In a recent Instagram Reel, a professional videographer has proven that Sony lens caps are not 18% grey, and should not be used instead of a color chart or grey card, exposing all of the gurus on the platform touting this malarky.
The video (embedded below) shows Chung Dha Lam, a cinematographer based in the Netherlands, holding an ALC-R1EM rear lens cap for Sony mirrorless cameras next to a color checker.
He clearly shows that it’s “not even in the same ballpark” as middle grey – and that influencers are sharing this false information “without doing their research”.
Middle gray, or 18% grey as it’s also called, is the tonality in an image that color digital cameras use as a basis for correct auto-exposure and white balance.
If you’re not familiar with this concept, then you’re probably wondering why the color is allocated a specific number. My colleague James has an explainer on what is 18% grey in his tutorial on how to use a light meter, but suffice to say that you can blame Kodak for this calculation!
Nonetheless, 18% grey is something that many photographers live by – which is what makes the myth of the Sony middle grey lens cap more than just an old wife’s tale, and actually a damaging lie.
If you’re working in tricky lighting, then you can use a color chart or an 18% grey card to correctly calibrate your camera’s light meter and white balance. Color charts and grey cards accurately display middle grey, meaning you can rely on them.
However, as the Sony lens cap is a much darker shade of grey, using it to calibrate your camera can lead to incorrect exposure and colors in images.
I don’t know where this myth originated, and neither does Lam, but it’s spread like wildfire recently through several photography influencers, and it’s even been posted in help forums on the Sony website.
So, don’t fall into this trap and ignore all this BS about the Sony rear lens cap being an alternative for a color chart or grey card.
We’ve got a cheat sheet for camera metering modes, written by actual experts, to help you further with this. I can’t say I pay any attention to 18% grey when I’m shooting, but it's definitely something you need to be aware of.
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