5DmkII screen's white balance is way off! Is there a fix?

I work for a wedding cinematography company, and we shoot on 7Ds and 5DmkIIs.

We've been having issues with our white balances not matching up, even though we were matching them on the LCD screens. What we realized, however is that the LCD screen itself is what's off. The 7D LCD reproduces accurate colors. What we see on the screen matches the footage we get. The 5D on the other hand is way off. It has a really bad magenta cast, and therefore we cannot use it to check our white balance. When we set the cameras to the exact same settings, we find that the footage from the 5D is accurately matched to the 7D. In addition, the 7D's screen matches the footage, but the 5Ds screen remains magenta.

Here are some sample photos to give you guys a better idea of what I'm talking about. These are screen shots of the video playback. (We've also noticed that the 5D tends to be much more contrasty and has better saturation).

5DMKII on the left, 7D on the right. Both cameras were set to the same exposure, 5200k. Both shot with a 24-70L. Profiles set to Neutral.

First, I've changed your over size images to links, please note the image post rules


The rear view LCD is not meant to be accurate in anyway. It's far to heavily compromised by its need to be small, thin and durable. It should never be used for checking anything more than composition, histograms and changing menu settings.

Fortunately both bodies have mini HDMI out puts so you can view video on a proper field monitor. There are plenty of small models designed for doing this, and you can even by rigs that attach them to the camera.

Never had a cast of any sort with my 5dm2, it accurately shows the WB set. You must have a faulty LCD.

Moppie wrote in post #11035831
First, I've changed your over size images to links, please note the image post rules


The rear view LCD is not meant to be accurate in anyway. It's far to heavily compromised by its need to be small, thin and durable. It should never be used for checking anything more than composition, histograms and changing menu settings.

Fortunately both bodies have mini HDMI out puts so you can view video on a proper field monitor. There are plenty of small models designed for doing this, and you can even by rigs that attach them to the camera.

Sorry, image size changed.

And I've never had any color balance issues with any of my other screens, nor have I ever seen this problem on any other camera. Unfortunately we don't have another 5DMKII to make a comparison to.

I would be surprised if this was typical for a 5DMKII.

The 7D and 5D MK II won't give the same White Balance in images - one shoots a bit warmer, one a bit colder - you can only try to compensate by using a set Colour temperature.

About the screen - it isn't accurate as Moppie said - and as lannes said, that colour cast isn't normal on the 5D MK II.

Edit:
Your 5D's screen isn't set to max. brightness by any chance? That might cause it... even on auto you have 3 levels it tries to reach - "dark, medium, bright".

Ainoko wrote in post #11036366
Sorry, image size changed.

They are still way to big. They need to be no bigger than 1024 on the longest side

I've honestly never look at mine to see how it compares. I don't shoot video, and all my stills are shot in RAW so any WB adjustments are made in post.

It is possible you do have a dud camera, maybe contact Canon. If there is a history of it being a problem, or if the screen should be reasonably accurate they will know.
Showing them your comparison images will help to.

DetlevCM wrote in post #11036385
The 7D and 5D MK II won't give the same White Balance in images - one shoots a bit warmer, one a bit colder - you can only try to compensate by using a set Colour temperature.

About the screen - it isn't accurate as Moppie said - and as lannes said, that colour cast isn't normal on the 5D MK II.

Edit:
Your 5D's screen isn't set to max. brightness by any chance? That might cause it... even on auto you have 3 levels it tries to reach - "dark, medium, bright".

It's not that one shoots cold and one shoots warm - it's that the 5DmkII screen doesn't match the resulting footage. The 7D's does.

And in the first photo screen brightness is all the way up.
Second photo screen brightness is set to the default.

Moppie wrote in post #11036388
They are still way to big. They need to be no bigger than 1024 on the longest side

I've honestly never look at mine to see how it compares. I don't shoot video, and all my stills are shot in RAW so any WB adjustments are made in post.

It is possible you do have a dud camera, maybe contact Canon. If there is a history of it being a problem, or if the screen should be reasonably accurate they will know.
Showing them your comparison images will help to.

Images are showing up smaller than 1024 for me. Two are 900x600 the other's are 800 on the long sides.

Yeah, I think we might just try sending it in to see what they say. It's quite noticeable when you look at it in person. This 5D also has been in once for a faulty processor, so it could be related to that...

So if identical WB settings produce matching footage from each, where's the problem?

A quick test shot from each when you get on site to confirm that you're within spec and then go to work.

Never worked with cameras that only have B&W viewfinders? How about portable gear that was not able to be time-base corrected in the field? At least you get to see it in color and in real time...

If you have an issue with what you see, send it in, but I never depend on the LCD for white balance. I just shoot in RAW and do the best I can on location and fix it later. I wouldn't stress about it. Does it affect what you get at the end?

I would not depend on the LCD on any camera to judge white balance. I would also not be trying to match video between 2 cameras unless I was shooting a fixed color temp. I would NOT shoot in AWB.

I don't think the OP is asking here, if people think that the color difference will affect his end product.

He is saying, this doesn't look normal to me, does it to you guys? Or, is this broken on mine, or the same on everyone else's.

I say no, mine doesn't show a difference on the LCD screen than what I get on the card, you have something defective in your 5D Mark II. Canon needs to fix it!

Ben

A basic question would be "why shoot with two different model DSLRs?." Why not use all 7D or all 5DM2?

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11036791
So if identical WB settings produce matching footage from each, where's the problem?

A quick test shot from each when you get on site to confirm that you're within spec and then go to work.

Never worked with cameras that only have B&W viewfinders? How about portable gear that was not able to be time-base corrected in the field? At least you get to see it in color and in real time...

We are using these cameras primarily for video, and the conditions under which we shoot are constantly changing. Unfortunately if the cameras are not always together, so we can't use the 7D to check the WB all the time.

SuzyView wrote in post #11036800
If you have an issue with what you see, send it in, but I never depend on the LCD for white balance. I just shoot in RAW and do the best I can on location and fix it later. I wouldn't stress about it. Does it affect what you get at the end?

We're not shooting photo, and for our needs it's important to get our WB right the first time. So yes, it does affect our outcome. We sort of have to rely on the LCD unfortunately.

bohdank wrote in post #11037120
I would not depend on the LCD on any camera to judge white balance. I would also not be trying to match video between 2 cameras unless I was shooting a fixed color temp. I would NOT shoot in AWB.

Well my testing shows that the WB's between the two cameras match closely enough, and we never shoot AWB.

prayharder wrote in post #11037706
I don't think the OP is asking here, if people think that the color difference will affect his end product.

He is saying, this doesn't look normal to me, does it to you guys? Or, is this broken on mine, or the same on everyone else's.

I say no, mine doesn't show a difference on the LCD screen than what I get on the card, you have something defective in your 5D Mark II. Canon needs to fix it!

Ben

Thank you, yes this is what I'm asking.

JackLiu wrote in post #11038604
A basic question would be "why shoot with two different model DSLRs?." Why not use all 7D or all 5DM2?

Because they serve different purposes. We like the 7D for the added length we get from the crop, while the 5DMKII yields better high ISO footage.

Ainoko wrote in post #11042981
We are using these cameras primarily for video, and the conditions under which we shoot are constantly changing. Unfortunately if the cameras are not always together, so we can't use the 7D to check the WB all the time.

If you test your gear before rolling for real (and you are doing this, yes?) and 5200K (or whatever value for the venue in question) yields the same result from each body, then you have no issue.

If you have them both in AWB, then you're rolling the dice anyways and the LCD won't help a bit because you shouldn't be trusting your camera's LCD for anything beyond framing and Histogram.

Why don't you have external monitors/viewfinders that you know you can trust?

Short of being cabled to a mobile unit and run through CCUs (with proper waveform and vector scopes), you won't find two dedicated video cameras that match exacly either. Either the A or the B roll will need tweaked. Always.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11043071
If you test your gear before rolling for real (and you are doing this, yes?) and 5200K (or whatever value for the venue in question) yields the same result from each body, then you have no issue.

If you have them both in AWB, then you're rolling the dice anyways and the LCD won't help a bit because you shouldn't be trusting your camera's LCD for anything beyond framing and Histogram.

Why don't you have external monitors/viewfinders that you know you can trust?

Short of being cabled to a mobile unit and run through CCUs (with proper waveform and vector scopes), you won't find two dedicated video cameras that match exacly either. Either the A or the B roll will need tweaked. Always.

Okay, so here's the issue. We do wedding cinematography, and the majority of the time we are doing Same-day-edits. That means the footage we shoot throughout the day is edited into a short film that is shown at the reception. We don't have the time to do major color corrections on our footage. That is why it is important for us to get our white balances matched. However, we often shoot separate from each other. This means we might have a 7D at one location, and the 5DMKII in a completely different area. We use the LCD as a means to check our exposure and white balance, and while we can't always get it perfect, the screen is a major help. Now because our 5DMKII's screen has a magenta cast, we can't use it to check for accurate WB. I realize this. The 7D, on the other hand, we have found to be reliable for checking WB on the LCD. Should we be using an external field monitor to check our WB? In a perfect world, yes. Unfortunately this would add additional costs, additional weight, and frankly we have enough equipment to lug around as it is. We certainly don't want to be carrying extra weight if we don't have to. It would be a simple fix if we could just get to the location, set up our cameras, check the WB and exposure, and be good to good. However as I'm sure anyone who shoots weddings can tell you, lighting can be all over the place. Therefore it is necessary for us to be changing settings on the fly. Simply put, there is no other way for us to accurately check our WB until we offload the footage to the computer.

Long story short, I was just wondering if this was typical of a 5DMKII screen, and if there was a way to adjust the white balance of the LCD screen. I didn't want to send it off to Canon to have it checked out if there was a simple solution. From what I'm gathering, there isn't. Therefore we'll probably send it off to Canon and see what they say.