Custom white balance

[Sebastian]

Kristin,

To answer your question, you need to understand how CCDs work. They can be calibrated to see light in many different ways, they don't automatically adjust like our eyes do when the color temp changes. For that to happen you have to give it an example of a neutral color for the processors to adjust to the current temperature of the lighting used.

The reason it's called "white" balance is because CCDs were used first in video cameras and they used a white board as the neutral color before each shoot to calibrate the cameras.

All those preset values in cameras are just presets that try to come close to a certain situation, but every single situation will be different and the rpesets can't account for those differences.

When custom white balancing, you are ensuring the best color rendition by calibrating the sensor to your particular lighting setup. Just use a bright white piece of paper, and expose it so the meter will read average, making it grey in value. That will give the sensor theneutral data it needs.

Uwe's way works too, but only for RAW files, if shooting JPEGs you need to get the white balance set before you start shooting the assignment, as you can't change it afterwards without some difficulty.

[kkraczek]

When custom white balancing, you are ensuring the best color rendition by calibrating the sensor to your particular lighting setup. Just use a bright white piece of paper, and expose it so the meter will read average, making it grey in value. That will give the sensor theneutral data it needs.

Thanks Sebastian, but now I'm a little confused. If I expose a piece of white paper as being average, won't all of the whites appear gray? Sorry for my lack of education in this dept!

[Sebastian]

Thanks Sebastian, but now I'm a little confused. If I expose a piece of white paper as being average, won't all of the whites appear gray? Sorry for my lack of education in this dept!

Yes, that's exactly what you're doing. It needs gray, that's why Uwe uses a grey card. White cards are easier to find than neutral grey ones.

[mikishots]

CMOS - not CCD