D800 - colour temp?

M

macvisual

Senior Member
Today I became the proud owner of a D800, learning curve ahead etc.....!
Just a question please;

Is it best to set the colour temp to auto, or, manually set it at around 7500k ?



Any advice most welcome, thanks;
Peter
 
O

oldsalt

Senior Member
Hi Peter - I'm running mine on auto while still learning about all the bells & whistles of my 800... will try a manual setting soon though for some specific shooting situations. Checked out your album on Flickr - some very good shots in there - look forward to seeing more of your work. Good luck with the learning curve...

cheers
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I shoot auto unless I'm in a controlled lighting environment and can set it with a grey card. It's usually pretty darn close and I can tweak it in LR easily enough.
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
macvisual said:
Is it best to set the colour temp to auto, or, manually set it at around 7500k ?



Any advice most welcome, thanks;
Peter
Click to expand...

Not 7500k, not as general case. Color temperature is about the color of the specific light we stand in. It is "best" to set the camera to Daylight for sunlight, or to Incandescent for indoor incandescent light (orange). 7500k would be for blue skylight in open shade. Auto White Balance tries to figure it out, and is sometimes close, and sometimes not, probably better than not knowing nuthin'. :) But if we know it is obviously Daylight or Incandescent, laziness seems the only excuse for ignoring that knowledge. But the next picture could be different.

These camera setting situations are not greatly precise, just one value when there are variations in all cases of light. It makes a big difference to the picture to get it correct. One of the most basic and useful skills we learn is how to correct white balance later. See White Balance Correction, with or without Raw
 
D

Dave_W

The Dude
I use auto on my D800 unless I'm doing a panorama in which case I set it to either sunny or cloudy. Changing color temps in the middle of a pano isn't the end of the world but it does present some challenges that are easily avoided if you take it off auto.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Dave_W said:
I use auto on my D800 unless I'm doing a panorama in which case I set it to either sunny or cloudy. Changing color temps in the middle of a pano isn't the end of the world but it does present some challenges that are easily avoided if you take it off auto.
Click to expand...

This is a very good tip Dave. Why didn't I think of it...

​Thanks
 
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