If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
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 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|