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07-20-2019, 06:01 PM - 2 Likes   #16
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I never ever use AWB because I often want to shoot a pano or do exposure blending, and it will reinterpret WB for every frame which requires adjustment later. I would much rather lock in a manual setting and keep it consistent.

Additionally, if your image is featuring interesting light such as a sunrise or golden hour, AWB will do its very best to neutralize those tones, which is quite counter productive.

I am certain there are other fine uses for AWB, just none of any use to me.

07-20-2019, 06:18 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by mikeSF Quote
I never ever use AWB because I often want to shoot a pano or do exposure blending, and it will reinterpret WB for every frame which requires adjustment later. I would much rather lock in a manual setting and keep it consistent.
That only matters if you're shooting JPEG rather than raw, though, yes? Otherwise, with AWB, you could select the setting from any of the individual frames and apply it to all of the others in the pano stitch...
07-20-2019, 07:41 PM - 1 Like   #18
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There is also a function called "White Balance Adjustable Range" Menu item C11 on K-7. If ON which is the default value, this tends to overrule the white balance even if set manually. I have not seen any noticeable effect on general average scenes but if can play havoc if shooting predominantly single colours. When shooting a grey card to determine Dynamic Range, I got all sorts of weird colours. Switching this off, the grey was returned. I have this turned off as I can see little or no value in it.
07-20-2019, 08:33 PM - 3 Likes   #19
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There are way too many more important things to think about when taking a shot. I use AWB nearly always (with RAW) and adjust it later in post.

07-20-2019, 09:46 PM - 1 Like   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by Paul the Sunman Quote
There are way too many more important things to think about when taking a shot. I use AWB nearly always (with RAW) and adjust it later in post.
Yep...When shooting RAW, one may stipulate the white balance as part of the RAW processing. It is not baked into the RAW, merely suggested in the meta data.


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07-20-2019, 09:52 PM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
That only matters if you're shooting JPEG rather than raw, though, yes? Otherwise, with AWB, you could select the setting from any of the individual frames and apply it to all of the others in the pano stitch...
You are describing extra steps, but yes of course, WB is adjustable in RAW.
I would rather get it right and have less post work in my workflow.
07-20-2019, 10:16 PM - 2 Likes   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by psoo Quote
I wonder if it's worth the time and trouble to use anything but AWB.
Most of the time AWB makes sense as a default. However, I can think of at least four reasons for shooting in manual WB:

a) Multiple shots to be collaged into a panorama: It's a pain if your sky is shifting color balance, so for any sort of merging or stitching shots, use a manual WB.

b) Portraits with artificial lights: If you're shooting in the studio, you don't want the skin tones to change because of different colored clothing or decor or environment. If using flash, or tungsten, or daylight balanced LEDs, then manually set it to the light source WB.

c) Intentional wrong WB to create a mood: Under exposing and setting WB to tungsten in daylight shade will give you a very cool blue balance. Yes, you can do all this in post, but shooting it that way intentionally may lead to better shots and more exploration with that incorrect setting. Conversely you can get a sort of an Instagram yellow opposite of the earlier example while shooting in tungsten light and manual WB set on shade.

d) Catalog work: Whether for commercial cataloging or scientific in a studio or lab, I'd set it to manual (of whatever light source is used) for consistent white balance.

07-21-2019, 12:41 AM - 2 Likes   #23
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It's quite rare for me to take a photo where I want white to render as exactly white, and when those occasions turn up I always take a manual WB off a calibrated white card. Weddings are one example, where you need to forget everything else about the colour rendering other than making the dress look right -- or risk invoking the wrath of a bridezilla.

Most of the time I'm more interested in capturing the feeling of the ambient light, so I always shoot at 5000K and then adjust slightly in Camera Raw if necessary (it usually isn't). I just don't think that the way digital cameras handle white balance has got much resemblance to the way my eyes and brain do it. For example, I'm typing this under quite warm indoor lighting, and when I look around the room the walls appear to pick up the yellowish colour of the light even though I know they are actually just off-white. If I look at a piece of blank white paper, my eyes/brain make it look closer to the pure white that they know it should be, but they don't need to make the entire room look cooler to do that. For a digital camera to make that piece of paper look white, it would have to render the entire room as far cooler than it looks to my eyes, and why on earth would I want it to do that?

People will sometimes accuse my photos of having a colour cast when they can see something in there that they think should be white but isn't. All I can say to that is that the light in the real world almost always has a colour cast of one sort or another, and real world whites hardly ever look like actual white. At least they don't to my eyes.
07-21-2019, 02:13 AM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by psoo Quote
Use of AWB (Automatic White Balance)
I'm invariably always shooting RAW so not so much an issue and for colour sensitive stuff I use a Colorchecker Passport.

But with JPG... I make absolutely sure that I always dial in the correct balance, thus saving a whole world of grief in PP later.
07-21-2019, 05:40 AM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
Thanks, Lowell. With respect, I'd certainly be interested to see the DSLR-related info, rather than that for a Panasonic video camera where frame rate is obviously higher. I guess my concern is with the assumption that "AWB will slow down the maximum frame rate because th Encamera has to interpret every frame as it shoots". If it's a verified fact on relatively modern bodies such as the OP's K-50, then it's worthwhile for folks to bear in mind when choosing their settings. But if it makes no practical difference, those same folks might miss out on the value of AWB when trying to maximise frame rate...
I looked back and found a post with respect to the continuous frame rate of the K10 and K20 (from 2010, but remember the K10 was a 2007 camera) where people were frustrated with the inability to achieve the 2.2 FPS especially if the K20. Turning off AWB was one of my recommendations. I might have even tried it, but don’t recall now. Clearly things have improved immensely since then with processor speed. It’s like using my *istD today. I saw nothing wrong with it at the time, but now, when you consider how long it takes for the image preview, well........

It is likely today it is much less of an issue then with much older bodies
07-21-2019, 06:12 AM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lowell Goudge Quote
I looked back and found a post with respect to the continuous frame rate of the K10 and K20 (from 2010, but remember the K10 was a 2007 camera) where people were frustrated with the inability to achieve the 2.2 FPS especially if the K20. Turning off AWB was one of my recommendations. I might have even tried it, but don’t recall now. Clearly things have improved immensely since then with processor speed. It’s like using my *istD today. I saw nothing wrong with it at the time, but now, when you consider how long it takes for the image preview, well........

It is likely today it is much less of an issue then with much older bodies
Interesting... I'll have to give that a try with my GX-10 (K10D) and GX-1L (*ist DL2). Thanks for coming back to me on this
07-21-2019, 08:16 AM - 1 Like   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by Alex645 Quote
However, I can think of at least four reasons for shooting in manual WB:
One might add any type of interval, bracketing, or HDR work. Oh, and astrophotography too.


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07-21-2019, 08:21 AM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
Oh, and astrophotography too.
Set it to Daylight (stars are (more or less) like the sun!)
07-21-2019, 10:27 AM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
One might add any type of interval, bracketing, or HDR work. Oh, and astrophotography too.


Steve
+1 Steve. Yes, so interval work like time lapse video.

And a sixth reason: At dawn or dusk or the sun rise or set, AWB will somewhat negate pink or golden light. Set on manual daylight WB will maintain those magic hour colors.
07-21-2019, 11:23 AM   #30
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I always, now, forever, and always, use AWB in the K-50 and completely ignore all that stuff; don't even want to think about it. In the K-1 and KP, I use the "multi-auto" setting. However, I also always use big memory cards (for big memories) and store the images both as raw and JPEG.

("Raw" isn't an acronym, as far as I know, so why is it always all-caps?)

So, what doesn't turn out as well as I'd like, I can correct in the raw data with one of the multiplicity of editors I've got in my confuser.
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