Should the custom white balance feature be used with or without a flash?

Do you try to set the white balance, wheel the camera is still in an automatic mode or in a scene mode?, because that won't work. If you keep having problems while in a manual mode, let us know, so I can look again to this problem.

This camera does not have a customizable white balance. It does have some presets -- they are:

• Auto (default)-automatically corrects white

balance. Ideal for general picture taking.

• Daylight-for pictures in natural lighting.

• Tungsten-corrects the orange cast of household

light bulbs. Ideal for indoor pictures under tungsten or
halogen lighting without flash.

• Fluorescent-corrects the green cast of fluorescent

lighting. Ideal for indoor pictures under fluorescent
lighting without flash.

To access them, press the [Menu] button and look for White Balance -- the icon is a Sun and Light Bulb symbol.

There are three possible solutions for you:

1. Just use the Daylight (direct sun) white balance setting. Electronic flash is typically close to the direct sunlight setting for white balance. Advantages: it is simple. Disadvantages: if you are balancing electronic flash with ambient light, you are likely to have an odd mixture of lighting, with the ambient lighting tending toward red (if incandescent) or green (if flourescent).

2. Get a Wratten 85 color correction gel that you can cover your flash's head with, and use the Tungsten white balance setting. This will bring your flash output into line with existing incandescent light sources. Advantages: almost as simple as (1), and allows you to come close to matching a common indoor lighting situation. This will produce more natural-looking environmental shots if you balance the flash and incandescent ambient light contributions to the exposure. Disadvantages: large gel filters get expensive. You may be able to obtain something close to the Wratten 85 color correction filter from a theater supply house more cheaply. Roscolux #3408 is slightly weaker and #3411 is slightly stronger than the Wratten 85. If you have to balance flash with flourescent light sources, try a Roscolux in the cyan series leading to #4360. Some experimentation is likely to be required. The place I looked online offered the Roscolux in 20x24" sheets for about $7 per sheet, a bargain compared to the optical-grade Wratten filters.

3. Set a custom white balance. This is not too difficult, and it will definitely provide the best approximation to your desired white balance that you will obtain in the field. Advantages: this will allow you to reproduce white accurately even with mixed lighting sources. Combine with gel over flash of (2) for the very best approach to balanced flash/incandescent lighting situations. Disadvantages: requires a "white" target (can be a neutral gray photo card, for example) and some additional time before a photo session.

You can obtain some striking effects by purposely mixing color temperature light sources. But day in and day out, getting a balanced shot is a skill that it pays to cultivate.

You're shooting under incandescent light, and the camera doesn't manage to set the white balance entirely automatically. You can try to explicitly set the white balance to incandescent, or you may be able to create a custom white balance (I'm not sure whether Nikon bodies offer that feature), or you can adjust the white balance during processing (in which case it's better to shoot raw).

You're shooting under incandescent light, and the camera doesn't manage to set the white balance entirely automatically. You can try to explicitly set the white balance to incandescent, or you may be able to create a custom white balance (I'm not sure whether Nikon bodies offer that feature), or you can adjust the white balance during processing (in which case it's better to shoot raw).

You're shooting under incandescent light, and the camera doesn't manage to set the white balance entirely automatically. You can try to explicitly set the white balance to incandescent, or you may be able to create a custom white balance (I'm not sure whether Nikon bodies offer that feature), or you can adjust the white balance during processing (in which case it's better to shoot raw).

You're shooting under incandescent light, and the camera doesn't manage to set the white balance entirely automatically. You can try to explicitly set the white balance to incandescent, or you may be able to create a custom white balance (I'm not sure whether Nikon bodies offer that feature), or you can adjust the white balance during processing (in which case it's better to shoot raw).

Cameras need a white reference for that measurement, they don't get it from the meter. On your camera (which I think works pretty much like my 10D) you can take a picture of a white card (white reference); the camera would use that frame to set its WB in AUTO mode (AWB). You can also safely guesstimate the K value with a little practice for cases in which a white card is not available or no other white objects are at hand. White Balance measures the light K value which illuminates a scene it doesn't measure the objects in an image. Further, in some cases you may have mixed lighting which makes matters slightly more complex. For example: if you are shooting under tungsten ambient light and want to use flash as a main or fill light you'll have to use a gel on the flash to match the ambient light and set the camera to that K value. This will give uniform light cast (color). However, for creative purposes, it's desirable occasionally to let one of the two light sources "shift". In the example just given, if you set the camera to a K value of 5600-5800 (around a typical flash K value) and use the flash without gels then, the tungsten ambient light would appear as shifted (redish, the typical tungsten colorcast when used with daylight film/wb) while the flash light would be balanced and not shifted. This difference (shift) would give the picture a different feeling.

What is White Balance? The human eye captures white as white, red as red and blue as blue, regardless of whether you are outside under the sun or inside under incandescent lighting. Although this is something that we take for granted, the human eye actually adapts to correct the changes in color under different light sources. In reality, when light sources vary, colors caught as the reflection of those light sources also vary. For instance, films for cameras that use film are designed to capture the most appropriate coloring outside under the sun. Thus when you take pictures under incandescent or fluorescent lighting without using a flash, the colors in the resulting picture may seem strange. Digital camera and digital camcorders are equipped with a handy feature called "White Balance" that corrects the changes in color under different light sources, just like the human eye. One of the white balance settings, "Auto White Balance" (AWB) automatically adjusts to correct the changes in color under different light sources. White Balance and Coloring The White Balance feature on Canon digital cameras and camcorders is set to "Auto White Balance" at the time of purchase. If you prefer different coloring, if you want to adjust the coloring more in detail, or if you want to change the coloring on purpose, we recommend that you change the white balance setting.

What is White Balance? The human eye captures white as white, red as red and blue as blue, regardless of whether you are outside under the sun or inside under incandescent lighting. Although this is something that we take for granted, the human eye actually adapts to correct the changes in color under different light sources. In reality, when light sources vary, colors caught as the reflection of those light sources also vary. For instance, films for cameras that use film are designed to capture the most appropriate coloring outside under the sun. Thus when you take pictures under incandescent or fluorescent lighting without using a flash, the colors in the resulting picture may seem strange. Digital camera and digital camcorders are equipped with a handy feature called "White Balance" that corrects the changes in color under different light sources, just like the human eye. One of the white balance settings, "Auto White Balance" (AWB) automatically adjusts to correct the changes in color under different light sources. White Balance and Coloring The White Balance feature on Canon digital cameras and camcorders is set to "Auto White Balance" at the time of purchase. If you prefer different coloring, if you want to adjust the coloring more in detail, or if you want to change the coloring on purpose, we recommend that you change the white balance setting.