Custom White Balance...
Martinn
via web
This winter I found, especially with my point-and-shoot camera, there was a strong blue cast in my snow shots. I suspect the effect is there in all shots with the camera set on auto-white balance, but it's not so noticeable in summer environments.
So, as an experiment, I set the camera's white balance using a Whibal card. Wow! This functionally eliminated fiddling with the color in Photoshop.
I now use your 3.5x6 inch card several times during each day. It is big enough to fill the frame at arm's length, but small enough to carry conveniently. I just make sure it's evenly lit with the available light, as straight on as possible.
Obviously, this method goes against the instructions you've supplied. Yet I like the results so well I will continue to do it this way. So the questions are: Is there even a better color to set a custom white balance? And is this a method others could benefit from?
Martinn
Support Staff 2 Posted by Michael Tapes Design on 19 Apr, 2011 10:14 AM
Hi Martinn,
You are correct that this is the method that will give the most accurate White balance in a JPEG workflow. While we prefer a RAW workflow, for those who prefer a JPEG workflow and for cameras that do not shoot RAW this is the best method to achieve the best possible White Balance from a JPEG workflow.
Can you please point out where we say this is not a good method for these conditions, so that we might edit our instructions.
Sorry for any confusion and thanks for the feedback.
Michael Tapes Design closed this discussion on 19 Apr, 2011 10:14 AM.
Arleigh and Martin Neunzert re-opened this discussion on 21 Apr, 2011 01:13 AM
3 Posted by Arleigh and Martin Neunzert on 21 Apr, 2011 01:13 AM
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Your instructions are not in error. But...
I didn't mention that I have been shooting RAW! And I'm not hallucinating. The color has clearly been modified. So, apparently, there's RAW and then there's RAW.
I might have expected this sort of response from some cameras, but I did a quick test with a Nikon D300 and a Leica D-Lux-3 (both seemingly respectable cameras). Both show color shift with different white balances.
So if anything, I'd suggest considering recommending your clients perform a quick test with their camera to see if different white balances modify their RAW images. If so, they might benefit from setting their custom white balances with a Whibal card, as an alternate to photographing the card...
Martinn
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Support Staff 4 Posted by Michael Tapes Design on 21 Apr, 2011 08:56 AM
Martinn,
When shooting RAW the White balance setting doe not affect the raw data, but it does write into the file what WB setting was on the camera at the time of capture. This is the Wb setting that is used for a JPEG if you were shooting JPEG. But, it is also the setting that most raw converters use when they first display the raw file. It has to be set somewhere so the unofficial convention is to use the as shot setting of the WB when developing a RAW file. However, once the user sets the proper White balance in the raw converter, the as shot WB is disgarded.
So it is not that there is RAW and there is RAW. It is simply that the as shot WB set on the camera is used before the users adjusts the WB in the RAW software. Also the as shot camera WB setting is burned into the embedded JPEG file within the raw that browsers and many image viewers use to display the raw file (they are not really displaying the raw data, just the embedded JPEG. This JPEG is also the basis for our Instant JPEG from RAW free file utility.
So...your observations were kind of right, but really wrong. The fact is that the WB setting on the camera does not affect the raw data, but it does affect the raw file (as do many things).