White Balance Lens Cap

What a superb idea - a lens cap that replaces your gray card, and makes a photographer's life a whole lot simpler in gaining proper white balance! These caps are meant to replace your regular lens cap, making it quick and easy to get proper white balance right out of your camera bag, without digging around for a gray card.

They come in various sizes to fit your specific lens, and cover a huge pricing range. Don't know why the major price differences, but am guessing that quality has something to do with it since it's a pretty simple item. Amazon.com has a good selection at competitive prices.

They range in price from around $10 to more than $50 (that's the Brno version, which comes with interchangeable domes to accommodate warm and neutral modes). Some come with a handy loop so you can connect it to a camera strap so you won't lose the cap.

It's easy enough to use - turn on your camera, then just leave the lens cap on, point your camera at your subject, and diffused incoming light will create an average white balance for your shot. Okay, so some smartie will probably point out that you are shooting with your lens cap on, but who cares? It'll be an excellent conversation starter, right? (And a good time to have a few biz cards to hand out . . . )

You can even use it over a protective filter, and some have a bayonet adapter if your lens has a bayonet mount.

This one's on my wish list - the short list, not the big huge wait-til-I-hit-the-lottery list. And for now, I think it'll probably be one of the $10 models, at least until I can use it enough to decide if I need a fancier version.