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G3 custom white balance--defective camera or operator error?

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Cbigler

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Hello all!

I've been using a G1 for a couple of years now and recently upgraded to the G3. I wanted to try out the custom white balance feature but I am getting very bizarre results. I'm interested in maybe trying out the Expo Disc talked about in other forums but wanted to play around on my own first.

After taking a bunch of shots in RAW mode with a CWB, every single one of them has the same issue--an ugly greenish cast! :( The jpeg preview looks fine, and I can adjust the WB to auto, white point, etc. and those all look fine. However, the images converted using the CWB as determined by the camera are all hosed (both preview and final image).

Here are some examples of what I'm talking about (along with a link to the original crw and thm files). All of the attached pictures were obtain by doing an alt-printscrn capture then saving as jpg from the bundled version of Zoom Browser that comes with the G3. I also thought that maybe the previous versions of the Canon software, BreezeBrowser, etc. might be the culprit so I installed the new versions on my laptop which has never had any of this software installed--same bad results.

Here is the image preview with CWB:



Here is the image preview with AUTO WB:



Here is the image preview with the white point set to the sheet of paper:



Finally, here is the embedded jpeg preview:



For those who are interested, here are the links to the original crw and thm files:
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler/dpreview/CRW_2409.CRW ; warning--4mb file!
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler/dpreview/CRW_2409.THM

So, is it something I did wrong? I set the CWB by zooming in on the sheet of paper and hitting the * key, then the SET button. I used both Custom1 and Custom2 settings with the same results. Oh yeah, I was also using a 420EX flash.

I wasn't expecting perfect color, but I wasn't expecting the green cast either! In my opinion, the AUTO setting is the closest to reality. You can see other photos I've taken with the same G3 (in SL mode though, no CWB) at
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler/First_pics_g3

Any advice (including returning a defective camera!) is appreciated.

Thanks,
Cade (G1, G3, 420EX)
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler
 
Cade,

I can confirm your finding. Indeed if I use Custom WB and RAW, the per shot settings converted image is green.

Someone else mentioned something similar yesterday. As you can tell, the File Viewer Utility does not include the two custom WB settings in the WB box.

I don't think you and I have an individual defective cameras or that this has to do with operator error. I believe that this is a bug either in the firmware or the software.
  • Olga
 
I contacted Canon with the same issue on Saturday. The bad news is they didn't even know what is the Canon File Viewer Utility:

Canon representative wrote:
"I do apologize, but I am not certain what you mean by "File Viewer
Utility." Are you referring to the camera driver, the ZoomBrowser
program, or the RAW Image Converter?"

I expained them that the latest Canon RAW converter doesn't support G3 RAW files, AFAIK the only way to convert G3 RAW files is with the Canon File Viewer Utility (ver 1.0.0.12) which is shipped with the camera.

I am still waiting for their reply. I recommend you too contact them so this issue will be escalated. Since you have all the sample pictures saved on your web site, it would help them understand the issue and come up with a solution. Let's hope that the custom white balance information is saved on the RAW file properly, and the problem is in the File Viewer Utility...

What a disappointment this is! Strange, it's not a hot issue on this forum yet. I posted this issue 2 days ago, but haven't received any replies: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=3872158

Doneko
OlgaJ said:
Cade,

I can confirm your finding. Indeed if I use Custom WB and RAW, the
per shot settings converted image is green.

Someone else mentioned something similar yesterday. As you can
tell, the File Viewer Utility does not include the two custom WB
settings in the WB box.

I don't think you and I have an individual defective cameras or
that this has to do with operator error. I believe that this is a
bug either in the firmware or the software.
  • Olga
Click to expand...
 
Doneko,

Indeed it was your message that I had seen. I will try to call Canon today and see what they will say.
  • Olga
 
I just tested it out and got similar greenish hue over everything. I didn't notice before since I wasn't taking any RAW images with custom balance before.

I have noticed that in the File Viewer Utility when you look at the initial thumbnail you see a normal colour. Now change "Photo Effect Mode" to off (that was my setting for the camera) you get your green hue. Now if you click on the eyedropper ("Click White Balance") and select something white in your photo the colour comes out normal colour. If you used a flash and select "Flash" it comes out normal colour.

I don't know if the above helps any because as I said I don't use the RAW mode much and I was just trying out some of the settings in File Viewer Utility.
Cbigler said:
Hello all!

I've been using a G1 for a couple of years now and recently
upgraded to the G3. I wanted to try out the custom white balance
feature but I am getting very bizarre results. I'm interested in
maybe trying out the Expo Disc talked about in other forums but
wanted to play around on my own first.

After taking a bunch of shots in RAW mode with a CWB, every single
one of them has the same issue--an ugly greenish cast! :( The jpeg
preview looks fine, and I can adjust the WB to auto, white point,
etc. and those all look fine. However, the images converted using
the CWB as determined by the camera are all hosed (both preview and
final image).

Here are some examples of what I'm talking about (along with a link
to the original crw and thm files). All of the attached pictures
were obtain by doing an alt-printscrn capture then saving as jpg
from the bundled version of Zoom Browser that comes with the G3. I
also thought that maybe the previous versions of the Canon
software, BreezeBrowser, etc. might be the culprit so I installed
the new versions on my laptop which has never had any of this
software installed--same bad results.

Here is the image preview with CWB:



Here is the image preview with AUTO WB:



Here is the image preview with the white point set to the sheet of
paper:



Finally, here is the embedded jpeg preview:



For those who are interested, here are the links to the original
crw and thm files:
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler/dpreview/CRW_2409.CRW
warning--4mb file!
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler/dpreview/CRW_2409.THM

So, is it something I did wrong? I set the CWB by zooming in on
the sheet of paper and hitting the * key, then the SET button. I
used both Custom1 and Custom2 settings with the same results. Oh
yeah, I was also using a 420EX flash.

I wasn't expecting perfect color, but I wasn't expecting the green
cast either! In my opinion, the AUTO setting is the closest to
reality. You can see other photos I've taken with the same G3 (in
SL mode though, no CWB) at
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler/First_pics_g3

Any advice (including returning a defective camera!) is appreciated.

Thanks,
Cade (G1, G3, 420EX)
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler
Click to expand...
--
Dragonstar

Vegetarians eat vegetables.
Beware Humanitarians.
http://www.pbase.com/dragonstar
 
I was wondering was there some other "bugs" in my camera (than those stuck pixels). I hope also that the problem its in the file viewer.

I have read that canon has withdraw some of G3 because of firmware (was shipped to reseller but didnt arrive and canon told that there was some firmware error). I hope there is coming new firmware that even helps a little with Blue Halo.

-
Juzu
 
I think it is a software(ie. File Viewer program) bug, not a camera firmware issue. If you can see the picture ok on the camera's LCD screen, then I doubt it's the camera.
Juha Halvari said:
I was wondering was there some other "bugs" in my camera (than
those stuck pixels). I hope also that the problem its in the file
viewer.

I have read that canon has withdraw some of G3 because of firmware
(was shipped to reseller but didnt arrive and canon told that there
was some firmware error). I hope there is coming new firmware that
even helps a little with Blue Halo.

-
Juzu
Click to expand...
--
Canon G3 camera
Canon S900 printer
 
Yes, RAW files are the actual pixels captured by the ccd without any processing, including WB. As others have mentioned, it's not a total loss because you can change the WB settings to auto, daylight, white point, etc. and get acceptable results, but that sort of defeats the purpose of shooting a CWB in the first place! I believe it is a problem with the software as others have mentioned, and they need to add the Custom1 and Custom2 options to the WB pull down menu (I believe the custom option was present in earlier versions of the application--I have been using BreezeBrowser to convert my G1 RAW images so I don't remember the options in the Canon app). Hopefully CWB will be fully supported in the SDK so programs like BreezeBrowser will continue to work.

Regards,
Cade (G1, G3, 420EX)
http://users2.ev1.net/~cade.bigler
click said:
Isn't raw saved without in camera white ballance anyway?

--
Memory fades
Digital media does not
Click to expand...
 
The RAW files include an embadded JPEG file. When you review the pictures, you see his JPEG file. When your picture viewer program (zoombrowser, Canon File Viewer Utility or even Thumbs Plus) creates a thumbnail, it is made fom this embedded JPEG.

With proper software, you can extract this JPEG file. For example Tumbs Plus has a Canon CRW viewer plugin whivh can do that. I can see that the embedded JPEG has the correct custom white balance!

The big question now is if the RAW file contains this white balance information properly and the Canon File Viewer Utility has a bug which paints the results green, or the camera saves the white balance data in the RAW file wrong and the File Viewer Utility just shows the truth.

Buth cases can be solved by Canon, the first by releasing a fix for the File Viewer Utility, the second by releasing a new firmware. My bet is the same as your: the RAW files are fine and the File Viewer Utility buggy, but we can not rule out yet that the camera has the bug.

Doneko
Chuck_IV said:
I think it is a software(ie. File Viewer program) bug, not a camera
firmware issue. If you can see the picture ok on the camera's LCD
screen, then I doubt it's the camera.
Click to expand...
 
I just spoke with Canon USA tech support. The tech on the phone was very helpful. They are aware of the problem and are working on a fix. The workaround is to use the white point or one of the standard settings to correct the problem. I still prefer the custom white balance so I will shoot in superfine large JPEG until the issue is resolved.

Dave
OlgaJ said:
Dave S said:
After taking 30 pics in raw mode and using the custom white balance
I have the same problem . I am running the OSX version of the File
Viewer utility. Any updates from Canon as to when this will be
fixed?
Click to expand...
Can't even get them to admit there is a problem, although they
claim they have sent the report to senior techs. Check out this
thread:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=3981774
  • Olga
Click to expand...
 
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