DSLR Noobie - Blueish photos

[wheelhot]

Hi,
Well I recently borrowed a friend Canon Rebel XTi (400D) and I extracted the photos and it is now in my notebook (damn its so long uploading 273 pictures (888mb <-- Nice number, Chinese love this number).
Surprisingly, some of the photos look bluish, this usually doesn't happen in my PnS camera. The overall picture look bluish but floor color seem accurate.

So what do you guys do in this case? What to adjust?

 

[Edge100]

Hi,
Well I recently borrowed a friend Canon Rebel XTi (400D) and I extracted the photos and it is now in my notebook (damn its so long uploading 273 pictures (888mb <-- Nice number, Chinese love this number).
Surprisingly, some of the photos look bluish, this usually doesn't happen in my PnS camera. The overall picture look bluish but floor color seem accurate.

So what do you guys do in this case? What to adjust?

White Balance. I'll bet you a beer that you have the WB set to Tungsten and you're shooting in daylight or cloudy conditions (or possibly fluorescent light).

If you shoot in RAW, leave the WB at 'Auto' and set it later. If you shoot in JPEG, make sure it's set properly before you begin shooting.

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_white-balance.html

 

[wheelhot]

Aaah thanks, I guess you are right, it has something to do with the WB, the picture that seem to have the problem is taken by the girl so maybe she was playing with the WB or something, or could be the WB which is set to Auto, chose the wrong WB? Thanks for the link too, bookmarked it

So I guess I need to get you a beer now eh?

Well its shot in JPEG (thanks for the RAW advice, now I see some more reason to shoot RAW) so the picture is can say still usable and thanks to Aperture Highlight Hot and Cold area, it helped me to get just the right adjustment to make the photo look okay and not over processed (my image look like over processed before I use HnC feature) or bluish.

P.S: 400D is so easy to use, I got used with the basic camera functions in like a few minutes, too bad I don't really know much about its function except those that I know such as ISO, EV and WB (thanks to my PnS). Well basically between starter camera, the 1000D and 400D which shoot faster RAW? Or speed doesn't matter much if I plan to shoot RAW shot one by one instead of continuously?

 

[JSF]

Second what Edge100 said. I will bet you 2 beers.

 

[147798]

Absolutely WB, but I'll bet it was firing the flash with WB set to Tungsten.

 

[Edge100]

Aaah thanks, I guess you are right, it has something to do with the WB, the picture that seem to have the problem is taken by the girl so maybe she was playing with the WB or something, or could be the WB which is set to Auto, chose the wrong WB? Thanks for the link too, bookmarked it

So I guess I need to get you a beer now eh?

Well its shot in JPEG (thanks for the RAW advice, now I see some more reason to shoot RAW) so the picture is can say still usable and thanks to Aperture Highlight Hot and Cold area, it helped me to get just the right adjustment to make the photo look okay and not over processed (my image look like over processed before I use HnC feature) or bluish.

Here's a good example of what happens when WB is not set properly. Using RAW makes this so much easier; you can shoot in any conditions and just manually set WB later (in fact, I would argue that this and being able to extract 1-1.5 stops of highlight detail are the single best reasons to shoot RAW).

P.S: 400D is so easy to use, I got used with the basic camera functions in like a few minutes, too bad I don't really know much about its function except those that I know such as ISO, EV and WB (thanks to my PnS). Well basically between starter camera, the 1000D and 400D which shoot faster RAW? Or speed doesn't matter much if I plan to shoot RAW shot one by one instead of continuously?

Here is a direct comparison of the key features of the two cameras. It appears than the older 400D has the edge in a number of key areas over the newer (but more 'down-market') 1000D.

Speed is never a bad thing when it comes to cameras. Having had the chance to use a 1DmkII for some time now, I really appreciate having the ability to fire off a rapid fire series and not have the camera choke.

 

[wheelhot]

I'm soo going to own you guys quite a number of beers

Speed is never a bad thing when it comes to cameras. Having had the chance to use a 1DmkII for some time now, I really appreciate having the ability to fire off a rapid fire series and not have the camera choke.

Are you referring to burst mode? And does burst mode doesn't have IS? Cause shots taken from burst mode seem to be blurry or is it cause of the 400D default lens (its non IS right? the 1000D and newer Canon entry levels have IS correct?)

Yeah, the 400D seem to have a few extra things, but its still more expensive then the 1000D here in Malaysia. I like the extra power of the new batteries though and live view is useful in certain condition cause sometime I tend to place the camera face up when it is almost touches the ground, so with live view at least I can see if I going to get the shot I want. I still prefer Sony implementation of live view though (more practical).

 

[147798]

I'm soo going to own you guys quite a number of beers


Are you referring to burst mode? And does burst mode doesn't have IS? Cause shots taken from burst mode seem to be blurry or is it cause of the 400D default lens (its non IS right? the 1000D and newer Canon entry levels have IS correct?)

Yeah, the 400D seem to have a few extra things, but its still more expensive then the 1000D here in Malaysia. I like the extra power of the new batteries though and live view is useful in certain condition cause sometime I tend to place the camera face up when it is almost touches the ground, so with live view at least I can see if I going to get the shot I want. I still prefer Sony implementation of live view though (more practical).

I got the 400D precisely because I could buy it used, and save some money for lenses. It is a bit faster than the 1000D, and some say it has a more precise auto focus system -- both faster and better. I cannot confirm that, it's only what I've read in postings. It will take more RAW photos sequentially (and no -- not just burst mode. Even just quick single clicking can fill the buffer quickly, and then you are left waiting a few moments for it to clear).

That said, if I HAD to buy them brand new, I'd take a serious look at the 1000D. But, one issue on live view -- the focus mechanism in live view is really only useful in manual focus or tripod/macro shooting. It will NOT operate like a point and shoot camera does. You can download the 1000D manual from Canon's site, and read live view. You will quickly understand its very real limitations.

 

[wheelhot]

That said, if I HAD to buy them brand new, I'd take a serious look at the 1000D. But, one issue on live view -- the focus mechanism in live view is really only useful in manual focus or tripod/macro shooting. It will NOT operate like a point and shoot camera does. You can download the 1000D manual from Canon's site, and read live view. You will quickly understand its very real limitations.

Thanks for the advice (I know that Canon implementation of LiveView is not like normal PnS, Sony uses a different method of LiveView if Im not mistaken and its better), yeah Im seriously considering the 1000D cause its cheaper then the 400D here in Malaysia (not sure if I can bargain that much to get it as cheap as the 1000D and besides, If I bargain the 1000D, I would even get it cheaper!, and the 1000D comes with an IS lens while the 400D doesn't right?)

 

[nidserz]

Sorry if this is thread crashing (or whatever its called), but it is on the topic of white balance.

When i set my white balance to auto and take the photo in RAW i still have to adjust the white balance in Lightroom to "auto".

Is this normal?

 

[wheelhot]

Huh? Why do you need to set a picture shot in Auto to Auto in LR? What happen if you didn't set it? The picture changes color?

 

[Edge100]

Huh? Why do you need to set a picture shot in Auto to Auto in LR? What happen if you didn't set it? The picture changes color?

Your camera and LR have a different idea of "auto" WB. In LR, the default is "As Shot", which uses the original WB from the camera. I find LR does a bit better job of "auto" WB than my 10D, so I generally switch to Auto, or else manually select WB (I find that 'cloudy' is generally a good starting point)

 

[wheelhot]

Aah okay, thanks for the quick answer edge, guess there are more things for me to know about WB