9% of the people who are looking at this product, it will work for your application. It's only a problem if you1) are using a monochrome camera with no IR filter. (Color cameras block IR)2) have a light source that is ~800nm and up. If by some crazy happenstance you meet those two criteria, then get a WhiBal G7 pocket card. It doesn’t give you 6 gray scales, but it is a consistent gray across the entire spectrum. - well, except for UV-A...

I purchased this as an alternative to the X-rite Colorchecker passport, which costs ten times as much, to create a color profile for my camera. Using the Adobe DNG Profile Editor with this card should allow you to create a color profile for your particular camera and lens in place of the default Adobe Standard Profile in Lightroom and Photoshop. The goal is to get the most accurate color possible from your equipment during the editing process for those photographers shooting RAW.This card is a quality product and worked great, which is more than I can say for the DNG Profile Editor software. Dave from Camera Trax was helpful and patient with me as I tried to create a dual illuminate profile using his card. Only with much research did I realize that the software is still in beta after many years and does not perform as well as you would expect. I recently discovered that the X-rite software is also free and works nicely to easily create a dual illuminate profile.There should be no surprise that the card is the size of a business card, if you've paid attention to the description. I travel light and don't want to drag around anything larger than I have to on location. As a professional videographer, the 12% gray white balance on the reverse side is great to have. Performing a manual white balance for video production is required for each lighting situation. Using this card will give consistent results, as opposed to using a white piece of paper or handkerchief.

The product works as advertised. The target itself is easy to use, reasonably sturdy and fits into a camera bag. The system provides next to no benefit if you shoot JPEG. While it is possible to export the JPEG image to DNG, read it into the Passport software, create a profile, and have that profile available in Lightroom, Lightroom won't display that in the available camera calibrations. You can, of course, use the targets to adjust the white balance and check for exposure (and this is all that the manual says you can do).I found that applying the camera calibration profiles made subtle but distinct changes to the image. To my eyes, these were distinct improvements and improved color fidelity for some colors (other colors appeared unchanged). The ability to select different white balances from the target is a handy feature, as is using the grey card to set the custom color balance in the camera.

This is a very nice, high quality product. It came complete with a slip cover for the card and that was sealed inside another plastic envelope as well to keep moisture and humidity from causing any kind of color fading. The card also came with a very nice booklet on color balancing with lots of useful information and the booklet itself it worth what I paid for the card.With that said, keep in mind that this is a very small card. The 2x3 means 2 inches wide and 3 inches long. It's going to be difficult for me to find a practical purpose for it. Maybe I'll use it for some macro photography or close-up head shots. I was actually expecting something larger but that's not a problem with the product or the seller. It's my fault for not paying attention. If I was looking for a small 2 inch by 3 inch card this would have been perfect and even as it is now, at least I have this wonderful booklet that came with it.

HAVING MADE MY LIVING IN PROFESSIONAL IMAGING, I GUARANTEE THIS ISONE OF YOUR MOST IMPORTANT TOOLS IN THE CAMERA BAG. THE VASTMAJORITY OF PHOTOGRAPHERS NEGLECT TO USE THIS. PROFESSIONALSALWAYS USE THIS. USING THIS TOOL CORRECTLY WILL PUSH YOUR IMAGINGTO THE TOP OF THE EDITORS PILE......DO YOU WANT TO CREATE IMAGESFOR THE COVER OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC....OR THE COVER OF COSMOPOLITAN.....OR THE OPENING PAGE OF CNN NEWS ON THE WEB ???????? DO YOU WANT TOBE PAID $10000 PER IMAGE AND MORE ????? DON'T TAKE SNAPSHOTS -CREATE IMAGES. THINK PRO, ACT PRO, BE PRO.

It's not the most accurate board around, but it certainly helps. The price is just right if you can't afford name brands. It's really small though. Just a bit smaller than a credit card. Used it with Resolve's XRite checker board and it corrected really well. I am happy with it.

I am in love with this color card! It works perfectly in camera RAW editing programs and setting your white balance on your DSLR. Makes portraits a lot easier to balance and customers a lot more satisfied. Great product. Smaller than I thought it would be, though.