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E300 white balance - is it really that bad?

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ChrisWal

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Hi

I've been using my E300 for just two weeks now and I love it. However, I was unpleasantly surprised when I took a series of pix of my daughter on her new trampoline. I took some in raw but most in SHQ jpg and was amazed at the poor effort the camera made with the white balance. These two pix were taken within seconds of each other, with no adjustments to the settings - how could a £600 camera get it so wrong?

Or was it me? (But how come one image seems fine but the other is way off?)





(both images majorly resized for the web, but the colours are the key thing)

Chris

p.s. don't worry fans of the E300 - I still think it rocks most of the time!
 
I had the same problem. Update the firmware and all should be well.

I sent a cd of poor color balance to Olympus and they had me return the camera. At the time I took the pictures the firmware up grade had not been released. The new firmware seems to have fixed the problem. Good luck.
 
Aha !! - well it does!!

This is one clear fault with this camera - no doubt about it.
I took mine to New Zealand very recently and took over 3500 shots.

In clear, bright light - it mostly performed fine. For storage reasons I tended to shoot SHQ JPG. But in dull conditions or low light -I was taking shot after shot to try and get the white balance correct - no exposure difference, settings identical, but often only one in six was correct (I have plenty of examples to prove that) Really frustrating, as it means you have to check the image on the LCD for every shot when it behaves like that.

When it gets the WB wrong - just as in your example, the colour is just weak, lousy in fact.

I also use an E-1 and 8080, and these are alway spot on for WB - so how Oly came to mess the E300 up I really don't know.

In all sorts of other respects it's a fine camera & I enjoyed using it, although I suspect in ESP metering it's also a bit hit & miss ... Again, I would take maybe six shots of a building - changing EV compensation with each one to get the image brighter, and then suddenly in the next shot it was overexposed ....... frustrating, frustrating ....

--
Kind regards,

Rich Simpson
 
Rich Simpson UK said:
Maybe 1.2 has fixed this problem - I hope so.
Click to expand...
In installed 1.2 immediately after buying my camera (two weeks ago), so I don't know what the first release was like, but I believe the upgrades are supposed to have responded to both the ESP issue and white balance. Anyway, I've gotten into the practice of carrying a white card with me and shooting a custom WB setting; takes only seconds.

--
http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens
A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
 
Yes we can always use a white card - but should that really be necessary on a DSLR such as the E300?

When I see the E-1 consistently achieving superbly WB results I find it very disappointing to have to work at this with the E300.

Plus this is meant to be a Prosumer DSLR for the masses !! - imagine your average shooter discovering a fair proportion of his pics have WB all over the place, having just handed over a thick wedge of his hard earned dough!

I do hope latest firmware has fixed this ......

-
Kind regards,

Rich Simpson
 
I've stopped using auto WB altogether. I really don't see any reason to use it. I just set the camera at "sunlight" WB and everything looks fine. This and using centerweighted metering will solve most problems. Yes they screwed up but otherwise I like the camera.

--

Stacey
 
I did a lot of shooting yesterday afternoon. it was bright sunny af'noon.
set it on 5300k, yet the colours were not actual, donno if it was

due to WB or some other problem. set in auto WB and it was same. Not downloaded any of the images. shall try to post samples tonight.
all were shot in SHQ, program or Aperture Priority mode.

BTW, can any of you help me about how to use the White card for custom WB setup?

thanks for any help
jack
 
Sunlight - ?? umm - what's that again?!

Well, we do see sunlight from time to time here in the UK, but more often than not, a grey blanket, or at least heavy scattered cloud cover - so decent auto white balance in my book should be a given, not a hurdle to be crossed each time ....

And yet the E-1 is so good in this respect!

--
Kind regards,

Rich Simpson
 
I too have WB issues, however, I have started setting WB manually using the inbuilt settings, and taking a few test shots before taking the ones that count. Setting it manually is quite accurate, however, even if the conditions are "overcast" it doesn't mean the overcast WB setting is the best one to use. It's sometimes a step up or a step down from that.

Once you have taken a couple shots and have the best WB setting, the camera takes some great photos with excellent color reproduction.

That has been my experience so far.

Also, the camera will remember your settings in various modes so be sure to check them before you take that next critical shot :)
 
Have just found the 22 Jan issue of Amateur Photographer - highly respected mag here in the UK.

This is the full review of the E300 and I quote: "of some concern is the Auto WB and the accuracy of the ESP metering pattern. When a camera targets novice photographers it needs to deliver top-quality results with a minimum of effort and that means these "automatic" systems need to be able to deliver. With the E300 they do not always do this and too much intervention - be it exposure compensation or a preset white balance - is required. This may be fine for experienced photographers, but perhaps asking too much of the complete newcomer"

OK yes I can use presets or use a card (I have used SLRs since 1967, so and novice ....!) - but taking an example, three weeks ago I was on Ulva Island - one of the world's unique islands free of predators, on the southern tip of New Zealand. At the edge of the bush, into view came a very rare bird - a saddleback - perhaps 20 pairs there total. Using the 50-200 on the E300 on SHQ I fired off maybe 10 shots, but then on review, WB was a total mess - just two were OK, but these missed most of the bird, hidden as it was in the foliage.

Same thing happened time and time again, very frustrating, and frankly in the end I frequently took to using the camera in B&W mode - which I do prefer using in many ways anyway.

Kind regards,

Rich Simpson
 
I had already upgraded the camera firmware to version 1.2, so unfortunately that isn't the answer!!!!

Can I echo the other posters' requests on how one does the manual white balance setting thingie with a bit of card? A link to the relevant info page would be fine.

TIA
 
I just use of piece handy white paper (have a grey / white card but never always with me)

Set the camera on Auto or Program, goin into MENU to white balance, select the custom symbol, press arrow right which then asks for "ONE TOUCH WB" - yes or no, aim at the paper and press OK. That's it - just select the Custom WB setting to use.
--
Kind regards,

Rich Simpson
 
CG Anderson said:
I too have experienced wild WB ranges when shooting image after
image (seconds apart). What is your procedure for shooting, say, a
landscape using a white card and the custome function?
Click to expand...
I don't want to pretend to know much about the camera itself, since I've only had mine for a couple of weeks, but the custom wb setting is done the same as on any video-type camera. Use a white surface, press the proper button, and voila.

In the case of the E-300, you press MENU, then the right > key (so that Camera2 menu is selected), then go down three clicks to the one-touch white balance setting function, then right click and the ONE TOUCH WB should appear. Point the lens at a white card or other white surface, and press OK. The shutter will operate to capture the white card's value, and automatically set WB. Main issue is to be sure and avoid shadows or errant fingers, etc. on the white card when doing this.
--
http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens
A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
 
Hi

been using E-300 for a couple of months now - upgraded to the latest firmware.

I have taken about 1000 shots since buying it - and yes - white balance is all over the place. Now I only shoot raw and adjust after.

I still review each shot to see what the camera is up to. I have taken 3 shots in quick succession of the same scene and the white balance varies significantly. Strangely though, this seems to happen to me more with "average" scenes. I have taken more difficult shots (white cars, indoors, lots of lights) and everything is nearly spot on!

Oh and yes, the ESP metering is easily fooled. Not tried spot or centre-weighted yet.

Despite this, I still love the E-300. I can work around the issues but I don't think they should be there to start with.

regards

Dean
 
deank said:
I have taken about 1000 shots since buying it - and yes - white
balance is all over the place. Now I only shoot raw and adjust
after.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that feedback. It's something I definitely want to keep an eye on. I've only had the camera for two weeks, but I quit using AWB last week when I decided it was easy enough to set one-touch WB. I don't feel that I've had so many issues as you, but I'll keep it in mind.

--
http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens
A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
 
An additional note about the Custom WB function: you can assign it to the OK button for quick access. If you use this a lot, that can save some time. It's in the same menu as the Custom WB option, but scroll down to Custom OK, and choose Shortcut, then the little icon with the screen and the two triangles.

Also, just to throw this out there, I've been using my E-300 for a bit, and the auto WB in center-weighted mode has been doing just fine for me. Nothing unexpected to report, just a very few cases where I wanted to adjust the white balance to fit my light just a little better. No big inconsistencies. At least not yet.

Cheers!

--
Ryan Miglavs
http://www.r-blog.com
 
Rich Simpson UK said:
Sunlight - ?? umm - what's that again?!

Well, we do see sunlight from time to time here in the UK, but more
often than not, a grey blanket, or at least heavy scattered cloud
cover - so decent auto white balance in my book should be a given,
not a hurdle to be crossed each time ....
Click to expand...
No it shouldn't be, but it is.. I shoot RAW so I just leave it set at 5300 as a starting point and seems good for most shots no matter what kind of light it is.
Rich Simpson UK said:
And yet the E-1 is so good in this respect!
Click to expand...
I think the WB sensor is on the front of the camera rather than reading through the lens.

--

Stacey
 
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