Inconsistent white balance readings

[scaryink]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I shot a number of office interior scenes from the exact same position on a tripod with available overhead lighting. The camera was in full manual mode except for white balance which was set to auto.

 

The only element changing was the models who were all Caucasian.

 

The white balance is all over the place and I have no idea on how to control this. Of course in the future I will override the wb but this is a pain to color correct each shot separately in C1. Any ideas other than manual override?

 

The camera's w/b is very weak. For the quickie art repro of my own work, I always shoot with kodak Q-14 guide and am surprised at how far off the kit is. It is rarely within 2K Kelvin of the corrected balance.

 

I am aware that fluorescent is inconsistent but I did not notice any radical color shifts within the short space of the shoot.

[stunsworth]

Are you using a recent version of the firmware?

[jaapv]

Actually the WB is pretty good if you are not running absolutely antique firmware.

[wda]

Assuming you are shooting Raw, in the situation you describe I would always take one or more calibrated grey card reference shots for adjustments later in ACR. If you do try this method, make sure you use spectrally neutral material for reference; it does make a difference.

 

Even in the location described, colour temperatures will vary depending on the mixture of artificial and intruding daylight lighting. In which case, I would take fresh reference shots at the start of each fresh position. Even then, finding what appears to be a correct white balance becomes rather subjective. At this stage I would not condemn the M8 values. Thank goodness for the latitude raw files possess!

[MEB]

How close were you to the models? It may be possible that they were dominating the sensors by their proximity and the differences in skin tones and reflectivity (even if they were all Caucasian) could explain the changes. I don't think this explanation would hold water if they were a substantial distance from the lens.

 

Mark B

[Jamie Roberts]

I shot a number of office interior scenes from the exact same position on a tripod with available overhead lighting. The camera was in full manual mode except for white balance which was set to auto.

 

{Snipped}

 

I am aware that fluorescent is inconsistent but I did not notice any radical color shifts within the short space of the shoot.

 

I don't think you would "notice" a shift in colour temperature from fluorescent light; your eyes will compensate. It's why you generally don't use existing (non-photographic) overhead lighting for shooting interiors if colour consistency is critical.

 

This is one time when any number of white balance aids will not work, since the lights themselves are constantly shifting temperature.

[scaryink]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi All and thanks for the responses. I am quite used to using a kodak reference card but in this particular case did not want an accurate white balance but rather the actual ambient light. I am also using the most recent software upgrade.

 

I only shoot raw except when I anticipate b&w then I shoot raw+ with bw jpg. I was shooting with a 28mm and there were no extreme closeups so Im not thinking the models could have had that much of an influence.

 

I have noticed many wb errors in various settings from direct daylight, shadow, and indoors. There are some crazy examples in mixed lighting when using auto wb. I am just puzzled as to differences from one shot to the next with no significant change in setting. Ill just shoot manual in those circumstances but think it odd that the camera isn't consistent in its measurement.