AWB question

[Susurs]

Just a ‘stupid’ question...

I took some macro images in row (few second interval) in a very cloudy/rainy weather.

The camera was @ AWB and it took one warmer image, and the next one was cooler... Is it just a normal thing due to AWB and poor weather conditions? ...Or this can be sonething else I should possibly be worried about...?

 

[anotherscotsman]

Just a ‘stupid’ question...

I took some macro images in row (few second interval) in a very cloudy/rainy weather.

The camera was @ AWB and it took one warmer image, and the next one was cooler... Is it just a normal thing due to AWB and poor weather conditions? ...Or this can be sonething else I should possibly be worried about...?

View attachment 768574

Auto WB can certainly be a variable beast - some camera systems are more accurate than others. This is probably exacerbated by relatively low light levels. If you want to keep the WB constant then set the camera to manual WB (e.g. 'cloudy' in this example) for JPG images. For RAW images, it does't matter what you set in camera, you can always change in post-processing.

 

[Susurs]

Thanks! I was worrying it might possibly be some other issue.

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

Sometimes, this can be linked to the way you have your metering set up on your camera. If you have spot metering and the focus point and metering points linked, it can do different things when you shift the focal point even by a few millimetres.

For accuracy of colour reproduction, use a ColorChecker card. Taking a frame of it, filling the frame with the card, and then start shooting under that light condition. On import you can apply it to those images, to correctly portray your colours. But, that is dependent on what software you use for your image editing, I think. I've only tried it in Lightroom and Darktable.

 

[mollyc]

I never use AWB. I shoot Kelvin, and find that even wrong Kelvin is much easier to fix in post than AWB.

 

[dwig]

In addition to the good info already posted, AWB is subject to failure when the subject is not a normal mix of colors and brightnesses.

Pix like the OPs, which are pretty much all one color, pose problems for AWB. Some AWB logic may get wrong answer and some may simply "drop back ten yards and punt" (read: if they can't figure out the image then they just default to "daylight"). The most frequent failure I encounter is to get an overly magenta balance when the subject is mostly green foliage with very little blue sky an "grey" tree trunks, etc.

 

[kenoh]

Nothing to add. No issues just remember the AWB is running a computer program. It starts with an assumed initial state then calculates a variance. If you are pointed at a sibject with one colour, then it doesnt have a lot to work with and so will get it wrong. Shoot raw a and fix it later.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Sometimes, this can be linked to the way you have your metering set up on your camera. If you have spot metering and the focus point and metering points linked, it can do different things when you shift the focal point even by a few millimetres.

For accuracy of colour reproduction, use a ColorChecker card. Taking a frame of it, filling the Fram, and then start shooting under that light condition. On import you can apply it to those images, to correctly portray your colours. But, that is dependent on what software you use for your image editing, I think. I've only tried it in Lightroom and Darktable.

That's the way to do it. Yes you can fix RAW files WB but the colorchecker is quicker and easier.

 

[Alexander.Of.Oz]

That's the way to do it. Yes you can fix RAW files WB but the colorchecker is quicker and easier.

I would also add that it's more accurate, as it works across all colour frequencies and is not just correcting as we would do on one or two colour bands.