How often do you change white balance? Daylight setting info

Hi jlina,

I only change the whitebalance-setting when I know there will be need to, for instance tungsten light.

It is normally quasi-permantly fixed on "clouded sky", which gives me pleasant neutral colors.

I avoid autowhite-balance as this leads to unpredictable colorshifting.

Arnoud

jlina said:

This is an interesting DPR review short video, and kind of humorous, my human misfires!

So he says that white balance in daylight will be exactly the color of what you're seeing. ...

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Not really; as I mentioned to you previously to just look at how different cameras renders the white balance in the DPR Studio shot comparison tool.

Hence one of the reasons "I" prefer shooting RAW.

The "Auto White Balance" is just as infallible as "auto" exposure, auto focus, etc.

Need to learn not to rely on a single source (website, salesperson, etc.) as to any determination.

I've read articles in the past that some prefer to set the white balance to "Daylight" and make adjustments to image while post processing.

jlina said:

... I was wondering what everyone's opinion was on this? ....

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"IMO" you should had a online search for "camera auto white balance" for more info.

"Opinions" will generally be based on the camera(s) being used. Hence for better response limit question to those using FZ1000 II.

Jon

jlina said:

This is an interesting DPR review short video, and kind of humorous, my human misfires!

So he says that white balance in daylight will be exactly the color of what you're seeing. I was wondering what everyone's opinion was on this? And if you ever actually change your white balance setting. I did for a while and I found nothing better than Auto white balance for a pleasing color profile, so now I don't.

If you have adjusted the color profile on your camera does that stay on every white balance or does it change when you change white balance also I am curious?

Thanks for sharing your experiences !

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I find that auto-white balance works fine for me, even when taking photos in the shade and when taking sunset photos. There are two situations in which I don't rely on the camera's notion of white balance at all - instead, I set the white balance using a white card:

I don't rely on the camera's notion of "white balance" indoors unless I'm trying to take a quickie snapshot.

I don't rely on the camera's notion of "white balance" when I am outdoors and I'm doing a panorama because I need the frames to blend perfectly color-wise.

Jean

Hi! Yes I doubted that was accurate, as well. I have read quite a bit of research on it and I have never heard that before regarding white balance in daylight.

I agree that I think that my camera is so good on auto white balance because of the color science, this probably was a better question for the general forum.

Curious how much people actually change this with their cameras when they shoot.

Hi, Arnaud!

I remember you saying this quite a while ago so I had tried it and mine doesn't work like that. Even Auto white balance Amber; there's some kind of Amber one and then there's a cooler one; doesn't work for me...it makes a really golden tone on the picture that is noticeable - but your photos always look great.

JonT mentions below about how it is probably camera specific and given your experience versus mine that maybe very well be true. Your photos are always so stunning I had wondered about this for a while and then I saw the little video.

Hope you are doing well!

Hi, Jean!

Those are excellent points. I rarely shoot indoors but I can see how your practice is best practices. I really think my camera is at the top of the color science as far as Panasonic production. I am also a painter or I was for years, and my camera takes amazingly varied and accurate photos of colors.

I can totally understand not trusting Auto white balance on a panoramic. Thanks!

Indoors in an auditorium where there are both spotlights and overheads i will always try to take some samples as early as possible in different modes to see what works best. Sometimes it's still AWB but often not.

jlina said:

This is an interesting DPR review short video, and kind of humorous, my human misfires!

So he says that white balance in daylight will be exactly the color of what you're seeing. I was wondering what everyone's opinion was on this? And if you ever actually change your white balance setting. I did for a while and I found nothing better than Auto white balance for a pleasing color profile, so now I don't.

If you have adjusted the color profile on your camera does that stay on every white balance or does it change when you change white balance also I am curious?

Thanks for sharing your experiences !

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The important bit is at the end. Just shoot in RAW. I never met a white balance problem that couldn't be corrected in RAW PP yet. At least you stand a good chance of being able to put it right.

I can really see how it is a concern in artificial lights and will be more aware of this in the future, I rarely shoot indoors as the cameras are - I know this is an "opinion" - just not that great in low light unless you use a tripod, flash, diffuser, et. al.

Thanks!

Hi! Yep, everyone I know who is happy with the FZ80 shoots raw. Honestly you could correct all that in PP even on a jpeg. It was just an interesting video; with info I was not sure was completely correct. I really hate PP so I'm always interested in what the miniature computer in my hand can do in optimal conditions

Thanks and post some pics from the 80 soon!

jlina said:

Hi, Jean!

Those are excellent points. I rarely shoot indoors...

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More than just indoors; involves shooting outdoors under different lighting conditions; sunset; in a forest area where there's a lot of green "reflective" light from surrounding vegetation, etc.

"White Balance" is the knowledge of "Color Temperature"; e.g.. just one of many articles on line HERE.

One of the easy ways to insure proper camera color temperature for any given scene is to learn how to use the FZ1000 II Manual WB setting (Page 111).



Use a white card to measure the ambient lighting color temp.

Jon

I did that once with a grey card. Here is a photo of a vent hood - that my camera took of "light" (refracted) the other day in a no overhead light kitchen. It is perfect, and on auto WB. I posted this just interested in how many people actually do not use auto or find issues with it.

I'm more than pleased with my color representation on my camera





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jlina

An interesting tropic. Missed this when it was posted.

WB, under the smartness of most cameras of today, could do a very good job IMHO. Hence, very agreed with you that Auto WB can nail it most of the time.

However, auto is auto, there must be "OOP". Complicated lighting condition might confuse the camera. When light is getting bad it can also affect the sensitivity of the system, or for creativity purpose the WB thought good by the camera might not work for us.

Among the non Live View based system (DSLR mostly), it could be their bigger concern since they could only look at the result before capture the shot. To reduce the trouble they need good experience and knowledge on their camera, set the right preset WB but still on a trial and error base. For more difficult/uncertain condition, they might have to set up a customized WB.

We are blessed by our Live View based cameras (MILC or compacts). Generally the color tone (WB) of the image to be captured can be observed in evf/LCD before the image is taken. There might be discrepancy between LV image vs reality but the gap is getting smaller on newer models.

AFAIK live view of the latest FZs are doing very well on this front.

Therefore the simplest is to make good use of the LV IMHO. If it would be too off (too warm or too cool), we should be able to see it before capturing. If Auto WB does not nail the color (or you do not happy with the result), can just test the result through the various preset WB before capturing. But I know many shooter might not put observation on color tone onto their standard checking list before hitting the shutter button. Color tone indeed should hold the same important as Composition, Focusing, lightness distribution, saturation and contrast...

The following was a snap shot took on a trip to Transylvania a few years ago. My wife took the shot using AWB as below:



However, it was looking too warm in evf (= reality because tungsten light blubs were the only lighting source there) to me. I felt a white marble stone sculpture should be whiter. Hence I changed Auto WB to Fluorescent WB for a cooler output as below:



Generally if the preset WBs would not serve my purpose, I would set up a custom WB. I use the following WB adjuster lens cap (few US$ max) which had served me well over the years. I have one always inside my camera bag.



BTW, the exposure (brightness) might also affect the overall color tone as well.

I found many posted images are too warm (specially those from Olympus) or some are too cool (specially from the earlier Panasonic) or some are too artificial because of the film simulation effect (from Fuji?), however they were proud samples from their shooters! As per my samples posted in above, there are still strong differences between me and my wife on which one is better !

Therefore it is just a matter of personal taste of individual shooter. Nothing right nor wrong IMHO. Therefore as long anything will work for you, it is fine. Don't over think of this.


Source: https://www.dpmag.com/how-to/shooting/what-is-white-balance-on-your-camera/

Finally if you take RAW, this will be a non issue.

Happy shooting.

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Albert
** Please forgive my typo error.
** Please feel free to download my image and edit it as you like **

Hi Albert! I bet your wife just loves that shot, it is very atmospheric looks like it had candles going almost. Haha, but I bet yours is much more accurate to the tonality of the marble.

I agree it's not something I even think of, but perhaps that is because of the live view. On the rainbow photo on the vent Hood it was actually not as dense as it photographed, but the colors on that photo are gorgeous. And it was interesting to note how much darker the kitchen was and what my eye was seeing, so I did note the exposure value https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66399003. You will perhaps be pleased to know that I am finally checking that all the time, completely from you teaching me to! It's the first button I hit now and then I turn the dial real quick and see how it looks, I was trying to get the translucentness of the light but I missed that; it's still made beautiful colors.

Even on something as simple as Google photos you can adjust white point Black point shadows highlight sharpness tonality blue tone.... I mean I can't even think of everything, so I'm sure you could always do some adjusting even to a jpeg. I was surprised they made a video out of it, but you're right it's not something I'm going to worry about.

Thanks so much, excellent summation!

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jlina

jlina said:

I did that once with a grey card. Here is a photo of a vent hood - that my camera took of "light" (refracted) the other day in a no overhead light kitchen. It is perfect, and on auto WB. I posted this just interested in how many people actually do not use auto or find issues with it.

I'm more than pleased with my color representation on my camera ...

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As I stated in the past as long as you're happy with the images that what matters.

But staying on the topic of your post, the purpose of changing white balance is for the image's WB (color temp) to be correct; generally the white areas are the easiest to see if WB is off.

But even then what you see on your display may not be correct unless you've calibrated your display. I regularly check the color calibration of my display.

Been quite few of your pics you've posted I've done some vary quick tweaks to adjust highlights/ shadows, and to the white areas to be "white" without any color tint.

Cheers,
Jon

Thanks, Jon! I pretty much always under expose so I can see that being more of an exposure issue but I will keep an eye on it. You do a great job when you touch up my photos

I'm a lazy photographer, snap shots quickly, and leave it to post to change colour balance.

Cyril Catt said:

I'm a lazy photographer, snap shots quickly, and leave it to post to change colour balance.

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It's not really being lazy. I do it too. The result can be more accurate than just guessing on the day.

panafred said:

panafred said:

Cyril Catt wrote: I'm a lazy photographer, snap shots quickly, and leave it to post to change colour balance.

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It's not really being lazy. I do it too. The result can be more accurate than just guessing on the day.

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Thanks for the support. It's just that at the moment I'm considering a shot there may be a lot happening, so I feel it's better to leave the camera to get a 'good enough' shot and be ready the upcoming shots, than waste time chasing technical perfection, and miss out on the potentially better one.