Setting White Balance

[sblitz]

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Had an interesting day at the Leica Akademie (not sure why they insist on the German spelling outside Germany, but they do) and one of the instructors noted that he never uses awb in the m9. instead, he sets it manually at daylight 5500K regardless what he is shooting (or thereabouts, different cameras different brands can be marginally different but that is beside the point). With a consistent baseline for all his shots it is faster for him to fix the shots in LR in batches to what the balance should be and does not have to contend with the camera picking up its white balance reading from all sorts of different places. He also then knows when his shots were shot at dawn vs midday etc without the camera getting in the way, in effect. He notes that it gives him a work process similar to film when he shot daylight film and made adjustments in the darkroom. It is an interesting idea and, admittedly not one that I had thought about, and was wondering what others thought/did.

 

Steve

[jaapv]

An excellent idea and one quite a few members follow. It makes for consitency. Provided you use DNG.

[sblitz]

Thanks ... my question was aimed at those using DNG. Do you do this with the AWB?

[adan]

Not exactly - I leave the camera on AWB, because what the CAMERA is set to has no effect at all on DNG files.

 

I DO have a standard WB saved in Adobe Camera Raw that is my version of "daylight" - 5200°K with a tint of 5 red - so all my pix show up originally as though they were shot at that WB setting. So in the end, my approach is similar. My blue-dusk pictures show up as blue, my indoor shots show up as orange, and my sunsets show up in sunset colors.

 

The Akadamie approach would work for people who have their ACR or LR3 default WB for the M9 set to "As shot." But "As shot" WB is the first thing I turn off in setting up preferences in those programs - for any camera.

[Double Negative]

Absolutely spot-on.

 

If you're shooting DNG, the WB is mostly irrelevant since it can be tweaked during import/conversion. Where it helps to pick a static WB is if you have a series of shots under the same lighting or plan to batch process them. Much easier than if the camera were set to AUTO WB and they were all different.

 

If you're shooting JPEG, then of course - WB is more important to get right from the start.

 

That having been said, I generally shoot with AUTO WB, knowing that I'll process each photo individually and likely tune the WB during import/conversion. I don't batch process generally.

[Jeff S]

Anybody use a card like this to set the initial WB in a particular scene; then tweak in PP?

 

Jeff

[andybarton]

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My digital camera is permanently set to cloudy white balance. It just seems obvious to me that you would want to start every shot from a known point.

[pgk]

Not exactly - I leave the camera on AWB, because what the CAMERA is set to has no effect at all on DNG files.

Are you sure Adan? Certainly on my 5D2, shifts in white balance seem to have some albeit slight effect on required exposure and whilst this seems to be marginal it can affect images where highlight detail is critical. I haven't checked this on the M but don't see it being substantially different.

[Jeff S]

My digital camera is permanently set to cloudy white balance. It just seems obvious to me that you would want to start every shot from a known point.

 

Do you mean from a consistent point? LR or other program will provide the 'as shot' (i.e., 'known') info. A cloudy setting may also not be the same K level in all shots...no?

 

Jeff

[Double Negative]

If you've got multiple shots in the same setting, using a static WB makes processing them (as in, a sequence or in batch) much easier, since there's one less variable involved and all shots start at the same WB.

 

I think in most cases, hanging a color or grey card in the scene is a bit too much work.

 

But if you take a reading at the start and set that manually - then you're really cooking with gas.

[jaapv]

No,à fixed setting like cloudy is immutable, however. if you shoot raw it is much of à muchness. The white balance setting is just à starting point shown on the preview. The case against AWB is that it tends to jump to different valies despite constant light as the camera records different scenes. A fixed setting is restful in postprocessing.

[Jeff S]

I think in most cases, hanging a color or grey card in the scene is a bit too much work.

 

But if you take a reading at the start and set that manually - then you're really cooking with gas.

 

I recently bought one of the little WB cards and keep it in my pocket. It's easy to hit set button, click manual and take shot of card. I'm still deciding if the added step, albeit quick, is worth the effort. I tend not to bother in mid-day sun or other predictable light. I shoot RAW and adjust in PP anyway.

 

Jeff

[Double Negative]

I recently bought one of the little WB cards and keep it in my pocket. It's easy to hit set button, click manual and take shot of card. I'm still deciding if the added step, albeit quick, is worth the effort. I tend not to bother in mid-day sun or other predictable light.

 

I might agree... I've got grey cards out-the-whazzoo but I never use them. Most of the time I use AWB and just tweak in post, even if it is just to select "Daylight" or "Auto." Most of the time, "As shot" seems to be just fine.

 

It's really sequences of shots under varying conditions and/or batch processing where this becomes more important - or of course, if color is critical...

[Peter H]

I can't now remember for sure where I got it from - I certainly didn't buy it - but I still have a Leica grey card that I think might have come with an M6 I bought new a long while back.

 

I certainly found it more helpful with an M6 than with an M9.

[01af]

... one of the instructors noted that he never uses awb in the M9. Instead, he sets it manually at Daylight 5,500 K regardless what he is shooting (or thereabouts, different cameras different brands can be marginally different but that is beside the point). With a consistent baseline for all his shots it is faster for him to fix the shots in LR in batches to what the balance should be and does not have to contend with the camera picking up its white balance reading from all sorts of different places. He also then knows when his shots were shot at dawn vs midday etc without the camera getting in the way, in effect. He notes that it gives him a work process similar to film when he shot daylight film and made adjustments in the darkroom.

This is exactly the way how (and the reasoning why) I shoot with all my digital cameras, including the M9, since I started shooting digitally in 2004.

 

Only for extended indoor shootings or in studio-like situations (rare for me), I temporarily may switch to Tungsten or to Custom White Balance. But normally and generally, it's Daylight always ... just the way it used to be with slide film. I always shoot Raw+JPEG.

[Rolo]

I've recently reverted to AWB after a couple of years of shooting at 6000K. I may stay there.

 

Can't see any difference between shooting at a fixed Kelvin, or changing to a fixed Kelvin using a LR import preset.

 

The cause for my change was because clients were asking to see the LCD during the shoot and having to explain that that the colour shift would be remedied on processing.

 

On balance, using AWB provides a more 'realistic rendition' for the client and a little more lighting info for me, but what matters in the end is my own final interpretation prior to submission.

[Double Negative]

...Can't see any difference between shooting at a fixed Kelvin, or changing to a fixed Kelvin using a LR import preset...

 

Well, FWIW - there shouldn't be...

[povlj]

An excellent idea and one quite a few members follow. It makes for consitency. Provided you use DNG.

Would you do this if shooting JPEG?

[povlj]

Would you do this if shooting JPEG?

I'm having excellent results with JPEG and Auto WB, with adjstments as appropriate in LR. What's wrong with that?

 

Povl

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[jaapv]

Would you do this if shooting JPEG?

 

No I would either set the balance to the ambient light, or -more likely- I would use AWB. But I cannot recall when I shot my last JPG file... I utterly dislike the limited correction possiblities and lesser quality. However, the M9 jpgs are said to be quite decent.