A better custom WB solution?

[Arpe]

I was in a dimly lit restaurant recently. Tried to set WB on a white napkin, but the colour of the lighting must've been so bad all i got was NG (I think that's it) in the LCD, it just couldn't do it! I'm usually a jpeg shooter and completely forgot to press the RAW button! Grrr. Never mind, it was so dark most of my shots were too blurry anyway. Don't like using flash in those type of places.

[Jewelltrail]

Canada Rockies: "I use Lightroom, and just click the eyedropper for the WB adjustment and click a neutral coloured area in the image."

I too am looking for a solution to the WB problem. Canada Rockies, can you please give a a description of what a "neutral coloured area" is in the photo. Or, possibly, an example? Thanks.

Regards,

Ernest



"Humanity subdues inhumanity as water subdues fire."

Mencius 6A:18.

[sabarrett]

It think the kelvin thing would be a good way to do the white balance as well, however I always seem to be spinning around trying to find something close. Is there a chart/table somewhere that would give common color temps for different types of light that I can use as a reference when out and about? I looked a while back and did not come across anything last summer, other than a couple of sheets from lighting providers listing model numbers to their temperature.

[Lowell Goudge]

Originally Posted by Jewelltrail

I too am looking for a solution to the WB problem. Canada Rockies, can you please give a a description of what a "neutral coloured area" is in the photo. Or, possibly, an example? Thanks.

Regards,

Ernest



"Humanity subdues inhumanity as water subdues fire."

Mencius 6A:18.

I use a similar technique in PSP X2. Under color balance, you are given a menu with eyedropper tool, and you are to select a white, grey (what Canadian rockies defines as neutral) or black area

It will then adjust the colors accordingly. BUT, I find sometimes it can be fooled because with the exception of white, many other "neutral or black things have a tint that you don't see. I use this and can recover very good balance even when shooting JPEG, however, I do try, or at least consider manual white balance when shooting, to get as close as possible.

Why? because I am lazy and generally want to do as little PP as possible

[alohadave]

Originally Posted by sabarrett

It think the kelvin thing would be a good way to do the white balance as well, however I always seem to be spinning around trying to find something close. Is there a chart/table somewhere that would give common color temps for different types of light that I can use as a reference when out and about? I looked a while back and did not come across anything last summer, other than a couple of sheets from lighting providers listing model numbers to their temperature.

There are variations on where people place light sources on the color scale, but here are some linked examples. Generally, the higher the number, the bluer the light, and the lower the number, the redder the light.

Colour Temperature Chart

Color Temperature | Correlated Color Temperature | Kelvin

Guide to colour temperature

[Canada_Rockies]

Originally Posted by Jewelltrail

I too am looking for a solution to the WB problem. Canada Rockies, can you please give a a description of what a "neutral coloured area" is in the photo. Or, possibly, an example? Thanks.

Regards,

Ernest

There is usually a cloud in the image that can be used for scenics, or a granite rock (almost perfectly 18% grey). In a city, clean concrete, pavement, white house trim. I have used tree trunks - the bark on Ponderosa pine is grey; birch bark is white, as is aspen. Weathered boards are neutral. I am using neutral to indicate anything that has no colour, only shades of white to black.

[ChrisP6]

There are many ways to adjust white balance, and many of them are free or easy such as clicking on a cloud with the white-balance dropper in Lightroom. In my testing, many of the cheaper solutions (e.g. coffee can lids, e-bay filters) aren't that accurate, but they may be good enough for some. Another option to consider is the Phoxle SpectraSnap white balance filters (Phoxle). They come in sizes big enough to be quickly used over the lens hood of all but the largest lenses, and are very accurate, and affordable.

[Lowell Goudge]

while I personally use the same techniques as canadian rockies for post processing, every one has to work out what is best for them.

One thing I would like to point out to everyone, however, is that although we all claim we wan't "natural" colors, we really don't

absolutely correct white balance produces rather cold images.

That is why I use the function in the K10D the most. shoot one shot, and adjust the WB interactively to get the appearance you want.

[mattdm]

What bugs me (K10D) is that there's no way to transfer white balance set via a shutter click on a white card to one of the saved custom white balance settings. My Olympus P&S camera had this and I used it all the time. The walls in my girls' room are painted bright green and any picture I take with bounce flash (i.e. most of 'em) ends up with a serious green tinge. This is completely solved by setting the WB with a click — but it's annoying that I have to do it every time rather than being able to store the setting.

[Lowell Goudge]

Originally Posted by mattdm

What bugs me (K10D) is that there's no way to transfer white balance set via a shutter click on a white card to one of the saved custom white balance settings. My Olympus P&S camera had this and I used it all the time. The walls in my girls' room are painted bright green and any picture I take with bounce flash (i.e. most of 'em) ends up with a serious green tinge. This is completely solved by setting the WB with a click — but it's annoying that I have to do it every time rather than being able to store the setting.

Actually there is a way

take the shot, make the adjustments as I described, by selecting the WB and adjusting interactively to get the WB you want, and then save your settings to user. User settings can have different WB settings from all other modes on the camera

[mattdm]

Originally Posted by Lowell Goudge

take the shot, make the adjustments as I described, by selecting the WB and adjusting interactively to get the WB you want, and then save your settings to user. User settings can have different WB settings from all other modes on the camera

I don't trust myself to eyeball it right on the LCD. I'm not terribly good at guessing where to go on the little grid to get the color I want if the situation is more complicated than "oh, that's a little too blue".

[Photomy]

Originally Posted by mattdm

What bugs me (K10D) is that there's no way to transfer white balance set via a shutter click on a white card to one of the saved custom white balance settings. My Olympus P&S camera had this and I used it all the time. The walls in my girls' room are painted bright green and any picture I take with bounce flash (i.e. most of 'em) ends up with a serious green tinge. This is completely solved by setting the WB with a click — but it's annoying that I have to do it every time rather than being able to store the setting.

I assume the lighting is the same each time otherwise you would not have made the comment. Another way is to use a gray target in one of your photos, save the shot in a folder on you computer titled WB samples or something. Then just use the gray target sample with the eye dropper in RAW conversion (or in PS) for all your other photos you do of that room. Of course the temp. of window lighting will change depending on what time of day it is.

I would prefer that Pentax would have a dedicated custom WB button rather than having to fish into the function menus each time. I believe Olympus has this.