D7000 auto white balance


Chit02

New Member
Mar 10, 2011
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Hi all! Jus joined the dslr family not long ago! I have some problems with the auto white balance. Seems like the colour is often inaccurate (indoor, outdoor, day or night) and I have to change the white balance to other modes or set it manually. Wonder if this is normal?
 

For me , I put it on auto WB , but if for those pic that is taken in special lighting, I will take in raw format so that WB can be easily tuned .
 

Hi all! Jus joined the dslr family not long ago! I have some problems with the auto white balance. Seems like the colour is often inaccurate (indoor, outdoor, day or night) and I have to change the white balance to other modes or set it manually. Wonder if this is normal?

hi and welcome to cs :)

to me, i feel auto wb can be pretty unreliable at times n it's normal for current modern dslrs, especially during indoors with artificial lighting. wad u can do is to take the pictures in RAW at auto wb setting n adjust the WB manually in post processing.
 

Hi all! Jus joined the dslr family not long ago! I have some problems with the auto white balance. Seems like the colour is often inaccurate (indoor, outdoor, day or night) and I have to change the white balance to other modes or set it manually. Wonder if this is normal?

Is it always inaccurate in a certain way?
ie is it usually too warm or too cool, or is it very 'haphazard' ?
 

Outdoors i just turn it to auto, esp when u wana capture the moment, hard to adjust to fit. But indoors i'll adjust accordingly, esp yellow lights.
 

hello and welcome to cs =)... for me i also use auto wb to capture the moment haha, yup just shoot raw so u can adjust your wb easily later
 

Hi all! Jus joined the dslr family not long ago! I have some problems with the auto white balance. Seems like the colour is often inaccurate (indoor, outdoor, day or night) and I have to change the white balance to other modes or set it manually. Wonder if this is normal?

There is a reason why there is more than the 'Auto WB' setting. Read up about the the basics, use whatever fits the moment and your purpose.
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm
Keep in mind: the camera does not understand what you are shooting, it does not know about sunsets, indoors, family gatherings and so on. The camera measures the light coming and makes guess based on technical analysis. But there are factors and moments that can confuse the camera, especially when certain colours are very dominant (e.g. during sunset). Secondly, for indoors do read about fluorescent light and the colour shift during the phases of AC.
 

Outdoors i just turn it to auto, esp when u wana capture the moment, hard to adjust to fit. But indoors i'll adjust accordingly, esp yellow lights.

I tend to do the same as well.
 

Attended one of the DSLR technical workshops... Unless we are apt at doing manual adjustments, think the recommended WB setting depends on the main source of light. If day and outdoor i.e. objects are lighted up by the sun, set to the "sun" icon. For nights or indoors where objects are lighted "artificially" by tubes, bulbs what have you, then set to "auto".

Hope this helps.
 

Hi all! Jus joined the dslr family not long ago! I have some problems with the auto white balance. Seems like the colour is often inaccurate (indoor, outdoor, day or night) and I have to change the white balance to other modes or set it manually. Wonder if this is normal?

I use to select pre-set WB manually for flash, sunlight, etc...This force me to learn more about WB and how it affect our shots...
 

just shoot RAW and put the camera in AWB. :p
 

For nights or indoors where objects are lighted "artificially" by tubes, bulbs what have you, then set to "auto".
Not sure who gave this advice, I cannot agree. Especially with artificial light and night conditions the WB needs to be set manually. Some presets might work sometimes, but in general a manual setup is better.
 

Hi all! Jus joined the dslr family not long ago! I have some problems with the auto white balance. Seems like the colour is often inaccurate (indoor, outdoor, day or night) and I have to change the white balance to other modes or set it manually. Wonder if this is normal?

depends where....where light is unchanging manual white balance is best but where it keeps changing then either use strong flash to override the lighting or simply spray and pray.
 

Not sure who gave this advice, I cannot agree. Especially with artificial light and night conditions the WB needs to be set manually. Some presets might work sometimes, but in general a manual setup is better.

Thanks for the note. I am still learning myself... Would it be possible to indicate what the manual setup should be for e.g. night condition, objects lighted up by street lamps and lightings from buildings?

TIA.
 

Thanks for the note. I am still learning myself... Would it be possible to indicate what the manual setup should be for e.g. night condition, objects lighted up by street lamps and lightings from buildings?

TIA.

As like many mentioned, the WB depends on the lighting available when you took the photo. So there is no one wb setting that fits into every street lamps and lighting from buildings as each of these lights very likely produces different amount of light at different tint which may/will require different WB setting.

I find learning WB starts from using various WB presets available in the camera. I use AWB if I'm running short of time (or just lazy) at the scene of capture but it will potentially increase your PP time to tune the WB to actual.
 

This is how I do it since day 1 after I learn abt Kelvin scale. Switch WB to K mode, takes a shot, if too warm reduce K value, too blue increase K value.
 

Cowseye said:
This is how I do it since day 1 after I learn abt Kelvin scale. Switch WB to K mode, takes a shot, if too warm reduce K value, too blue increase K value.

Potentially you end up taking quite a number of shots before you find the right WB :)
 

Thanks for the note. I am still learning myself... Would it be possible to indicate what the manual setup should be for e.g. night condition, objects lighted up by street lamps and lightings from buildings?
If you shoot RAW then set the camera to Auto and do all the adjustments in your post processing workflow. RAW will contain all information and you have the freedom to adjust without limitations. Otherwise use WB tools like Expodisc and others to get the WB settings. Expodisc (and the DIY solutions of similar approach) will help to get the WB neutral. This might not be always the final result, so still you should expect a few minor tweaks.
Another way is the use of White Balance cards. Do read your camera manual about how to set manual WB based on WB card / WB filter.
 

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Thanks for the follow-up response by Skystrike, Cowseye and Octarine... Will try out as suggested. And also trying to shoot RAW... Cos at least now I can see one of the benefits of shooting in RAW ;)

Cheers.