Canon
Canon 7D: AWB — Automatic White Balance
Canon 7D: AWB — Automatic White Balance
Canon 7D: AWB — Automatic White Balance
I don't like Canon's Auto White Balance. I'm not saying that it's wrong, I'm saying that I don't like it. I usually like the light to be warmer.
- There's never an exact right white balance. Even when using a colour meter, like the old Minolta or now Kenko's.
- White balance is the reading of the white colour and adjusting everything around it. The problem is what's the right white? An 87% white, a 92% white, or the 18% grey card?
- CCD and CMOS sensors react differently by model and brand to the white balance. My Canon 7D is cooler than what I'm used to.
- I know about the various contraptions for getting the “right” white balance like ExpoDisk…
Color Temp Light Source 1000k Candles 2000k Twilight before sunrise 2500k - 3000k Household incandescant lights 3000k - 4000k Clear sunrise / sunset 4000k - 5000k Fluorescent bulbs, cool white - "daylight" 5000k - 5500k Small flash 5500k - 6000k Studio flash 6000k - 7000k Bright sunlight 7000k - 9000k Overcast 9000k - 11000k Rain — clear day in mountains 11000k - 20000k Overcast — snow in the mountains
I set my white balance to Daylight and that's it! The colours are usually a little warmer and I will adjust if necessary in Lightroom, much less than ½ of the time. I don't mess around with the white balance. RAW files are only affected by:
- ISO
- Shutter Speed
- Aperture
And that's it!. Nothing else. The white balance is just a flag to indicate to the processing software, in my case Lightroom, how it should process it.
If colour accuracy in required, I have a grey card that I use in the photo.
Canon 7D: AWB — Automatic White Balance
I don't like Canon's Auto White Balance. I'm not saying that it's wrong, I'm saying that I don't like it. I usually like the light to be warmer.
- There's never an exact right white balance. Even when using a colour meter, like the old Minolta or now Kenko's.
- White balance is the reading of the white colour and adjusting everything around it. The problem is what's the right white? An 87% white, a 92% white, or the 18% grey card?
- CCD and CMOS sensors react differently by model and brand to the white balance. My Canon 7D is cooler than what I'm used to.
- I know about the various contraptions for getting the “right” white balance like ExpoDisk…
| Color Temp | Light Source |
|---|---|
| 1000k | Candles |
| 2000k | Twilight before sunrise |
| 2500k - 3000k | Household incandescant lights |
| 3000k - 4000k | Clear sunrise / sunset |
| 4000k - 5000k | Fluorescent bulbs, cool white - "daylight" |
| 5000k - 5500k | Small flash |
| 5500k - 6000k | Studio flash |
| 6000k - 7000k | Bright sunlight |
| 7000k - 9000k | Overcast |
| 9000k - 11000k | Rain — clear day in mountains |
| 11000k - 20000k | Overcast — snow in the mountains |
I set my white balance to Daylight and that's it! The colours are usually a little warmer and I will adjust if necessary in Lightroom, much less than ½ of the time. I don't mess around with the white balance. RAW files are only affected by:
- ISO
- Shutter Speed
- Aperture
And that's it!. Nothing else. The white balance is just a flag to indicate to the processing software, in my case Lightroom, how it should process it.
If colour accuracy in required, I have a grey card that I use in the photo.
