White Balance on the D-Lux 4

[Jaze]

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I'm trying to get thoroughly acquainted with my camera; I've had good results using it in the point-and-shoot style, but I want to progress. I've been reading a pretty good general book about digital photography, and I've just read a fairly lengthy section on White Balance.

 

I've been using WB set to Automatic (I assume - I sure as heck didn't set it myself!), and the results have been fine. The WB seems a bit of a fiddly adjustment to make, but the author of the book seemed to think that the WB was a meaningful part of the photos.

 

How do you guys approach the white balance issue with your D-Lux 4's? Are you satisfied with the AutoWB? Any particular tips or suggestions?

 

Also, I'm shooting RAW; does that mean that the WB setting is not really all THAT important, because I can manipulate the image in Photoshop?

 

Thanks for any suggestions,

 

Jaze

[farnz]

Jaze,

 

I just leave mine on AWB and happily blast away. I haven't noticed any particular problems so far although I shoot both raw and jpeg so I can adjust in post-processing if a problem crops up.

 

If the colours look odd and there are people in the shot then I'd probably only change WB so the skin colour looks right.

 

Pete.

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[kalina]

I avoid using my D-Lux 4's flash whenever possible because close subjects (about 3 feet away) always look blasted with light that's too bright. Even when I adjust the exposure, the white balance is definitely way off what it should be. I'm experimenting with muting the flash a bit, so we'll see if that helps.

 

My Canon compacts also blast close subjects with too much bright light but at least they get the white balance correct.

 

I just ordered an S90, so we'll see how it compares to my D-Lux 4.

[simfan]

For close objects I set flash output to -2. Otherwise it is indeed to bright (most of the time).

AWB is now OK, but I still struggle with picking the perfect film mode.

The standard film mode I use does not IMHO produce true-to-life colors

Is the WB really still a problem ? Even after FW v2.2 ?

If 'colors' are not perfect (skin, ... ) what exactly is to blame for it ? The WB, Film mode, saturation or does contrast or still other settings have something to do with it ?

I have been experimenting many months with that and I still keep changing (a combination of) settings.

In the good ol' film days I only had to pick the right film for the occasion and all was fine

Edited December 25, 2009 by simfan

[Dan States]

I avoid using my D-Lux 4's flash whenever possible because close subjects (about 3 feet away) always look blasted with light that's too bright. Even when I adjust the exposure, the white balance is definitely way off what it should be. I'm experimenting with muting the flash a bit, so we'll see if that helps.

 

My Canon compacts also blast close subjects with too much bright light but at least they get the white balance correct.

 

I just ordered an S90, so we'll see how it compares to my D-Lux 4.

 

I found that turning down the flash by 2/3 and using slow sync flash clears this up nicely. It also gives that "National Geographic" flash style of motion and frozen images blended together:D

[Dan States]

I'm trying to get thoroughly acquainted with my camera; I've had good results using it in the point-and-shoot style, but I want to progress. I've been reading a pretty good general book about digital photography, and I've just read a fairly lengthy section on White Balance.

 

I've been using WB set to Automatic (I assume - I sure as heck didn't set it myself!), and the results have been fine. The WB seems a bit of a fiddly adjustment to make, but the author of the book seemed to think that the WB was a meaningful part of the photos.

 

How do you guys approach the white balance issue with your D-Lux 4's? Are you satisfied with the AutoWB? Any particular tips or suggestions?

 

Also, I'm shooting RAW; does that mean that the WB setting is not really all THAT important, because I can manipulate the image in Photoshop?

 

Thanks for any suggestions,

 

 

 

 

Jaze

 

Since you are shooting RAW, as you should with this fine camera, WB means nothing. You can adjust everything to your taste in post processing. The great advantage of the Dlux4 is being able to use Capture 1. You will get much better high ISO performance, better resolution and infinite color adjustability.

[Ed_K]

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I usually quite happy with the auto WB and if the situation calls for more accurate reading, i will switch to custom WB with Raw as a backup .... works beautifully so far for me. Have not used for flash for many months, don't like the effect except for casual gathering shots during some dinner time :-P

[regedit]

For close objects I set flash output to -2. Otherwise it is indeed to bright (most of the time).

AWB is now OK, but I still struggle with picking the perfect film mode.

The standard film mode I use does not IMHO produce true-to-life colors

Is the WB really still a problem ? Even after FW v2.2 ?

If 'colors' are not perfect (skin, ... ) what exactly is to blame for it ? The WB, Film mode, saturation or does contrast or still other settings have something to do with it ?

I have been experimenting many months with that and I still keep changing (a combination of) settings.

In the good ol' film days I only had to pick the right film for the occasion and all was fine

 

When I need to shot with flash I have a pre-set with -2/3 flash compensation and nostalgic colors film setting. Results seems acceptable but sometimes skin get too white. I come to conclusion that don't flash settings is the problem but the skin. some skins reflect more light than other so, like in studio you need to set flash individually for each person

 

kind a complicated stuff, sometimes we just need a snap-shot so, therefore we need to accept the results.

[lykaman]

Hi, well now with the new Update 2.2 you can bracket the WB..

So, you can take 2 shots & have 6 images to compare & choose from..L

[Jaze]

Thanks, all.

 

Really, I have a long way to go before I fully understand everything this camera can do. I think it's time to step back a bit and figure out how I'm going to manage my images; the whole idea of managing both .jpeg and RAW copies needs some thought.

 

I mean, it seems to me that the WB issues relate primarily to the in-camera jpeg production; if I'm going to have a RAW file, and will be able to shade it however I want, why would I really sweat the .jpeg?

 

Anyway! Now I have to figure out how I'm going to manage these pictures. Another question coming up!

 

(Also! I have to investigate the flash controls you guys are all talking about...)

[Jaze]

(also! Kalina and any other women posting in this item - please forgive my use of the word "guys"! I mean it inclusively.)