Baffled again - the FLASHRIGHT

[Doug Kerr]

It seems that the older I get, the more things I run into that baffle me.

On the other hand,it might be that the older Drew Strickland gets, the more things I run into that baffle me.

Baffling me today is the FLASHRIGHT, the new color balance tool from the folks that brought you the Color Parrot and the ColorRight.

You can see it here:

http://www.colorright.com/flashright.jpg

Evidently, this is an elaboration of the ColorRight white balance measurement diffuser, intended to be mounted in front of the lens while the camera is aimed at the subject and a "measurement" exposure taken.

The object is to adapt this process to situations in which flash illumination is used (on-camera flash is particularly mentioned in the literature)..

It is likely that that the operation of this device is based on its "dome" directly capturing light emitted from the on-camera flash. And that sounds pretty handy. Of course, this would happen no matter where the camera is pointed, so the direction to point the rig at the subject is hard to understand.

We actually have no hint exactly how the dome is constructed. Although the photo of it might make one think that it is not symmetrical, my guess is that it is. My main clue is that the usage instructions (which, of course, are identical to those for the ColorRight), do not instruct the user as to the angular orientation of the device. But maybe we are just expected to take pot luck - sort of a photometric Russian roulette.

As with the ColorRiight, the manufacturer emphasizes the "high transmission" of the device. The literature says:

"It transmits more of the light than the nearest competitor. This means you probably won't ever see the dreaded "no good" reading on your lcd when shooting in low light."​

Well, I think there are no "competitors" at all to this "unique" product, so the first sentence is a gimme.

Now, given that I would expect most of the delivery to the camera is from the flash unit, probably problems with "shooting in low light" are not a big consideration here.

My guess is that, in fact, the path from the flash to the back of the device is so effective that, despite the screams of any TTL flash metering after the metering preflash to "turn it down, for God's sake", the flash minimum output might well saturate the imaging system, making chromaticity measurement impractical.

But of course I may have guessed wrong about the dome. Perhaps it is painted black on the inside except for a small hole facing the subject.

Additional insight into the process is perhaps given by this passage:

"FLASHRIGHT gathers light from multiple angles ensuring you are getting the whole color picture."​

Swat those pesky cosines!

I guess we'll just have to await the explanation of the technical principles from the manufacturer. I will alert the executors of my estate to have someone in the Foundation keep an eye open for that.

Well, I need to go now. A member of the family is ill, and I need to touch the blue spot in a copy of the National Enquirer.

 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

It is likely that that the operation of this device is based on its "dome" directly capturing light emitted from the on-camera flash. And that sounds pretty handy. Of course, this would happen no matter where the camera is pointed, so the direction to point the rig at the subject is hard to understand.

We actually have no hint exactly how the dome is constructed. Although the photo of it might make one think that it is not symmetrical, my guess is that it is. My main clue is that the usage instructions (which, of course, are identical to those for the ColorRight), do not instruct the user as to the angular orientation of the device. .

Hi Doug,

This video suggests that the device is actually orientation/rotation sensitive (aligning the dots). It looks like it has a built in shade to reduce the influence of the 'floor color' reflections, but otherwise tries to use a wide acceptance angle in the hope it corresponds to the actual light coming from behind the camera.

It still amazes me how poor the AWB or Tungsten WB demo shots look, mine usually look much better, hmm seems a bit staged by using a worst case lighting setup or worse.

Anyway, I shoot Raw (not JPEG where a Custom WB has most benefits), so it's a bit academic because I can do better WB if I want in postprocessing, even with mixed lightsources.

Cheers,
Bart

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Bart,

This video suggests that the device is actually orientation/rotation sensitive (aligning the dots). It looks like it has a built in shade to reduce the influence of the 'floor color' reflections, but otherwise tries to use a wide acceptance angle in the hope it corresponds to the actual light coming from behind the camera.

Ah! That is consistent with the single picture of the device I had seen. Thanks for that insight.

I like the way you have expressed what you think is going on.

It almost suggests that a "rear-looking periscope" might be advantageous for those who feel they must measure from the camera position with the camera aimed for the actual shot.

It still amazes me how poor the AWB or Tungsten WB demo shots look, mine usually look much better, hmm seems a bit staged by using a worst case lighting setup or worse.

Indeed. Actually, I often use AWB, with usually very satisfactory results.

Thanks again for the additional info and insight. I'll look at the video.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

I see that there have been some updates in the product identification in the ColorRight line:

The tool formerly known as the ColorRight Max (with the multi-sector reflective target area) is now known as the ColorRight Postright.

This is probably intended to emphasize its use in connection with postproduction color balance (you know, the approach that was mocked during the early Color Parrot/ColorRight days).

The new tool originally discussed as the FlashRight is now known as the ColorRight Pro.

We might think that (as Bart had suggested in his recent message here) the latter name suggests the fact that we in fact might expect the new form to work better in all situations (flash illumination or otherwise), since it has at least some hope of picking up what we really want to measure during measurement from the camera position, with the camera aimed as for the shot: the illumination headed for the subject.

The laws of photometry eventually catch up with everybody.

The video now available on the ColorRight site (hosted on YouTube) is interesting in this regard. Note that the description by the "photographer" of setting a custom white balance from a test shot doesn't exactly fully explain the process properly but hey, he's a wedding photographer, not a tech writer (and clearly on a tight time budget).

Still, you have to be impressed with his ability to operate the shutter release while keeping the pleasure dome in place and properly oriented. I wasn't able to see exactly how he did that, but then I rarely can see magicians putting the rabbit in the hat either.

And you can tell that the model was way impressed with the final result during her fleeting "chance to chimp".

So, good work, Drew. We'll keep our eye out next for the ColorRight Periskope.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Asher Kelman]

I wish I had 10 cents for every advert I get almost day in day out!