The T2 allows two different methods to provide neutral photographs. There is a basic operation (which is also useful if your strobes don’t repeat very well) and, an advanced operation.

This is the basic color balance that begins the balance/neutral process. Place Tone Balls™ or a Colorchecker in the scene. Verify that you’ve selected at least a value of 5 for the Sample Size in Setup>Preferences. Start with the Meter function and adjust the lighting and aperture for the scene you’re interested in shooting. If Capture Curve is used, temporarily turn it off using Setup>Capture Curve>Enable and click the check mark off. After the shot is basically lit, pull down under Setup and click on Balance. A dialog box will appear, informing you of the current Dark value and suggests capturing a new Dark Capture image if the Dark value has changed markedly since the last time you made a Dark Capture for Dark Correct. Keep a mental note (or write the dark value on a Post-It note and affix it to the monitor somewhere.

After you click OK, the camera will shoot three times and a greenish image will appear, displaying a prompt to close the dialog box and click on a known neutral white reference in the image. This assumes you’ve placed Tone Balls™ or a Macbeth Colorchecker in the scene prior to the Setup>Balance procedure. Move the cursor across the neutral reflectance in the scene, reading the RGB values, particularly the Green channel; you’re looking for values between 10 and 30 if you’re using the 0-100 scale and Zone VII to IX if you’re using the 0-10 Zone System values. If you prefer, you may zoom and scroll before clicking on the neutral reflectance. You will find Tone Balls™ to be particularly convenient for choosing a reflectance within the desired range. The spherical nature of the Tone Balls™ allows a selection of value from highlight to shadow, move the cursor along the transition until you get to numbers that are acceptable. Click on the reflectance and another dialog box will display the values you selected, R,G,B, and the current Dark value. If the Green value is within the acceptable range, click OK. If it is not, you may re-select the balance value by first selecting NO. Experiment by selecting NO and make another Balance selection. When you’re happy with the Balance value click OK. Shoot another capture to verify the balance procedure. Check the neutral reflectances to make sure they’re balanced. We use a deviation of 2% (0-100) or .2 (0-10) for neutral assurance; do not accept a neutral balance where the values R or G or B deviate more than the accepted 2% (or .2 Zone). 20-21-22 is ok, 20-23-19 is not ok. Why this 2%/.2 deviation? CIE testing in the 1930’s found that not even an expert could judge a neutral reflectance non-neutral if it was less than our assurance deviation. Read neutral reflectances all the way from highlight to shadow to make sure the light is balance over the entire lighting range of the scene.

If the balance has a surplus of red (or any other color) in the shadows, you may subtract it by two methods, Neutral Program or by using a RedOut curve.

This Photoshoot feature allows the selection of up to 20 different neutral reflectances in the scene and will balance all of them. This allows selecting several neutral reflectances from highlight to shadow, assuring a smooth neutrality across the entire lighting range of the scene. It is also handy when/if your strobes do not recycle properly, you can place Tone Balls™ in an area of the scene that’s out of the crop and use them to accurately balance every capture regardless of flash repeatability. Neutral Program must be applied to each and every capture if the original capture is known or suspected to be non-neutral. See the Setup>Balance & Neutral Program topic for instructions on the use of this function.

This use of Capture Curve for neutralizing has the advantage that it does not need to be applied after every capture. This neutral implementation uses a section of, in this case, the red channel and removes red from the section of the curve where the densitometer reveals a surplus. As you read the neutral values you’ll see where they start to head toward red. If, for example, they start red at Zone II, count up two horizontal lines along the Capture Curve and, after making sure you’re changing the red channel only (click the Red radio button), click the red transition down, a little in the 3/4 (Zone II.5) and a little more at the shadow (Zone 0). Save the Capture Curve with the appropriate name and append the file name by adding “-red” at the end. Make sure you select the new RedOut curve: Setup>Capture Curve> Select> curve name -red.

Clean Neutral Balance recommends balanced light sources if you’re using more than one source. Tone Balls™ are quite efficient for verification of dissimilar temperatures; read the side of the balls appropriate to the angle the light strikes them, you can easily check the neutrality from angle to angle. If any of the RGB readings differ, you can assume the source at that angle is of a dissimilar temperature. Although it’s easier to use a color temperature meter to correctly filter the offending source, you can filter the head, check the angle for similarity, and re-filter if necessary until the reflectance angles match.

These two different methods of making images neutral will both be valuable. Understand each method and use the appropriate application when it’s called for.

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