Originally posted by Marc Sabatella Why can't all camera makers just agree on the same sensor and everyone use it so all cameras would produce the exact same images? Or all film makers agree on the exact chemical composition of film? Or all lens designers simply use the same optical formulas?
You forgot to mention to make all cameras the same size, weight and color!
Parts and components aren't the issue, it's more about standards or definitions that are beneficial to camera users to make basic controls and numbers used from one camera to another to have some degree consistency without limiting innovation.
Example: most cameras use ISO values related to 100, like 200, 400, 800 etc. But I guess if a camera maker wants they could use only these ISO values: 73, 146, 292, etc and not even reference values related to 100. WOULD YOU FIND THAT PREFERABLE? I wouldn't!
What about shutter speeds? Why should all camera makers use similar shutter speeds? I think it's because they're numbers familiar to most photographers. The camera maker could choose to use only these values: 1/9, 1/18, 1/36, 1/72, 1/144 etc WOULD YOU FIND THAT PREFERABLE? I wouldn't! They could even call their f/# A, B, C, D etc and skip the numbers and confusion that their values cause for beginning photographers.
So why is it so outrageous, and as I gather from everone's opinions to be "off limits" or "out of bounds",
to ask for consistency on degrees Kelvin associated
with "named" settings for White Balance?
A large number of hotshoe mountable flash units have a color temperature around 5500k. That makes them quickly setup with colors looking good on most cameras that use Daylight settings closer to 5500k. Those same cameras have a Flash button with a CT slightly higher to add subtle warmth to the colors. They could choose any value they like, but it's convenient to the photographer to not have to fiddle with extra settings to get things to look right.
I use a Metz flash on a K20D that defines the "daylight" CT 5200k and "Flash" CT at 5400k. So out of the box, by default, using the cameras named WB buttons makes the colors fall slightly on the cool side whereas they would be closer to neutral to slightly warm with cameras using "Daylight WB" at 5500k. Same thing happens when using older Sunpak flashes. Skin tones are generally more flattering when on the warm side so I have to fiddle with camera settings to make the colors look right unless I want to post process everything.
So what, why not just adjust them and shut up and quit wasting time on this post?
After all I could get a good exposure using only the ISO and shutter speeds and lettered values for f/# mentioned above if the camera meter is calibrated correctly. So, maybe the WB seems like just a slight thing, but it's overlooked and adds extra fiddling time to set things up. Wouldn't it be better if cameras used standardized values then things would setup and work much smoother with less hassle. Again, shutter speeds and ISO don't have to be the same, but it's really nice to have commonality which I certainly view as better than whatever the camera maker feels like using.
BTW, I looked at the Pentax site on the 540Z and it just says CT is "Daylight".
That seems to imply everyone knows what "Daylight" would be so they don't need to use a CT value to pin it down.
Just more inconsistency??? I ASSUME it's matched to the lower CT presets of K-7, K20D, etc since we don't seem to have any consistency on "daylight" definition!!!!