Different color temperatures reported with three different programs ?

Don Kondra

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This one has me scratching my head :)

Capture One 10 and Adobe Elements 14 show 6150k and DXO Optics Pro 11 says 5400k..

What the heck ?

This image, SOOC raw resized to 1000 wide.

Raw reside SOOC.jpg


Cheers, Don
 
I dunno how that works.
 
This one has me scratching my head :)

Capture One 10 and Adobe Elements 14 show 6150k and DXO Optics Pro 11 says 5400k..

What the heck ?

This image, SOOC raw resized to 1000 wide.

View attachment 193943

Cheers, Don

Wow! You got two different programs to report the same color temp! That's really unusual. I just opened the same raw file in Photoshop temp = 3200K, Capture One temp = 4608K, and DXO PL3 temp = 3220 and my faith in the status quo is restored.

All of the color temp values you encounter both on your cameras and in the various processing apps are shall we say of the ball park variety and it's a big ball park. My expectation of the status quo is: open the same raw file in 10 different processing apps and get 10 different color temp values none of them necessarily very close to what was actually there or what was set on the camera. Continuing with that same photo I just checked, Affinity Photo temp = 2544K, SilkyPix Pro9 temp = 2284K, ACDSee temp = 3211K, DPP4 temp = 3000K, RawTherapee temp = 5137K. Why? It's always been that way so I got used to it a long time go and never chased after a better explanation.

Joe
 
Would a monitor color correction tool give a more consistent temperature or are they only for printers?
 
Are they set to auto-correct the WB and display the changed WB?
 
Are they set to auto-correct the WB and display the changed WB?

In the case of my 8 different apps reporting 8 different temp values no auto correction applied and no WB change applied. The values I reported were the values the apps reported default opening the raw file -- absolutely nothing done. I assume Don reported the same, but maybe not.

Joe
 
If the image was recorded as a raw file, there would be no WB applied to it. It would be a bit of info stored in the file, and applied by the software.
 
Nikon raw files have an encrypted white balance.
 
If the image was recorded as a raw file, there would be no WB applied to it. It would be a bit of info stored in the file, and applied by the software.

Correct that a raw file has no WB applied. The camera however fills in a WB field in the EXIF data (possibly encrypted as Derrel noted). The raw processing apps list a value for WB as soon as the file is opened and typically label that value "as shot" which is what Adobe calls it. "As shot" sounds like they mean the value stored by the camera. Where/how they're actually getting that value we're not entirely sure. The assumption is that they read it from the EXIF data stored by the camera. If that were the case wouldn't they all read it the same? And if Nikon's is encrypted then where's that value coming from. Nearly all the apps fill in that value upon opening the file.

Joe
 
Thanks Everyone, it now makes perfect sense :)

One thing I haven't tried yet is opening it with a Nikon program...

I must have one somewhere, he, he...

Cheers, Don
 
Nikon Capture can read the encrypted WB..Adobe products are often off by 700-1, 000 degrees Kelvin.
 
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Nikon Capture NX-D is a free download.

Apparently I had an older version so I updated it :)

Hmmmm, says 6391k but if I click on recorded settings/value/flash it shows 5400k.

So changing it to a closer value is easy but I'm still not sure what the WB value is.

Simple, huh ?

Cheers, Don
 
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Nikon Capture NX-D is a free download.

Apparently I had an older version so I updated it :)

Hmmmm, says 6391k but if I click on recorded settings/value/flash it shows 5400k.

So changing it to a closer value is easy but I'm still not sure what the WB value is.

Simple, huh ?

Cheers, Don

As mentioned WB determination can be a bit of a mystery depending on your Raw software programs ability to read the data. It also looks like you may have stumbled on the WB anomaly when you manually set the WB to FLASH in camera with a shoe mounted Nikon compatible flash or trigger attached.

For example, set the WB in your camera to Daylight and take a photo without flash. Using Capture NX-D the colour temperature will show 5200K. Next turn on the flash or trigger and the WB will show 5200K, what is to be expected.

However, if you do the same by setting the cameras WB to the FLASH setting, without the flash/trigger turned on the colour temperature in Capture NX-D will show 5400K. Now take the same photo with the flash/trigger turned on and the colour temperature will show 6461K in my case and yes the actual WB has increased to 6461.

I have only done minimal digging into this issue and the easy work around is to either use Auto WB if you are wanting to mix ambient and flash colour temp or Daylight or set an actual Kelvin setting in the "K" WB setting.

If the goal is to get an accurate WB for post production, I highly suggest a known WB card or target included in your first shot, then apply a WB adjustment and batch it to all your same lighting files.

BTW, what's in the Strobepro and Prime boxes? LOL
 
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