White ballance for D30

[fishsnagger]

[font color=\'#000000\']I performed a quick experiment using 125W tungsten bulb directed at a white cloth.  The camera setting is 1/60 at F8.0.
(1)   Shot one – AWB mode (All in RAW mode)
(2)   Shot two – Custom with (1) as reference   
(3)   Shot three – White balance set to Tungsten
(4)   Shot Four – Custom with (3) as reference

Pre-Processing??? (I suppose it is processed when viewing the image using preview mode within RAW converter) Results:

(1)   Shot 1 is orange—Bad!!!
(2)   Shot 2 is perfect
(3)   Shot 3 has a slight orange cast –much better than 1
(4)   Shot four is perfect – cannot distinguish from (2)

I can select any of the shots within RAW Converter and change the white balance setting.  For example, I changed (2) through (4) to Auto mode, and they had the same orange cast.  Likewise, I changed (1), (2), and (4) to Tungsten mode, and again they all appear the same.  So it seems as though the white balance setting during the shoot just servers as a note – “Hey buddy, you took this shot in tungsten light”.

Now there is a difference!!!  The shots (2) and (4) where “Custom” white balance was used were better (more white—true to life) than (1) and (3).  Moreover I could not obtain as good a result using the modes and white picker on (1) and (3) as (2) and (4) in “Shot Settings”.  It seems as though (2) and (4) have the contents of (1) and (3) plus additional information (i.e. “Shot settings” is other than the common modes in (2) and (4)).

If anyone differs please advise, as I am painstakingly trying to wade through the incompleteness of my owners manual, and the various information found on the web.

Also PLEASE address the issue of accuracy in the blue to purple color variations.  Last night I tried in vain to get a decent flash exposure of this dreaded purple african violet.  Still no matter what I use other than Photoshop, they come out blue (maybe a hint of purple).  Anyone???


Fishsnagger[/font]

[Dan Sroka]

[font color=\'#000000\']In imaging in general, purple is an extremely difficult color to capture and render. For example, printers (as in the people, not the machines) always have a terrible time holding purples steady on press. If you play in Photoshop's color mixer, you'll see that shifting R, G, or B 1 or 2 percentages in either direction, you'll get a completely different purple.[/font]

[fishsnagger]

[font color=\'#000000\']I am a Canon D30 owner, and recently overheard employees at work discussing the
difficulties of obtaining true color from digital cameras when the subject is african violets in particular purple/blue ones.  I talked to this person about their white ballance settings but was told they only had auto mode.  This person was wanting to upgrade cameras, but only if it would do a better job of capturing the flower's color.  I willingly took the flower home to photograph it under different lighting.. tungsten, sun, fluorescent, and flash using the available white ballance modes and the custom mode.  I also used the S230 to photo the flower.  I had decent result with tungsten light and natural light (cloudy), but poor results under fluorescent and flash.  Questions are: (1) Is capturing blues and purples a particular problem with the D30?, and (2) what is the correct technique for using custom white ballance including what setting to use when photo is taken of white card?   (3) Does white ballance work in RAW mode?  It seems by definition it would not.   I had mixed results surfing the web for the answers to (2) and (3)   I would appreciate feedback on these topics.   The information from below sources seem to be conflicting

Thanks,

Fishsnagger

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews....l.shtml

   States  White Balance does not apply to RAW images.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/dig-exp.shtml

   Has technique for setting white ballance in RAW format, but this is with 1D

http://www.fredmiranda.com/D30FAQpage/index.html#5
   
   In the FAQ page here it states that it does not matter which white ballance mode is used
      for taking the exposure used for custom white ballance.  He mentions an after-the-fact fix for
   white ballance probelens at http://www.fredmiranda.com/TipsPage/index.html[/font]

[jwarthman]

[font color=\'#000000\']

PLEASE address the issue of accuracy in the blue to purple color variations.  Last night I tried in vain to get a decent flash exposure of this dreaded purple african violet.  Still no matter what I use other than Photoshop, they come out blue (maybe a hint of purple).

Fishsnagger,
Thanks for your comments re. white balance. Passing along such test results helps the rest of us!

As for the strange colors you're getting, take a look here:

   Lonestar Digital

I've had similar issues to yours, and John Cowley's recipes on  lonstardigital.com have been helpful. In general my photographs don't exhibit these problems, but when they do these adjustments get me in the ballpark.

I have read elsewhere that such color issues can result from IR contamination. Essentially, the D30's sensitivity to infrared might be partially to blame. For a bit more info, look here and search the page for "Testing for IR Contamination".

Hope This Helps!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-- Jim[/font]