WB manual or auto?

[HeY iTs ScOTtY]

just curious if always leaving the white balance on auto will it give the same result if i were to manual switch to flash mode, incandescent, cloudy, etc.

is the auto just for people who use there dslr like a point and shoot and keep their exposer setting on auto too?

last question. when im doing small shoots at home with lighting and flashes is it worth my wild to use a white card?

thanks everyone i know ive been flooding the site with millions of questions lately i appreciate the help.

 

[Garbz]

No. In fact I find the camera rarely gets it right on Auto in every situation other than completely overcast and flash. There it seems to do a rather good job.

On flash the Auto function is somewhat better, due to the camera picking it's white balance based on the specific duration of the flash shot. This can lead to more accuracy too.

I typically leave mine on daylight most of the time, unless I am shoot a lot of indoor things then I may switch to incandescent, but ultimately it doesn't matter at all because I shoot in RAW mode and adjust it in post processing if it's wrong.

 

[Josh220]

Depends on the body you have. The D300 is so accurate that it's always in auto unless I feel the need to make a creative looking shot. However, I shoot in RAW so I can switch it with a click of the mouse if it's is incorrect.

My D60 had issues with WB sometimes.

 

[HeY iTs ScOTtY]

i think im going to have to buy lightroom or some decent editing software and start shooting raw. the only reason i dont ecit my pictures and shhot in raw is because i dont have a good editing program. all i have is freeware. ive been using paint.net and windows photo gallery. lol its sad i know.

 

[Josh220]

i think im going to have to buy lightroom or some decent editing software and start shooting raw. the only reason i dont ecit my pictures and shhot in raw is because i dont have a good editing program. all i have is freeware. ive been using paint.net and windows photo gallery. lol its sad i know.

Lightroom is only like $270; I'd definitely recommend picking it up.

 

[Peanuts]

Up until a couple of weeks ago I shot entirely with auto WB as I was concentrating mostly on shooting manually etc. etc. No however I use the settings for WB and am quite happy with it.. can't say it is manual WB but..

 

[musicaleCA]

Like Garbz, I find my camera rarely gets it right. That said, even though I shoot RAW, I try to set the WB close to my shooting conditions, so that when I open the files in LR, I'm not thrown-off by the wacky colours. A really off-WB shot sticks in my visual memory for a while, and that confuses my creativity a little. And it's one more thing I don't have to do later.

 

[HeY iTs ScOTtY]

Like Garbz, I find my camera rarely gets it right. That said, even though I shoot RAW, I try to set the WB close to my shooting conditions, so that when I open the files in LR, I'm not thrown-off by the wacky colours. A really off-WB shot sticks in my visual memory for a while, and that confuses my creativity a little. And it's one more thing I don't have to do later.

thats what i like to hear. i hate photographers who are to lazy to make changes in the field because they know they can fix it later in editing. im real big on getting the shot right (if there is time).

 

[musicaleCA]

Mhm. I try to go for abut 80% in-camera, 90% if I can. The rest is a little tweaking in post. Sometimes RAW can save a photo (or an entire shoot, if you're like me and set your ETTL comp completely wrong >.< ), and I'm thankful for that, and while it's awesome, I see it as more of a fall-back—plan "B". (Sometimes I even pretend that it's not a digital camera, but a film SLR. Some of my better shots have come from thinking in the "one-shot; get it right" fashion.)