DMR White Balance

[bono0272]

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Hi DMR users,

 

While most of the members are talking about the M8 performance, I also have queries on the DMR white balance:

 

1. My DMR always produces un-consecutive white balance at the same lighting condition. Even I shoot 2 to 3 consecutive pictures the white balance showing at the screen of the DMR for these pictures are not the same;

 

2. Further to my problem above, for a single shot most of the time I would say the white balance of the DMR is not accurate. Especially when the setting is AWB, no matter under what circumstances the outcome is over 50% unsatisfactory. Even I set the WB to designated settings (e.g. shadow or cloudy) it is not good at all. (Of course sometimes it hits)

 

I always have to use Capture One to re-calibrate the WB during post processing. I am using firmware 1.1

 

Do you face similar problems?

[robsteve]

1.) Yes this is a firmware bug when using continuous motor.

 

2.) AWB seems to work best if the scene has at least one white or or neutral in it.

[wcc]

Yes, I have exactly the same problem

 

You take the first picture, then the next, then the next all in sequence

 

And the white balance for all three is different even though it was done within the space of 10 seconds - when I say different, I mean massively different

 

This is the same for the 2 DMRs that I have

 

Not only that, the screen is totally useless - whether you have correct exposure or not can only be ascertained with the histogram and not the screen

 

So I sent it back to Germany and they have had it for 2 months with no response

 

Quite frankly, this is the end of Leica

 

They mess up the DMR, they mess up the M8 (not only the magenta issue but even the simple fact of not including the pass code for the software)

 

We should be under no dellusions - I am a massive Leica fan but they have burnt all their bridges with me

 

There will be a business school case written in a few years time of a company that could not cope with the future and technological change

 

What a complete mess up!

[bono0272]

Well, I really wish such problems can be solved by the next firmware.

 

But frankly, will there be a new firmware?

[jbstitt]

I'm waiting for the new firmware waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting...........waiting........... And in the mean time a 5D and L lens is less than the DMR alone and everyone I talk to says NO PROBLEMS there and with stopdown I can even use Leica glass. So I too am near the end of my waiting. Someone said December but if that does not happen then I will visit eBay and the C store.

[bono0272]

There is another thread telling Leica is going to replace the sensor for M8, those already been sold have to be returned to Solms.

 

I hope Leica can also fix the problems of the DMR but not just leave them there and without a word for over half a year!

[hdg]

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First, what version of firmware do you use?

I am using V 1.2 and it seems to me that I am the only one without problems.

 

I have made more than 10000 DMR pictures since July 2005.

o.K. There have been some problems in that time but not dramaticly. I had to learn a lot.

But as I use RAW only I must "develop" the RAW-files. So the WB can be corrected easily.

 

Regards Hans

[blovitch]

Version 1.2 had a some very serious issues......

 

I made the step back to 1.1 pretty sharpish, as I suspect did most of the DMR users on this forum.

[jlancasterd]

First, what version of firmware do you use?

I am using V 1.2 and it seems to me that I am the only one without problems...

 

...But as I use RAW only I must "develop" the RAW-files. So the WB can be corrected easily.

 

Regards Hans

 

I'm also using V1.2 as with few problems. Like Hans, I shoot RAW all the time and, whilst the white balance variation is annoying, it's nothing that can't be corrected in either C1 or Photoshop. I only use the preview screen to check composition, not colour fidelity - if I'm worried about exposure I check the histogram.

 

That's not to say that I'm not eagerly awaiting V1.3 - with M8-type compression to give 200 RAW shots on a 2GB card - Please?!

[hdg]

In the meantime I think the compatibility depends on the correctness of production.

My DMR has the production No. 88 and it seems to me that it is "handmade" indeed.

 

Regards Hans

[dhsimmonds]

I am very satisfied with the WB on my DMR and I also use firmware version 1.2, I only shoot RAW and adjust in C1 to suit what I am trying to acheive. I did have a "fatal" error after shooting only 70 odd images from the camera being new, so the DMR went back to Solms via Leica UK who loaned me a DMR.

 

The loan back was loaded with v1.1 which I did not like so I loaded v1.2 again which then gave me the "right" sort of RAW image for me to work with. My own DMR was returned from Solms loaded with v1.2 and it has performed faultlessly for many thousands of images. Incidentally the loaned back from Leica UK had also shot approx 9000 images before I used it!

 

In fact I took the R9/DMR on a 10 day shoot in the Douro Valley in Portugal as my only camera..........I usually take a back-up but I felt so confident with my camera and my trust was not mis-placed. I rarely "chimp" as I find that it gets in the way of my natural flow when shooting so the LCD screen is not an issue for me, but image quality is and the DMR has plenty of that in bucket loads!

 

My concern is what comes after the DMR, as I actually feel that the pro-back from Imacon was the right way to go for Leica. True 16 bit pro-backs do deliver a different kind of image in my view and I am more than willing to accept the larger file sizes to get image quality.

 

I have yet to see an "integral" pro DSLR (excluding "MF") capable of similar image quality, but this may be something to do with Leica lenses and the natural ergonomics of using the R9/DMR!

[bono0272]

I have made more than 10000 DMR pictures since July 2005.

o.K. There have been some problems in that time but not dramaticly. I had to learn a lot.

But as I use RAW only I must "develop" the RAW-files. So the WB can be corrected easily.

 

Regards Hans

 

For such an expensive digital back it should not require the user to re-calibrate the WB thru post-processing software "always". Of course sometimes we may still have to adjust the WB thru the software but I do not want to do it for every single pictures.

[Anthony Healy]

I have had the same problem from the very start. ALL images appear warmer than they should. I save as a RAW file and can adjust the colour by using the Kelvin slider but even for daylight shots I have to turn the Kelvin rating back to 4800°K. It can be done but it is annoying to have to do it. I tried to set the daylight white balance using the white side of an 18% Gray card in sunlight but a dialogue box in the camera software told me the subject I was using was not white enough. How much whiter does it have to be ?

[Jamie Roberts]

Anthony, what firmware are you using? You should be using 1.3, which is newer than any of these posts (you brought a thread from 2006 back to life again!)

 

Anyway, the solution to white balance problems (which I haven't seen on the DMR with 1.3) is to shoot with a selected WB or custom WB; shoot RAW, and fix WB in post.

 

(oh and for a custom WB, if the camera complains your gray card is not white enough, you need to increase the exposure until the camera doesn't complain. I also wouldn't use a gray card; an Expodisc works much better than that for custom WB)

[dhsimmonds]

I agree with Jamie, firmware 1.3 seems to solve many colour balance problems. I get about 200 raw images on a 4gb SD card (Transcend). I have no complaints with v1.3 which is just as well as it's probably the last that we will get!

[hdg]

I agree, David. But I have stopped using 4 GB-carts. I have an A-data cart. It is o.k. up to about 110 dng´s. If I store more pictures some of them disapeared in any way. They are on the card before I switch off my R9. But after switching on they are up up and away.

 

But generally my R9+DMR is working correctly. So I plan to go to the states with it in autum and I think to make a lot of nice pictures in the Southwest again. As usual I will take with some 1 GB and 2 GB SanDisk Ultra and Extreme cards. At each evening the cards will be copied to my Vaio subnotebook and additionally to an externe HD. This is my workflow since 2005. It is sure and I never have lost a picture.

 

Regards Hans

[roguewave]

Hans, try the Transcend 4GIG cards. They provide 200 RAW images, no problem. You MUST reformat after each use however. I have had no problems filling them to the limit with no loss.

[graeme_clarke]

I agree with Jamie

 

I've had the DMR since October 2005 (fastened to an R9) and had no issues with WB using v1.1 then 1.3 firmware from the day it became available (I kept away from v1.2 after all the bad press it received)

 

I rarely use AWB, preferring to set WB to the ambient conditions, which is almost always acceptable. I save files as RAW, not Jpegs. I run the RAW files through Lightroom and on some tweak the colour temp where its needed to make the image look that bit better.

 

This works for me - I hope it helps you.

 

Graeme

[scanner]

Yes, I have exactly the same problem

 

You take the first picture, then the next, then the next all in sequence

 

And the white balance for all three is different even though it was done within the space of 10 seconds - when I say different, I mean massively different

 

This is the same for the 2 DMRs that I have

 

Not only that, the screen is totally useless - whether you have correct exposure or not can only be ascertained with the histogram and not the screen

 

So I sent it back to Germany and they have had it for 2 months with no response

 

Quite frankly, this is the end of Leica

 

They mess up the DMR, they mess up the M8 (not only the magenta issue but even the simple fact of not including the pass code for the software)

 

We should be under no dellusions - I am a massive Leica fan but they have burnt all their bridges with me

 

There will be a business school case written in a few years time of a company that could not cope with the future and technological change

 

What a complete mess up!

 

 

Dear leica Photographer,

 

 

 

Download update 1.3 and work in DNG `and use Capture one for the most professional results.

When you download 1.3 you can even work in jpeg fine and you can use the with balance features: cloudy, sunny and so on.

For good results use 1.3 !!

 

I have my R 9 and DMR for two and a half years, made more the ten thousand shoots and the DMR works fantastic

 

 

Try 1.3 and good luck. greetings, Rob

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Hallo,

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