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Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 22nd 07, 10:10 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Magnusfarce
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Posts: 2
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

I recently acquired a D70s and used it to shoot some indoor sporting event
pictures this weekend that I'm not satisfied with. At times, with no
adjustment to any camera settings, the color tone shifted back and forth
between a very cool or blue tone to a rather warm or yellow overall tone. I
suspect that this has something to do with the automatic color balance
features of the camera (perhaps a slight shift in background between
pictures is causing this to happen). Can someone confirm if this is the
area I need to study, and if so, recommend a good article on line where I
can learn more about it? TIA

- Magnusfarce


  #2  
Old January 22nd 07, 10:39 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
David Dyer-Bennet
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Posts: 1,814
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

Magnusfarce wrote:
I recently acquired a D70s and used it to shoot some indoor sporting event
pictures this weekend that I'm not satisfied with. At times, with no
adjustment to any camera settings, the color tone shifted back and forth
between a very cool or blue tone to a rather warm or yellow overall tone. I
suspect that this has something to do with the automatic color balance
features of the camera (perhaps a slight shift in background between
pictures is causing this to happen). Can someone confirm if this is the
area I need to study, and if so, recommend a good article on line where I
can learn more about it? TIA


More likely to be the light source. Daylight is very different from
tungsten light, which is very different from long-tube fluorescent
light, which is very different from mercury-vapor lights (as found in
some gymnasiums, say). The camera can to some degree adjust for this
automatically, but not always perfectly. And if the scene has multiple
light sources (of different types, that is) it gets really *very*
complicated; getting all the colors right is, at that point, no longer
on the table, just trying to find a compromise that's visually tolerable.

Manual white balance, especially custom white balance, might help
(though of course once you go to manual, you're then responsible for
adjusting whenever you go to different conditions).
  #3  
Old January 22nd 07, 10:42 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Adrian Boliston
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Posts: 308
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

"Magnusfarce" wrote in message
...

I recently acquired a D70s and used it to shoot some indoor sporting event
pictures this weekend that I'm not satisfied with. At times, with no
adjustment to any camera settings, the color tone shifted back and forth
between a very cool or blue tone to a rather warm or yellow overall tone.
I suspect that this has something to do with the automatic color balance
features of the camera (perhaps a slight shift in background between
pictures is causing this to happen). Can someone confirm if this is the
area I need to study, and if so, recommend a good article on line where I
can learn more about it? TIA


I don't like the sound of "auto colour balance" and have never even tried it
with my d70s as just the sound of it sounds like trouble. Simply dial in
the WB on the camera as you can fine tune it later in Capture (or whatever
raw converter you use).

cheers adrian www.boliston.co.uk


  #4  
Old January 23rd 07, 05:26 AM posted to rec.photo.digital
Magnusfarce
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Posts: 2
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

OP here -

Thanks for the thoughts. I probably should have mentioned that one of the
most obvious cases of this shift in color occurred in a pair of consecutive
shots taken not more than maybe a second apart with the same background.
I'd be happy to e-mail them to one of you for inspection if you think it
would be helpful. Is it likely that this is a problem with the camera?
(BTW, I shoot in a somewhat compressed mode for things like this, as opposed
to raw.)

- Magnusfarce


"Magnusfarce" wrote in message
...
I recently acquired a D70s and used it to shoot some indoor sporting event
pictures this weekend that I'm not satisfied with. At times, with no
adjustment to any camera settings, the color tone shifted back and forth
between a very cool or blue tone to a rather warm or yellow overall tone.
I suspect that this has something to do with the automatic color balance
features of the camera (perhaps a slight shift in background between
pictures is causing this to happen). Can someone confirm if this is the
area I need to study, and if so, recommend a good article on line where I
can learn more about it? TIA

- Magnusfarce



  #5  
Old January 23rd 07, 09:25 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Magnusfarce
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Posts: 15
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

Thanks, I'll look into that. May have more questions as a result.

- Magnusfarce


"Ed Ruf (REPLY to E-MAIL IN SIG!)" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:26:16 -0800, in rec.photo.digital "Magnusfarce"
wrote:

OP here -

Thanks for the thoughts. I probably should have mentioned that one of the
most obvious cases of this shift in color occurred in a pair of
consecutive
shots taken not more than maybe a second apart with the same background.
I'd be happy to e-mail them to one of you for inspection if you think it
would be helpful. Is it likely that this is a problem with the camera?
(BTW, I shoot in a somewhat compressed mode for things like this, as
opposed
to raw.)


Then I'd guess you where using spot or center-weighted metering.
--
Ed Ruf )
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Photog...ral/index.html



  #6  
Old January 23rd 07, 09:51 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Adrian Boliston
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Posts: 308
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

"Ed Ruf (REPLY to E-MAIL IN SIG!)" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:42:28 -0000, in rec.photo.digital "Adrian Boliston"
wrote:

Simply dial in
the WB on the camera as you can fine tune it later in Capture (or whatever
raw converter you use).


If you are shooting and processing raw, it matters not what WB setting one
chooses in the camera itself.


I aim to get it fairly close using the camera settings so that when I
preview in Nikon View 6 I get something that looks fairly natural.

cheers adrian www.boliston.co.uk


  #7  
Old January 23rd 07, 10:11 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
acl
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Posts: 1,389
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?


Magnusfarce wrote:
Thanks, I'll look into that. May have more questions as a result.

- Magnusfarce


Changing metering pattern doesn't affect white balance, only exposure.

Were you shooting under fluorescent lights?

  #8  
Old January 24th 07, 07:04 AM posted to rec.photo.digital
Magnusfarce
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Posts: 15
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

This took place in a large gymnasium-type building set up with decent
lighting, but honestly, I never thought to look up. (Guess I need to get
into the habit.)

If I can find out, I'll post. In situations where lighting can be properly
identified, can a filter be used to restore neutral white balance, or would
that be done better through the camera WB settings? Should I be able to
look at a ceiling light and identify its type by color, either now or with
practice?

- Magnusfarce (OP)


"acl" wrote in message
oups.com...

Magnusfarce wrote:
Thanks, I'll look into that. May have more questions as a result.

- Magnusfarce


Changing metering pattern doesn't affect white balance, only exposure.

Were you shooting under fluorescent lights?



  #9  
Old January 24th 07, 07:45 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
acl
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,389
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

Magnusfarce wrote:
This took place in a large gymnasium-type building set up with decent
lighting, but honestly, I never thought to look up. (Guess I need to get
into the habit.)

If I can find out, I'll post. In situations where lighting can be properly
identified, can a filter be used to restore neutral white balance, or would
that be done better through the camera WB settings? Should I be able to
look at a ceiling light and identify its type by color, either now or with
practice?


I don't know if people can judge light colour accurately, I certainly
can't. You can white balance using a white/gray card (your camera has a
setting called custom WB or something like that), or by using predefined
settings.

Using a filter (instead of just WB in camera) will have the advantage of
reducing the imbalance in exposures between different channels [thus
noise in one of the channels], but the disadvantage of requiring higher
ISOs or exposure times (or faster apertures). If you don't understand
this paragraph, ask!


- Magnusfarce (OP)


"acl" wrote in message
oups.com...
Magnusfarce wrote:
Thanks, I'll look into that. May have more questions as a result.

- Magnusfarce

Changing metering pattern doesn't affect white balance, only exposure.

Were you shooting under fluorescent lights?



  #10  
Old January 24th 07, 08:13 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
David Dyer-Bennet
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Posts: 1,814
Default Newbie Question About Color Balance Problem in D70s ?

Magnusfarce wrote:
This took place in a large gymnasium-type building set up with decent
lighting, but honestly, I never thought to look up. (Guess I need to get
into the habit.)

If I can find out, I'll post. In situations where lighting can be properly
identified, can a filter be used to restore neutral white balance, or would
that be done better through the camera WB settings? Should I be able to
look at a ceiling light and identify its type by color, either now or with
practice?


A filter *can* be used to restore the white-balance (the issue isn't
*neutral*, exactly; the issue is matching the settings of the camera,
and ideally matching the ordinary state of the sensor). Filters for
tungsten lighting are common and quite standard and work well. Filters
for fluorescent are much more problematic, because there are so many
kinds. And often the bulbs in an area aren't all the same.

There are drawbacks to filters, the most obvious being that they steal a
lot of light (nearly 2 stops for tungsten/daylight). They also make the
viewfinder that much darker.

Almost nobody bothers with color correction filters in digital. In
theory, though, and especially for drastic changes like tungsten, it
will yield a better picture. In tungsten, the blue channel is generally
driven to the point where it's essentially functioning at a higher
(noisier) ISO, and it's still underexposed.
 




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