By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re running around with a P&S camera grabbing shots of friends and family at a party, then white balance and proper color calibration are probably not that important to you. But if you’re shooting RAW images with a DSLR in a studio environment, there’s a good chance that white balance is something you’re worried about. And if the term ‘gray card’ means anything to you, you’re probably going to find the SpyderCube as tempting as I do.

It’s a spectrally neutral 3D cube that’s painted white, gray (true 18%) and black allowing you to correct color temperature issues and accurately adjust shadow and highlight detail when you’re processing your RAW photos. But it also features a ‘black trap’ hole that’s not affected by light from your flash, providing you with a true black reference, as well as a chrome sphere on top for capturing specular highlights.

The SpyderCube also comes with a threaded post allowing it to be mounted to a tripod, as well as a short lanyard for hanging if that’s more convenient. And even at $59, I think it’s a pretty solid investment for any photographer, professional or hobbyist.

[ SpyderCube ] VIA [ Wired Gadget Lab ]