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Canon S1 IS (and others) White Balance: Auto / Presets / Cusom
This is sort of a continuation of a previous thread, only I'm not about to
get baited this time. The subject of white balance is a worthy discussion and I thought it deserved a post of its own. I eventually will come to a question but until then, here's some (rambling) notes of interest you're welcome to comment upon even if you're not an S1 owner: In all fairness to the uninformed, newbie digital camera shopper, this much should be said. Any reasonable, somewhat experienced digicam user will agree that the topic of having to adjust white balance is not camera-brand specific. Practically all digital cameras have an adjustment for it, for good reason. Out of curiosity I did an internet search and found tons of web articles and Google posts written about it. One article on the subject has a pretty good display of white balance photo examples. Most importantly, it doesn't refer to a particular camera brand as having more or less of this problem. So no matter what your brand, it's best to learn how to best deal with it. And practically all digital cameras have ways to help you do so. Although the article doesn't go into the subject of adjusting Kelvin temperature or anything more technical, it's still worth a look. Here's the link if you're interested http://tinyurl.com/42tad When I first got my current camera, I read in a generic digital photography book that it's advisable to avoid using AWB indoors. I don't have the source of reference or exact quote because I no longer have the library book I checked out. It didn't mention a camera brand, it just said to avoid it indoors. It also said that AWB works best outside in sunny conditions. The author was a professional photographer with a much more sophisticated camera than I own, so I took his advice to heart. Since then, the only times I have purposely used AWB indoors, in few short months I've owned this camera, was when I had absolutely no idea how to set the white balance preset. It was on some of my theater photos where the stage light colors and intensity kept changing and were unpredictable. I have also used AWB outdoors on my sunrise photos because I was not sure what preset would work best. In both cases, I was really happy with the results. I know that's not saying much since I'm not a professional photographer. As a casual shooter, I hardly ever do post-processing and have been quite happy with indoor skin tones using the tungsten preset of my camera. The one time did post-processing was to get rid of someone's shiny forehead, not anything to do with color. That's all besides the point, since here's what I've been wondering: After perusing the internet, it's my understanding now that you only do a custom white balance adjustment indoors when you're shooting without a flash. Maybe that's what you all meant, and I somehow missed the point. Is this correct? I've only played around with the presets and haven't tried to do a custom white balance with my camera yet. I wonder whether the custom adjustment will work, as someone mentioned, on a white spot instead of using a white paper or gray card. A spot would be much more convenient for casual shooting. Will it work if the white spot doesn't completely fill the center of the frame? I guess you could try zooming in on it first so it does. I'll have to give that try when I get a chance. Meanwhile, does anyone else use custom white balance with the Canon S1 IS, when and how do you use it, and what kind of results do you get? TIA Renee |
#2
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Renee choreographed a chorus line of high-kicking electrons to spell
out: [snip] After perusing the internet, it's my understanding now that you only do a custom white balance adjustment indoors when you're shooting without a flash. Maybe that's what you all meant, and I somehow missed the point. Is this correct? Custom WB has a lot of uses indoors, yes. "Only?" Not necessarily, but indoor lighting can be very hard to pin down. I've only played around with the presets and haven't tried to do a custom white balance with my camera yet. I wonder whether the custom adjustment will work, as someone mentioned, on a white spot instead of using a white paper or gray card. A spot would be much more convenient for casual shooting. Will it work if the white spot doesn't completely fill the center of the frame? "Spot" as in a highlight on a surface? A totally white highlight is not a good idea since it might not have any underlying color info. It also might not be totally white, if the surface underneath is colored. You can get a Custom WB point from a not-totally-white frame, but filling the frame is safer. A small gray card or a fresh white index card can do the job if you're holding it close to the camera lens, just make sure that it is not in your own shadow. -- ______________A L L D O N E ! B Y E B Y E !_________________ | __ "The Internet is where lunatics are | (__ * _ _ _ _ internetworked worldwide at the speed of light. | __)|| | |(_)| \ *This* is progress?" --J. Shinal |
#3
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"S Lee" wrote in message ... Renee choreographed a chorus line of high-kicking electrons to spell out: [snip] That's very original and very funny! : ) "Spot" as in a highlight on a surface? A totally white highlight is not a good idea since it might not have any underlying color info. It also might not be totally white, if the surface underneath is colored. You can get a Custom WB point from a not-totally-white frame, but filling the frame is safer. A small gray card or a fresh white index card can do the job if you're holding it close to the camera lens, just make sure that it is not in your own shadow. Sorry, I'm probably not making my question clear. I guess "spot" could technically mean something that I'm not familiar with. When I said "Spot" I was referring to something white in the photo such as a white collar on a shirt. Also, when I said "frame", I thought the manual was referring to the small frame in middle of the viewfinder or LCD, like the AF frame or Spot Metering frame. Does frame, in this context, mean the entire image in the entire viewfinder or LCD? Or the smaller frame inside the window? Sorry if this is a dumb question but the manual is not clear on this. Thank you again for your reply Renee |
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On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:05:50 GMT, "Renee" wrote:
SNIP.... Here's the link if you're interested http://tinyurl.com/42tad When I first got my current camera, I read in a generic digital photography book that it's advisable to avoid using AWB indoors. I don't have the source of reference or exact quote because I no longer have the library book I checked out. It didn't mention a camera brand, it just said to avoid it indoors. It also said that AWB works best outside in sunny conditions. The author was a professional photographer with a much more sophisticated camera than I own, so I took his advice to heart. SNIP That's all besides the point, since here's what I've been wondering: After perusing the internet, it's my understanding now that you only do a custom white balance adjustment indoors when you're shooting without a flash. Maybe that's what you all meant, and I somehow missed the point. Is this correct? I've only played around with the presets and haven't tried to do a custom white balance with my camera yet. I wonder whether the custom adjustment will work, as someone mentioned, on a white spot instead of using a white paper or gray card. A spot would be much more convenient for casual shooting. Will it work if the white spot doesn't completely fill the center of the frame? I guess you could try zooming in on it first so it does. I'll have to give that try when I get a chance. Meanwhile, does anyone else use custom white balance with the Canon S1 IS, when and how do you use it, and what kind of results do you get? TIA Renee Renee, I'll do my best to answer your question(s) but I don't own a Canon S1 IS, though I do own a G2, A40, A60, A70, & a Digital Rebel/300D DSLR. My suspicion is that the author of the book you referred to probably had most of his/her experience with a DSLR. For reasons, I can't explain, it seems that most DSLR's set to AWB don't do as well as P&S (Point & Shoot) digital cameras in AWB mode. My Digital Rebel/300D is a good example of this. Even under 100% incandescent lighting, it almost always has a yellow tone, this surprisingly remains true even if I set it's WB preset to incandescent. With the incandescent preset, it's better but still too yellowish. Incorrect WB is also common under almost all fluorescent lighting, again in both AWB or Fluorescent WB preset. The solution in both cases is to set a custom WB. Now as to my P&S digital camera experience (mostly with Canon), AWB seems to do far better under all situations than my DSLR. The same is also true of using the preset WB settings such as tungsten which I routinely set when indoors under mixed lighting. By mixed lighting, I refer to daylight coming in from the windows & the use of some incandescent indoor lights being on, such as a lamp over the dinner table. The Canon S1 IS falls into the P&S category, though it's a rather specialized camera due to it's 10x IS lens. No insult intended but it's largely an A70 with a much nicer lens, thus I would expect it to act much the same as my A70 with regard to AWB performance. As stated, my P&S cameras do very good in AWB in 90% of the lighting situations that I use them in. Thus I generally leave them in AWB mode with the exception of mixed indoor/outdoor lighting situations. In most cases when you set a custom WB, only 3/4 of the picture need have a white or gray card in the frame. I rarely use the gray side of my white/gray card because I find the white works better especially in low lighting indoor situations. As to what you use if you don't have a white/gray card with you, this can be a little tricky. Generally most places have copy/printer paper & that is generally close enough to a neutral white to work well. In fact, I always keep 2 or 3 sheets of quality white printer paper folded & in each of my camera bags for just this reason. A word of caution with using a white card or paper to set your WB: Get the exposure correct! Too dark or too bright (saturated) & your WB setting may not be accurate. It would be nice if my DSLR had 3 custom WB settings instead of just 1. They could call them custom user WB presets, (Canon I hope your listening). Bottom line, most P&S just seem to do fine with AWB in most situations, so find out what works well for you & your camera & use that. Also in situations where AWB does not do well, note the lighting that was being used & if possible revisit the location & use different WB presets to see which works best. Also take a few shots after setting a custom WB too. Check the results & use what works best. With more & more homes & businesses converting to much more energy efficient lighting such as compact fluorescent lamps, having a custom WB & knowing how to use it can be important. My house now has about 95% warm white fluorescent illumination. It does not take too long for them to pay for themselves in energy savings which in turn reduces air pollution often produced in power generation. We (all human beings) have made such amazing technological strides forward & yet we are nearly all still using 100 year old internal combustion engines to power vehicles. Sorry, I got off topic but I do hope we are able to pressure our governments & industry to seek out non-polluting alternatives & make them practical for everybody. Hope something I have offered is of help to you & or others. I'm also an amateur photographer & digital camera enthusiast, even with 25+ years in 35mm SLR & 3+ years in digital photography I am far from considering myself a professional & likely never will. Respectfully, DHB "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918 |
#5
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"DHB" wrote in message ... On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:05:50 GMT, "Renee" wrote: SNIP.... Bottom line, most P&S just seem to do fine with AWB in most situations, so find out what works well for you & your camera & use that. Also in situations where AWB does not do well, note the lighting that was being used & if possible revisit the location & use different WB presets to see which works best. Also take a few shots after setting a custom WB too. Check the results & use what works best. SNIP Hope something I have offered is of help to you & or others. Yes, you did, and thank you. I will certainly use your suggestions. Though I haven't really felt the need to use it before, I hope to test this custom white balance thing soon to see the differences. Renee |
#6
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"DHB" wrote in message ... On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:05:50 GMT, "Renee" wrote: SNIP.... Bottom line, most P&S just seem to do fine with AWB in most situations, so find out what works well for you & your camera & use that. Also in situations where AWB does not do well, note the lighting that was being used & if possible revisit the location & use different WB presets to see which works best. Also take a few shots after setting a custom WB too. Check the results & use what works best. SNIP Hope something I have offered is of help to you & or others. Yes, you did, and thank you. I will certainly use your suggestions. Though I haven't really felt the need to use it before, I hope to test this custom white balance thing soon to see the differences. Renee |
#7
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After perusing the internet, it's my understanding now that you only do a
custom white balance adjustment indoors when you're shooting without a flash. Maybe that's what you all meant, and I somehow missed the point. Is My preference is never to use custom white balance. I use the closest camera setting I can, and then adjust the photos afterwards. I find that the amount of time it takes me to adjust the photos afterwards is considerably less than what it would take me set the white balance. -Joel ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please feed the 35mm lens/digicam databases: http://www.exc.com/photography ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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