A few words about Auto White Balance

I don't care what camera you have. As far as I am concerned AWB is the work of the Devil.

Can anyone give me a valid reason why you would need AWB? There are about a million easy ways to nail the color and AWB just ain't one of 'em.

I just don't get it. A grey card is 15 bucks. Taking a reading takes 15 seconds. What am I missing?
Many thanks,
Kent

P.S. I said need . Anyone one telling why they want or prefer will be scorned mercilessly

I need , want , and prefer AWB!!! Not to pee on you but it's close to accurate- except the last one.

Why and when?

-A grey card isn't always carried.
-15sec isn't always available.
-There're conditions (like direct sunlight) it works just as good as preset.
-There're lighting conditions even preset WB doesn't work well.
-When lighting conditions keep changing.
-When needed, proper WB can be obtained in post process with NEF.
-AWB of new cameras is working better and better.

Need more reasons? Good that you can preset WB every time you shoot.

Photobug

Kent Johnson said:

I don't care what camera you have. As far as I am concerned AWB is
the work of the Devil.
Can anyone give me a valid reason why you would need AWB? There
are about a million easy ways to nail the color and AWB just ain't
one of 'em.
I just don't get it. A grey card is 15 bucks. Taking a reading
takes 15 seconds. What am I missing?
Many thanks,
Kent
P.S. I said need . Anyone one telling why they want or prefer
will be scorned mercilessly

Click to expand...

I haven't used gray card more often because the one I have is 8x10"- cumbersome to carrry around. When I purchase the one that I can carry in my shirt pocket or camera bag, I should start using it more often.

Photobug said:

Why and when?

-A grey card isn't always carried.
-15sec isn't always available.
-There're conditions (like direct sunlight) it works just as good
as preset.
-There're lighting conditions even preset WB doesn't work well.
-When lighting conditions keep changing.
-When needed, proper WB can be obtained in post process with NEF.
-AWB of new cameras is working better and better.

Need more reasons? Good that you can preset WB every time you shoot.

Photobug

Kent Johnson said:

I don't care what camera you have. As far as I am concerned AWB is
the work of the Devil.
Can anyone give me a valid reason why you would need AWB? There
are about a million easy ways to nail the color and AWB just ain't
one of 'em.
I just don't get it. A grey card is 15 bucks. Taking a reading
takes 15 seconds. What am I missing?
Many thanks,
Kent
P.S. I said need . Anyone one telling why they want or prefer
will be scorned mercilessly

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I shot a wrestling tournament last weekend. There was a blue mat, a red mat and a green mat. Some areas got more natural light, some got more artificial light. Pictures taken while standing would be less influenced by reflected light from the mats (green! yuk!) than pictures taken from the ground.

Under those circumstances, an AWB that really worked (I was shooting with a D100, where it doesn't) might be just the thing.

I'd argue but you made me laugh so hard I just can't, lol. Well, I can't resist...

Photobug said:

I need , want , and prefer AWB!!! Not to pee on you but it's
close to accurate- except the last one.

Why and when?

-A grey card isn't always carried.

Click to expand...

OK.

Photobug197965 said:

-15sec isn't always available.

Click to expand...

Like when? I really am curious.

Photobug197965 said:

-There're conditions (like direct sunlight) it works just as good
as preset.

Click to expand...

How about 'Sunlight' setting.

Photobug197965 said:

-There're lighting conditions even preset WB doesn't work well.

Click to expand...

Which ones. Mixed lighting? BTW, Thank You for using correct subject-verb agreement. It's seriously rare and refreshing these days, lol.

Photobug197965 said:

-When lighting conditions keep changing.

Click to expand...

In these cases I stick with one setting and shoot RAW. Adjusting later as you indicated.

Photobug197965 said:

-When needed, proper WB can be obtained in post process with NEF.

Click to expand...

Only if you have a reference, in my experience.

Photobug197965 said:

-AWB of new cameras is working better and better.

Need more reasons? Good that you can preset WB every time you shoot.

Click to expand...

I just find it curious that those who would never in a million years trust the camera to make a judgement regarding aperture or shutter speed in conjuncture with a meter reading have no problem whatsoever handing control of the WB over to some engineer in Japan.

Photobug197965 said:

Photobug

Kent Johnson said:

I don't care what camera you have. As far as I am concerned AWB is
the work of the Devil.
Can anyone give me a valid reason why you would need AWB? There
are about a million easy ways to nail the color and AWB just ain't
one of 'em.
I just don't get it. A grey card is 15 bucks. Taking a reading
takes 15 seconds. What am I missing?
Many thanks,
Kent
P.S. I said need . Anyone one telling why they want or prefer
will be scorned mercilessly

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

After reading that most people seem to love the AWB on the D2x, I tried it for the first time a couple of days ago in direct sun. Most of the shots were too cool ( came in around 4700) and had to be corrected in Capture. I'm sticking with the grey card and presets from now on. As always, the best advice is to do it right first, then there's less to correct later.

David
--

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. --John Muir. http://www.davidcramer.com

Kent Johnson said:

Kent Johnson said:

-15sec isn't always available.

Click to expand...

Like when? I really am curious.

Click to expand...

Covering an event moving from one place to another. You're welcome to freeely subsitute the previous post- the lazy part.

Kent Johnson said:

Kent Johnson said:

-There're conditions (like direct sunlight) it works just as good
as preset.

Click to expand...

How about 'Sunlight' setting.

Click to expand...

Yes. I thought you were advocating preset. Anyway, used to do that. But I often forgot to reset to other WB after conditions changed. Now it's 100% NEF and AWB with correction in NC.

Kent Johnson said:

Kent Johnson said:

-There're lighting conditions even preset WB doesn't work well.

Click to expand...

Which ones. Mixed lighting? BTW, Thank You for using correct
subject-verb agreement. It's seriously rare and refreshing these
days, lol.

Click to expand...

You're welcome.

Kent Johnson said:

Kent Johnson said:

-When lighting conditions keep changing.

Click to expand...

In these cases I stick with one setting and shoot RAW. Adjusting
later as you indicated.

Click to expand...

Indeed.

Kent Johnson said:

Kent Johnson said:

-When needed, proper WB can be obtained in post process with NEF.

Click to expand...

Only if you have a reference, in my experience.

Click to expand...

A reference is always better. But refer to the 15sec part.

Kent Johnson said:

Kent Johnson said:

-AWB of new cameras is working better and better.

Need more reasons? Good that you can preset WB every time you shoot.

Click to expand...

I just find it curious that those who would never in a million
years trust the camera to make a judgement regarding aperture or
shutter speed in conjuncture with a meter reading have no problem
whatsoever handing control of the WB over to some engineer in Japan.

Click to expand...

Time changed. I ditched center-weighted metering last year. Matrix is working amazingly well.

Photobug

Kent Johnson said:

P.S. I said need . Anyone one telling why they want or prefer
will be scorned mercilessly

Click to expand...

Scorn away. I want and prefer AWB. I don't need it.

• I don't need an auto exposure meter either, but I wouldn't buy a camera without one. I can override it if I want to, but most of the time I let the camera do the work for me.

• I don't need auto focus, but I wouldn't buy a camera without it. I can override it if I want to, but most of the time I let the camera do the work for me.

• I don't need and automatic transmission in my car, and I don't want one either, but my wife does - so I got a car that has an automatic tranny with manual override. She can drive it her way, I can drive it my way, everybody's happy (well, sorta - it still doesn't feel the same as a "real" 5-speed, but you get the idea...)

Different people want different things. You have the option of preset white balance, I have the option of auto white balance. I can shoot my way, you can shoot your way, everybody's happy.

--
Life is a series of hills and valleys. Photograph them.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/member-photos?include=all&user_id=403266

WB is easy to set and AWB isn't perfect, but sometimes it helps. Such as when things are happening fast and you don't have time to think about it. Like a wedding and reception when light is changing; daylight to dark, or indoors to outdoors, a room with fluorescent to one with incandescent. AWB can help you.

Photog's have different needs and a pro-camera needs to address them all. I seldom use AWB but can understand why some would want it.

Cheers,
JB

Let's say the light is white and you've measured it.

The reality is that the blue mat will reflect blue light, green green, and red red. The tops of your subjects would be the right color as would the bottoms near the mat except with the reflected light. As it should be. That's what your eyes see - why would you want the camera to capture something different?

Are you saying the camera should take into consideration reflected light and compenstate for partial colors casts automatically? Good luck changing the laws of physics.
Kent

Murray Bowles said:

I shot a wrestling tournament last weekend. There was a blue mat, a
red mat and a green mat. Some areas got more natural light, some
got more artificial light. Pictures taken while standing would be
less influenced by reflected light from the mats (green! yuk!) than
pictures taken from the ground.

Under those circumstances, an AWB that really worked (I was
shooting with a D100, where it doesn't) might be just the thing.

Click to expand...