60D: White Balance Frustration.

I recently purchased a 60D from the CLP program.

While I am, generally speaking, quite pleased with the camera thus far, I have unfortunately discovered a custom setting that will disable White Balance access via the SET button (C.Fn IV, Page 2).

If you're like me, and you wish to have immediate access to the 8-Way AF selection pad, you will want to change C.Fn III, Page 2 from "0" to "1." This allows you to simply move the pad and select your point without having to hit any other button beforehand. Regrettably, this choice will also completely disable your White Balance setting (C.Fn IV, Page 2). Pressing the SET button will now merely direct your AF-point back to center, leaving you no choice but to menu-dive for the White Balance setting.

Is there *any* way to get around this crap? Or must I sacrifice "on-the-fly" WB switching? It was bad enough that they removed the button from the top panel, but to add insult to injury like this?

Gah. This is just plain *stupid* Canon!

Do you change WB for every shot?
If not, set WB once with grey cart, if you need it custom, and shot as long as light is the same.

You can set the WB with a couple of clicks in the Q-menu.

*Stupid* is in the eye of the beholder... WB is not a setting that you change all the time, so it does not need to be in the first line of selections. A lot of people who shoot RAW, don't even bother setting the WB.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people (myself included) who set the AF point using the 8-way selection pad, and do it many times in a shooting day...

MakisM1 wrote in post #14628656
You can set the WB with a couple of clicks in the Q-menu.

*Stupid* is in the eye of the beholder... WB is not a setting that you change all the time, so it does not need to be in the first line of selections. A lot of people who shoot RAW, don't even bother setting the WB.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people (myself included) who set the AF point using the 8-way selection pad, and do it many times in a shooting day...

Different strokes for different folks.

I use 2500K Kelvin for night shooting quite a bit, and it's annoying to be forced to menu-dive for it. This isn't a deal-breaker, but it's still pretty dumb on Canon's part, subjectively speaking.

The Q-Menu is probably the fastest way to get around to it now, and if I never change anything in there except for this setting, it should default to it, which makes life a bit easier. Still, this is all pretty silly. If the 60D wasn't so cheap via the CLP, I probably would have avoided it and waited for its successor.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14628676
Different strokes for different folks.

I use 2500K Kelvin for night shooting quite a bit, and it's annoying to be forced to menu-dive for it. This isn't a deal-breaker, but it's still pretty dumb on Canon's part, objectively speaking.

I think you mean "subjectively speaking" . I shoot raw and sometimes tweak the WB during conversion. For possibly tricky or critical situations I either shoot a neutral card or a small Gretag card. Never occurred to me that it was stupid of Canon not to make it "easier".

As Gerry says, the simple answer is to shoot in raw and select WB in post. I have never changed WB on any of my bodies.

AJSJones wrote in post #14628698
I think you mean "subjectively speaking" . I shoot raw and sometimes tweak the WB during conversion. For possibly tricky or critical situations I either shoot a neutral card or a small Gretag card. Never occurred to me that it was stupid of Canon not to make it "easier".

Thanks for the grammar tip.

Anyway, I am not alone in thinking that they should have just left the WB Button on the camera, but apparently folks here could care less.

Oh well, I'll just suck it up and use the Q button. It's annoying, but pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

JohnB57 wrote in post #14628711
As Gerry says, the simple answer is to shoot in raw and select WB in post. I have never changed WB on any of my bodies.

I find this a bit tedious at times.

Why not get it right on the first try?

I do at times but then I just use LR to process the RAW files and it takes care of it automatically if you wish. WB is one of those settings that is there and more useful if you shoot JPEG and not RAW.

I sometimes so wish it to see how it looks on the screen but most of the time, I just leave it on auto on the camera then adjust in lightroom.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14628721
I find this a bit tedious at times.

Why not get it right on the first try?

Because it's a better way to do it? The raw file contains no information about WB/CT - software merely uses the camera setting as a start point for editing - so raw is a purer file format.

RHChan84 wrote in post #14628729
I do at times but then I just use LR to process the RAW files and it takes care of it automatically if you wish. WB is one of those settings that is there and more useful if you shoot JPEG and not RAW.

I sometimes so wish it to see how it looks on the screen but most of the time, I just leave it on auto on the camera then adjust in lightroom.

I use Custom White Balance in studio shots with strobes. I shoot a WB tri-color (BGW) target to get highlights and blacks right and as a bonus I get a Custom White Balance shot.

Total times used: 5 (one per studio session).

I have close to 6000 photos with the 60D.

I would estimate changing AF point somewhere in the low hundreds...

Changing the WB without shooting a target? I tried it a few times, gave up on the pre-sets.

In the software I use (Darktable) the Camera WB is the starting position and you tweak from there. So it would be desirable to set the WB right...

Percentage of tweaked WB RAW photos PP'd: Approaching 100%...

MakisM1 wrote in post #14628772
I use Custom White Balance in studio shots with strobes. I shoot a WB tri-color (BGW) target to get highlights and blacks right and as a bonus I get a Custom White Balance shot.

Total times used: 5 (one per studio session).

I have close to 6000 photos with the 60D.

I would estimate changing AF point somewhere in the low hundreds...

Changing the WB without shooting a target? I tried it a few times, gave up on the pre-sets.

In the software I use (Darktable) the Camera WB is the starting position and you tweak from there. So it would be desirable to set the WB right...

Percentage of tweaked WB RAW photos PP'd: Approaching 100%...

Fair enough. I suppose it isn't so terribly important.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14628719
Thanks for the grammar tip.

It wasn't a grammar tip, just a meaning/sense issue. Opinions are subjective - we all have them. Things that we all agree on can be described objectively.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14628719
Anyway, I am not alone in thinking that they should have just left the WB Button on the camera, but apparently folks here could care less..

See, different (subjective) opinions Anyway, I couldn't care less (that might be a grammar tip )

TheRightLight wrote in post #14628719
Oh well, I'll just suck it up and use the Q button. It's annoying, but pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

Way less annoying to me than, for example, how far down in the menus one has (or used to have) to go to get to mirror-lockup ....

I leave WB on auto and fix later. I shoot raw so it doesn't matter to me. I'll just shoot a grey card and correct in PP.

no biggie.

TheRightLight wrote in post #14628628
I recently purchased a 60D from the CLP program.

While I am, generally speaking, quite pleased with the camera thus far, I have unfortunately discovered a custom setting that will disable White Balance access via the SET button (C.Fn IV, Page 2).

If you're like me, and you wish to have immediate access to the 8-Way AF selection pad, you will want to change C.Fn III, Page 2 from "0" to "1." This allows you to simply move the pad and select your point without having to hit any other button beforehand. Regrettably, this choice will also completely disable your White Balance setting (C.Fn IV, Page 2). Pressing the SET button will now merely direct your AF-point back to center, leaving you no choice but to menu-dive for the White Balance setting.

Is there *any* way to get around this crap? Or must I sacrifice "on-the-fly" WB switching? It was bad enough that they removed the button from the top panel, but to add insult to injury like this?

Gah. This is just plain *stupid* Canon!

Unfortunately, this quirk is a known limitation...err, I mean feature of the 60D. You can't be in two places at the same time, or use the same set button for two purpose at the same time.. The set button can either be one or the other. I simply use option "0" and gave to push two buttons for focus points. I mostly use the center focus point, so no big deal for me.