How to measure and set white balance on 60D

[omar]

I'm confused how to get the correct white balance for my 60D

I saw one guy who put a white card in front
Then he measured the kelvin value
And then he said you had to manually input this
It all seemed good and made sense - but then afterwards I couldn't find the same video again!!

ALSO... can someone give me a line or 2 about why getting the right white balance is important and what it does for you?
The problem with the internet is that there's too much to read - not sure where to start!

Thanks


Omar

[jdramirez]

I use lightroom and there is a little dropper that you can place over into your image and it locks into the correct white balance pretty consistently.  But you need the right subject to take advantage of this.  Someone here said it and it works amazingly.  A white styrofoam cup.  Bam.  Run the dropper over that and perfect.  Then copy the setting to the other images that were taken under that same light. 

As for the purpose of white balance... if you have the wrong setting, it will look too blue, too green, too red, or too yellow.  All of which can ruin a photo. 

I have been shooting in Raw the past 6 months.  So someone correct me if I'm wrong, but white balance only affects the jpg image... I think.  So if you are shooting in raw, it won't matter. 

[jdramirez]

But to answer your actually question...

Go to your white balance option and go over to where it says kelvin.  I think I put the camera into live view and then I adjust it and try and find where the grey card looks like what is in the lcd. 

That's it.  You have your setting and all is well with the world.

[dmills]

I have been shooting in Raw the past 6 months.  So someone correct me if I'm wrong, but white balance only affects the jpg image... I think.  So if you are shooting in raw, it won't matter.

You're (mostly) correct. The small caveat is that if you're shooting in the wrong white balance mode for RAW, it means that you MUST go back and change it in post-production. While that's not difficult to do, if you're in a location where you can set it, and it just looks good from the beginning, it's one less thing you have to do in post production. Another minor advantage is that if you're working with models/clients where you're occasionally showing your image to them from the back of your camera, it's nicer to have it look better (ie. with correct-ish white balance). That being said, white balance can be fully set in post production when shooting RAW, whereas it's "burned in" when shooting jpg.

[tdrive]

This works for me on my 60D

Take a photo of a  white object (A4 paper ok)

Under menu 2, select-custom white balance

Import the picture you took and select ok

Under the second tab in menu, select-white balance-custom

After, DON’T FORGET return white balance to what it was originally on.

[jdramirez]

This works for me on my 60D

Take a photo of a  white object (A4 paper ok)

Under menu 2, select-custom white balance

Import the picture you took and select ok

Under the second tab in menu, select-white balance-custom

After, DON’T FORGET return white balance to what it was originally on.

That's sad that I've had my 60D for 2 years and never knew you could do that.  Nice tip.   But now that I shoot in raw... it is less of consequence... but it reminds me that I really should know my gear better rather than just rely on lightroom in pp.

[omar]

guys thanks for the replies
i'm try some of the steps mentioned above
the bit i'm not sure about is importing the image - what do u mean? how do i do that
(ok - i've only had the 60D a short time - so a little clueless)
thanks in advance

[tdrive]

Under menu 2, (2nd from left)select-custom white balance. It will ask you which picture you want to import

[Dick]

white balance can be fully set in post production when shooting RAW, whereas it's "burned in" when shooting jpg.

Then again, I have never had any problems changing white balance in post with jpg files either. Aperture has the same sliders for RAW and jpg and they work the same way.

[Skulker]

guys thanks for the replies
i'm try some of the steps mentioned above
the bit i'm not sure about is importing the image - what do u mean? how do i do that
(ok - i've only had the 60D a short time - so a little clueless)
thanks in advance

If all else fails you could try reading the user manual. 

[preppyak]

You're (mostly) correct. The small caveat is that if you're shooting in the wrong white balance mode for RAW, it means that you MUST go back and change it in post-production.

I will say, even shooting in RAW, I'd have a few shots that were nearly impossible to correct in post becaue the colors were so far off. They all came from the awful fluorescent lights they have in schools, but, it's definitely advisable to at least use one of the presets to get close to the correct WB for a scene. If you're coming up with Kelvin values in the 3-4000 range on a scene that needs 7000, it's not as easy to correct