[championboxer]

hi guys n gals,

wondering whats the best way to White balance on camera?

cheers,
bernard

[adam]

Most of the time I'd shoot with RAW with AWB selected - and fix it later.
Or if shooting JPEG I'd do a custom white balance (if I feel that AWB is not getting it right)

Some people use those white balance filter things - expodisc I think. But seems a bit costly for a white cap

[matthew]

When I'm doing something critical, I try to set a manual white balance from a grey card. I use an "Ezybalance" made by Lastolite. It's a 12" foldable reflector with white on one side and grey on the other, and is made for setting WB and exposure. I hold this at the subjects position if I can, or in the same light if I can't; if I'm using strobes then I take a second frame with the card in it and correct in post-processing.

I do generally find that my cameras' auto settings are pretty good in most light, so I don't worry about using it when accurate colour isn't critical.

[Irma]

Sorry I can't help much here, Bernard.
I take my pictures in RAW and I always play with wb and my pictures hardly ever look as the real scene...

[Keith Alan]

I never use auto white balance. Never ever.
On my camera (and many others) it sometimes mis-reads the scene and I end up with odd colors on the best photo, or a slight alteration in composition will change the color of the sky for a shot and ruin the continuity of a series.

When it's sunny, I use the sun WB setting.
If cloudy or in the shade I use cloud WB, etc etc.
Changing these settings takes less than a second, and after a little experience becomes automatic.
It's solid camera technique that I recommend even for RAW shooters because what happens when you have to shoot jpgs someday or use a different camera? Being accustomed to paying attention to WB is a good thing.

When light is mixed I set a custom WB.
There are often arguments online about whether to use a white card or a grey card when making a custom WB.
This is silly, especially when the argument gets so hot that people flame or get banned from a forum.
I always recommend reading your camera's manual to see if it says to use white or grey. (Crazy, right?)
At that point someone will say that they lost their manual, and I point out that .pdf versions of nearly every camera manual can be found for free download with only a few seconds of google searching.

My camera manual specifies a white card, so I use that.
I also built a poor-man's expodisc that works fairly well.