Manual White Setting & AWB

[agent007]

hi,

When using the A80 indoors, I set the white balance setting using a normal sheet of white photo paper. However, when going to another room & using the same white balance setting, the picture turns out kinda funny and the auto white balance looks better sometimes.

So, is auto white balance better than the manual white? I was planning to use the manual white setting for indoors only. Is this recommended or not?

thanks..

[stopbath]

Auto white balance will "usually" work well enough for most photos.

For critical shots, or for tricky situations (mixed lighting) it is best to use manual or maybe one of the presets.

The Auto mode is just the camera guessing (just like it guesses exposure) so it may be wrong at some points, but usually it's fair.

Indoors, you may find that just setting white balance to one of the light bulb settings works good enough (depending on what lights you use, and how much natural light is coming in.)

Note that AWB is reading the image, and not the actual light spectrum, so the environment may impact the AWB results.

[agent007]

For critical shots, or for tricky situations (mixed lighting) it is best to use manual or maybe one of the presets.


OK, but can I use a normal white sheet of paper?

[stopbath]

For critical shots, or for tricky situations (mixed lighting) it is best to use manual or maybe one of the presets.


OK, but can I use a normal white sheet of paper?
Sure, anything that is neutral in colouration. (not slightly brown, pink or other tones.) White plastic or foam board can also work. Anything that is pure white, or grey, so the camera knows how much of each colour in the visable spectrum is present.