Manual White Balance

R

Richard Wilis

Member
So my 7D is all set up for manual-everything. Manual exposure, HTP and auto lighting optimer turned off and the Marvels Cine Gamma (flat) custom picture style loaded. Now I only need some advice on using manual white balance.

I understand the principles behind color temperatures and correcting with white balance. But I could use some tips and tricks on how to determine the right temperature setting for a given scene. Are white/grey cards or lightmeters a necesitty? Or is there a way to do without them?

I really hope for the last, as I would hate having to buy and carry that stuff with me :happy:

How are you pro's handling white balance?
 
I as well as the people i work with use the k setting.. you can dial the kelvin to the temp you want....
 
How do you know what temp you want? Back in the good old days, we just set something white in the shot and set the white balance by pushing a button. It didn't move once set. Is there a way to do that with the 7D?
 
It's on Page 71 of the manual.

Basically you take a picture of something "white" or whatever object you're using for WB. Then you go into your MENU and select CUSTOM WB, using the dial to import the information from the image you shot. Press the WB button and you should be good to go.
 
Ah! Thank you. Another advantage for the traditional video camera...what used to take 1 second now takes 6 steps and 30 seconds. ;-)
 
Yeah, it's pretty annoying. That's why I usually stick with the ºK settings and dial WB in that way. It's also a good way to get to know what lighting conditions register under different color temperatures. Knowledge is power. :D
 
It would be nice if there was a quick way to lock AWB so it didn't drift while you were shooting. It does drift, doesn't it?
 
galbach said:
I as well as the people i work with use the k setting.. you can dial the kelvin to the temp you want....
Click to expand...

Let's say for an outdoor daylight scene (with clear sky), the temperature range is between 5000-6500 K. What is the best way to determine and dial in a more precise Kelvin setting? Judging it by the 7D's non-calibrated LCD seems a bit crude. Even more so with a flat picture style setting, wich has low saturated colors.

Or will the flat picture style actually be more forgiving in terms of setting the right color temperature? As the flat gamma gives more headroom for color correctiing the temperatures in post? As long as you're staying within the appropriate color temperature range of the scene's lightsource ofcourse...
 
I've noticed that the manual 'K' setting doesn't account for fluorescent lights like the AWB does, and they seem to always be green with that setting no matter what temp you use.

The GH1 had a nice feature to adjust the colors of WB in addition to the temp. Haven't found anything like it on the 7D though.
 
Buy an 18% card (4.99 at my local photo shop) and learn how to wb your 7D. It shouldn't take 6 minutes...
 
Richard Wilis said:
Let's say for an outdoor daylight scene (with clear sky), the temperature range is between 5000-6500 K. What is the best way to determine and dial in a more precise Kelvin setting? Judging it by the 7D's non-calibrated LCD seems a bit crude. Even more so with a flat picture style setting, wich has low saturated colors.

Or will the flat picture style actually be more forgiving in terms of setting the right color temperature? As the flat gamma gives more headroom for color correctiing the temperatures in post? As long as you're staying within the appropriate color temperature range of the scene's lightsource ofcourse...
Click to expand...

Everything is relative to the number you choose. In your 5000-6500 example, if you dial in 5000 everything will appear cooler (not by much, but a bit), where if you choose 6500 everything will appear warmer (again, not by much), choose something in the middle and you'll have a little of both. Again, it's relative and won't be nearly as much as shooting 3200 in daylight.

Overall I think you can trust a properly calibrated monitor a bit, I would say graphs as well, but I don't believe the 7d has them. Regardless there's always a little bit done in post, even when shooting on film.
 
Using manual white balance has the most range, it goes all the way down to 2000, using K only down to 2500.
 
Taylor Rudd said:
18% gray card is a tool used to find exposure. Use a white sheet of paper to find white balance.
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I would say this actually a pretty big argument for a lot of people, and for some it can be a PC/Mac argument. I do want to say, though, 18% Grey Cards can certainly be used for white balance (I know, it sounds weird, but it's true).
 
Tim Joy said:
I've noticed that the manual 'K' setting doesn't account for fluorescent lights like the AWB does, and they seem to always be green with that setting no matter what temp you use.
Click to expand...

Thats because most cheap florescent lights are greenish and its setting to the true color. Your eyes adjust and trick you into thinking they aren't green, but they are. Daylight is about 5600k, and daylight florescent lights are 5200k and greenish.
 
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Scott Lovejoy said:
I would say this actually a pretty big argument for a lot of people, and for some it can be a PC/Mac argument. I do want to say, though, 18% Grey Cards can certainly be used for white balance (I know, it sounds weird, but it's true).
Click to expand...

For what it is worth - Sports Illustrated photographers use the Gray Card approach for setting their in-camera custom white balance.
 
cjwolff said:
For what it is worth - Sports Illustrated photographers use the Gray Card approach for setting their in-camera custom white balance.
Click to expand...

I believe it. The logic behind using the Gray Card to WB makes more sense to me, which is why I use it. White paper makes more sense to others, that's why they do it.
 
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