How do you white balance?

jms698 · 07-14-2008, 02:13 AM

The way I see it there are four ways to white balance on Pentax cameras:

1. Use auto white-balance.
2. Shoot a grey card (or expo-disc) and use that to set the white-balance in post processing.
3. Use the camera's various presets for different lighting conditions (tungsten, sunlight, etc.)
4. Shoot a white surface and use that to set the custom white balance in camera.

Which do you use and why?

I'm interested in people's experiences with using option #4. Does white balancing "out in the field" work as well as in post? If it does, that might save me some time at the computer.

procyon · 07-14-2008, 03:08 AM

IMHO 2 and 4 are equal.
Unless you want extreme colour accuracy that the camera LCD can't provide.
But if you do, then shoot RAW and tweak it later for whatever you need/want/like.

Zebooka · 07-14-2008, 03:14 AM

I use "daylight" and in the other situations I use setting WB with kelvins and BAMG scale

Chako · 07-14-2008, 04:50 AM

I shoot RAW and thus don't really care about white balance anymore. It is easy to change in post processing.

Mike Cash · 07-14-2008, 05:10 AM

Coffee Filter Solution.

alohadave · 07-14-2008, 05:52 AM

I shoot WB with the center spot, and find something white or green to set it with if I go custom. Otherwise, I'll use the presets.

If I have to correct in post, I'll take a reading off something white in the picture until I find something that looks good. This is very useful for mixed lighting that is tricky to get right on-scene.

ftpaddict · 07-14-2008, 05:53 AM

Easiest solution by far:

use RAW.

Edvinas · 07-14-2008, 05:54 AM

In difficult WB situations most often I set in camera Manual WB using coffee filter. Although I shoot RAW, I find that it works for me better than fixing WB in post processing. It's better to get picture right instead of later tweaking in computer.

Lowell Goudge · 07-14-2008, 06:17 AM

on the K10D I take a trial shot, and then while the image is still im the buffer (no on off etc...) I hit Fn, Select WB and make any adjustments I want, and at the same time, you can see the image change interactively. The resulting setting is then applied to all subsequent shots.

Once home and post processing, if you use the color balance (PSPX2 any way, and select a subject that is neutral (i.e. white black or grey) the color balance can be set. You can adjust color temperature and hue at that time also, off the suggested settings

*Wheatfield* · 07-14-2008, 07:01 AM

Originally Posted by jms698

The way I see it there are four ways to white balance on Pentax cameras:

1. Use auto white-balance.
2. Shoot a grey card (or expo-disc) and use that to set the white-balance in post processing.
3. Use the camera's various presets for different lighting conditions (tungsten, sunlight, etc.)
4. Shoot a white surface and use that to set the custom white balance in camera.

Which do you use and why?

I'm interested in people's experiences with using option #4. Does white balancing "out in the field" work as well as in post? If it does, that might save me some time at the computer.

I leave WB on auto 99% of the time and use the raw converter to tweak it in if I feel the need. Most of the time, I can leave it alone this way.

**Peter Zack** · 07-14-2008, 07:07 AM

I do periodically use a gray card (mostly when doing event stuff or portraits) but since everything is shot in RAW, I just leave the camera in auto and don't worry about it much. The auto setting is pretty good most of the time. PP adjustments are fast and easy.

pentkon52 · 07-14-2008, 08:06 AM

K10D- Auto WB for 99% of all my outdoor and indoor natural light shots.

D1H and D2H- Sunny mode or cloudy mode. I don't like the AWB on either of those cameras. If you have a baseball hat on and shoot the D2H in AWB, the brim of the hat hangs over the sensor and fools it.

Dave

*reeftool* · 07-14-2008, 10:04 AM

I leave mine on auto and have no complaints with the results. The few times I played with the settings, I really didn't see much difference from auto so it stays there. Also, because I don't often change that setting I once forgot and left it on the flash setting.

*Canada_Rockies* · 07-14-2008, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by jms698

The way I see it there are four ways to white balance on Pentax cameras:

1. Use auto white-balance.
2. Shoot a grey card (or expo-disc) and use that to set the white-balance in post processing.
3. Use the camera's various presets for different lighting conditions (tungsten, sunlight, etc.)
4. Shoot a white surface and use that to set the custom white balance in camera.

Which do you use and why?

I'm interested in people's experiences with using option #4. Does white balancing "out in the field" work as well as in post? If it does, that might save me some time at the computer.

I use AWB as the default setting on my K10D - and shoot RAW only, so it does not matter much if it is not perfect.
I have not yet done this. I do, however, use the white balance eye-dropper in Lightroom when things look not quite perfect to my eyes.
I have used the tungsten setting when appropriate, but only so that the LCD display looks better.
As with #2.

Venturi · 07-14-2008, 01:57 PM

AWB and shoot RAW. If I see from preview that it's horribly off I'll adjust with presets, otherwise I touch up if necessary using eyedropper in LightZone. Don't have gray card or disc (yet).

Auto works for me a good 95%* of the time.

* 97.475% of all statistics are completely made up