Nikon D700 and Kelvin Settings

MDalby

Guys,

I have not been as happy with my WB lately. I have just been using the auto setting. How do you go about your WB?

Do you just use the Choose Color Temp option and select your Kelvin value? Do you go into your Kelvin and adjust the colors or just choose a different Kelvin setting?

Do you adjust your kelvin settings just through a visual?

Qarik

are you shootin raw or jpeg?

MDalby

Raw

Qarik

if you are shooting raw then what does it matter what WB you have your camera on..just suit to taste in post? I feel like I am missing something here.

angevin1

Qarik wrote: »

if you are shooting raw then what does it matter what WB you have your camera on..just suit to taste in post? I feel like I am missing something here.

He must mean just chimping. I Use AWB except on my Canon. On the Canon I like to set the WB to the scene, and yes, just for Chimping.

But as you (OP) know and as Daniel pointed out, Shooting RAW, who really cares~

Zerodog

I really think getting the WB as close as possible saves a lot of time in post and it seems to really help me get better exposures too. Especially at really high ISO. All of this seems to become more important. Indoor lighting can be a really weird mixed bag of things. Lots of color casts and things like that can fake you out in post. I like the Expodisk. I wouldn't shoot inside without it.

Dreadnote

If you are shooting in raw, gel your flash to match ambient (or as close as is reasonable) and then either before or after the shoot take a shot of the PhotoVision Calibration Target http://www.amazon.com/PhotoVision-One-Shot-Calibration-Collapsible-Exposure/dp/B000E44QNE afterwards you can copy the white balance to all your shots in post using Lightroom or whatever software you are using. Lightroom and Photoshop have eyedropper tools (in develop or a levels layer respectively) you can click on the appropriate spot on the target and you have just about perfect white balance. I imagine other software products have similar features though I am not qualified to say.

As a side, this target will also help you dial in ambient exposure levels so that you can freeze motion by underexposing appropriately.

slipkid

Even when shooting RAW I try to get the WB correct. I use a gray cleaning cloth (made for WB), it helps getting it close. There are other products out there, gray cards and the like. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/375202-REG/Lastolite_LL_LR2050_EZYBalance_Grey_White_Card.html

MileHighAko

I got into the habit of always shooting a color checker passport as one of my first exposures of the set when shooting sports. I shoot RAW or JPEG depending on the conditions and sport - I'll set custom white balance if shooting JPEG, or just use the passport later in RAW to get the balance I want.