[DeadJohn]

I always have my cameras set to AWB and raw format. Most colors look good after Lightroom import. When AWB colors don't look correct I can fix them during processing.

[mikeSF]

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

if you don't capitalize it, people might think you mean to shoot in the nude.

[Alex645]

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

THAT is top secret. It's a convention started by the manufacture themselves and us down the food chain eat it as they serve it. Here are ten cameras and three phones and their official website use all caps RAW.

Canon:
Canon U.S.A., Inc. | Canon RAW Codec Software

Nikon:
Raw Photo Format for SLR Cameras | Nikon Electronic Format (NEF) from Nikon

Pentax:
PENTAX RAW codec software for Windows : Software Downloads | RICOH IMAGING

Fujifilm (they like all caps on lots of things):
RAW FILE CONVERTER | Fujifilm Global

Sony:
Sony® RAW Driver | Sony USA

Olympus:
Ask Olympus: What is RAW file format?

Panasonic/Lumix:
LUMIX RAW Codec software download | Download | Digital Camera | Digital AV | Support | Panasonic Global

Hasselblad:
Sample Images Gallery

Mamiya:
CAPTURE ONE PRO

Sigma:
SIGMA RAW DATA | SIGMA SD15 : Special Contents

Apple:
Apple - Support - Downloads

Samsung:
How can I check images saved as RAW file in Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge(SM-G935FD)? | Samsung Support India

LG:
LG Help Library: Camera picture saving setting options (RAW format) | LG Canada


I've only known or seen one that uses lower case, and they are German:
Leica:
Leica Fotos // Leica FOTOS // Photography - Leica Camera AG

So for a premium price, you can get raw instead of RAW. Less is MORE?

[vonBaloney]

As a RAW shooter I like using CTE (which I believe is a Pentax-only innovation) -- reminds me what the actual light was like. And then if I don't like that, I can just hit "auto" in LR and get pretty close to what AWB would have given me. CTE is the only mode that (automatically) preserves in some sense the prevailing real color of the scene instead of just imposing or correcting.

[amg2000]

I mostly use AWB for most of my shooting. I shoot RAW and rarely have a problem getting the white balance how I want it in post. One exception for me: when I'm shooting live music in a club and there are incandescent lights. I generally switch over to incandescent, or something in that temperature range. Main reason is much of the time AWB makes the preview almost impossible to see and check focus, usually due to the very blue cast.

[jack002]

If you are set to shoot in only raw, I think the camera should gray out white balance. It does not affect raw files. Setting it only affects the image you see in the camera when you look at them with the play button.

[amg2000]

As a RAW shooter I like using CTE (which I believe is a Pentax-only innovation) -- reminds me what the actual light was like. And then if I don't like that, I can just hit "auto" in LR and get pretty close to what AWB would have given me. CTE is the only mode that (automatically) preserves in some sense the prevailing real color of the scene instead of just imposing or correcting.

To be honest I've never tried CTE, and don't quite understand it (Color Temperature Enhancement). I'm going to have to give it a try some time. Since I shoot RAW, I don't see how it can hurt.

[vonBaloney]

If you are set to shoot in only raw, I think the camera should gray out white balance. It does not affect raw files. Setting it only affects the image you see in the camera when you look at them with the play button.

But it does affect it in the sense that it is recorded, it just isn't permanent. So it is very useful to have, it would be a very bad idea to gray it out. If you measure the light on scene and set a specific desired white balance, you surely want to be able to record that in the images. And as I noted above, CTE is a very nice feature that allows you to get a sense of what the light was like.

---------- Post added 07-23-19 at 02:03 PM ----------

To be honest I've never tried CTE, and don't quite understand it (Color Temperature Enhancement). I'm going to have to give it a try some time. Since I shoot RAW, I don't see how it can hurt.

In a nutshell, instead of correcting for the primary color "imbalance", it enhances so you can see it. If the light was cool, it will be cool, if the light was warm, it will be warm. So in a sense it doesn't do anything -- it is neutral to the actual light instead of correcting and making it average white/gray.

[mikeSF]

If you are set to shoot in only raw, I think the camera should gray out white balance. ..

say what now?

[Wheatfield]

On my K50 I always use AWB as a short cut to getting decent exposures. However, I can also pre-select "shady", "cloudy", "tungsten", etc. as alternates. I wonder if it's worth the time and trouble to use anything but AWB. Isn't it a good choice to get a decent exposure? If a photo needs to be tweaked, then it is simple to do it during post-processing. What say ye, learned Pentaxians?

I shoot raw, so the white balance setting is just a starting point for the converter. If auto isn’t quite right, I tweak it.
Put me in the always shoots in auto camp.
If I shot jpegs, it would be a different conversation. I would pay more attention to white balance.

[jack002]

Raw files made are not affected by white balance. Your WB setting is not even stored in it. You do have the option to set to what you like in post.

[vonBaloney]

Raw files made are not affected by white balance. Your WB setting is not even stored in it. You do have the option to set to what you like in post.

Not true. Of course it is stored in the RAW file -- it is a very important setting!. In Lightroom, the WB you set (when you are shooting) will show as the "As Shot" WB (the default unless you change it).

[Wheatfield]

Raw files made are not affected by white balance. Your WB setting is not even stored in it. You do have the option to set to what you like in post.

I believe you are wrong based on my experience.

[stevebrot]

If you are set to shoot in only raw, I think the camera should gray out white balance. It does not affect raw files. Setting it only affects the image you see in the camera when you

Applying WB is unavoidably part of RAW processing. You are correct that it is not baked into the stored sensor data and may be modified as needed as part of RAW processing.

Raw files made are not affected by white balance. Your WB setting is not even stored in it. You do have the option to set to what you like in post.

The WB settings for both Pentax DNG and PEF are included in the makernotes portion of the EXIF metadata as four integer factors (Red, Green (x2), and Blue) intended as clues for RAW processing software. Those four are directly derived from AWB evaluation of the sensor data, preset WB opitons, or in-image gray card evaluation and may be derived as an approximation of a user-inputted °K color temperature.

If using ExifTool, the tag name is "Pentax:WhitePoint"


Steve

[psoo]

I'd like to thanks everybody who contributed to this thread. I never realized that their was so much to know about white balance. Much of the discussion was way over my head but I'm sure that advanced photographers enjoyed the discussions that took place. I think that as a strict amateur I will, like many suggested, stick to the use of AWB and rely on post processing to tweak my photos.