D70 White Balance Problem

[howard4113]

Anyone ELSE have problems getting a --- GOOD -- MWB setting with their D70? Mine only gets a --NO GOOD -- result when deeper than 30' or so (where you really want it!).
I think it's a WB range restriction. Ideas???

M

[2Narced]

I use it only occasionally on land, and have tried it on a D70, a D200 and a D2Xs with less than stellar results. I'm kind of surprised it works at all underwater from that experience.

Just a suggestion, if you're not already doing it: Shoot RAW files and then when you open your images using Adobe Camera RAW or some other editor, you can non-destructively tweak the color balance, tint and a host of other things as needed. Haven't broken down and bought a housed DSLR for my underwater shooting yet, but I hardly even think about white balance anymore until I open the RAW files. Might be worth a try.




Anyone ELSE have problems getting a --- GOOD -- MWB setting with their D70? Mine only gets a --NO GOOD -- result when deeper than 30' or so (where you really want it!).
I think it's a WB range restriction. Ideas???

M

[Eskasi]

If you are using a strobe, you should not use MWB.... if you have a D70 and going deeper, nothing beats a strobe...certainly not WB adjustments...

RAW is a must IMHO

[limeyx]

I use it only occasionally on land, and have tried it on a D70, a D200 and a D2Xs with less than stellar results. I'm kind of surprised it works at all underwater from that experience.


My D300 balanced just fine but only tried it down to 45 or so feet so far in murky CA waters.

Even though you can change WB when you shoot RAW, I think it's way easier to get a correct WB in the first place if possible.

[Leisure Pro Brett]

Just out of curiosity, when you set the MWB do you then have the ability to do the +/- adjustment with that setting like you do in the preset modes? If you can do this adjustment then that will get you closer to ideal when your camera won't take the manual presets any more. For the life of me I can't remember if you can adjust the manual preset though, and of course my camera is a D100 so that might change things also. I will second the RAW recommendation, I would have never thought white balance could be so easy to adjust.

[Darnold9999]

My understanding is that MWB is a post sensor process anyway so that doing it using the computer in the camera or doing it using your computer on land against the RAW image is actually doing the same thing. In camera is so much more hassle when I want to be worrying about the shot that I never touch it. I use Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw to modify the RAW files on land - takes 10 seconds a shot.

If possible I would use RAW and modify the white balance later. Curious what the pros out there will say.

[limeyx]

My understanding is that MWB is a post sensor process anyway so that doing it using the computer in the camera or doing it using your computer on land against the RAW image is actually doing the same thing. In camera is so much more hassle when I want to be worrying about the shot that I never touch it. I use Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw to modify the RAW files on land - takes 10 seconds a shot.

If possible I would use RAW and modify the white balance later. Curious what the pros out there will say.

I would definitely be interested to know as I have heard it both ways. Maybe I need to ask someone that knows for sure.
I am not that good at setting WB in Aperture to get best results so if I WB underwater it gets it pretty close for me.

Would be nice not to have to carry the WB card around though

[howard4113]

Well yes I ALWAYS shoot raw underwater - not for future color correction - but for more color detail (more bits per pixel). The thing is that if you capture a MWB setting, the correction is ALREADY done when you import the pic into PS/CS. It looks RIGHT to begin with. MUCH better than messing around with color correction afterwards. CC is a PITA because you've lost all the reds. To get it right you have to at least correct the shadows, midrange, and highlights independently.

Having said that -- of course you don't use a MWB for images taken with a strobe - at least on purpose :D (unless you have a green filter for the strobe - but this is a great idea!).

I had an Oly 5050 that would take a MWB setting at any depth. I'm just dissapointed that the D70 does not. One good thing about researching this problem is that I found that my camera had never had a firmware update. I installed the latest rev and found that they fixed a problem with larger CF cards.
M

[jester1226]

Help me out here, I am assuming by MWB that you mean Manual White Balance. How are you doing that manually underwater? To do this accurately you need an 18% Grey Card shot next to what you intend to photograph. This would mean you would have to change your settings and redo this every few feet before shooting as your color temp will be changing constantly. You are better off leaving it set to AWB and shooting RAW (NEF). THis will give you the file unprocessed by the camera settings. And one other thing this will allow you to do, you can set your shutter speed to a faster setting and be able to save it in camera raw. I have been able to save images that were 5 stops underexposed due to using RAW. If you have CS3, you can import your JPEG files into raw and save them, to a small degree. If I can be of any assistance with Photoshop, let me know, I use the program 6-10 hours per day. Good Luck!

[jester1226]

My understanding is that MWB is a post sensor process anyway so that doing it using the computer in the camera or doing it using your computer on land against the RAW image is actually doing the same thing.
If possible I would use RAW and modify the white balance later. Curious what the pros out there will say.

If you are not shooting raw and are using a MWB setting, once you take the image you are stuck with what you took and can just hope for the best in post processing. Memory cards are cheap, toss a 4 gig into the camera and set it to NEF + JPEG, this will give you a chance to see what you are able to do with both a raw and jpeg image. Use your MWB setting and see which image you are able to get the highest quality out of. By post sensor, this means that the file is comes from the sensor and is then processed using the settings on the camera. Raw files are not subjected to this, which is why so many settings are available in Adobe Camera Raw. I take over 25,000 images a year, and even though shooting RAW takes a little longer in post processing, it is well worth the time and effort.

Keith

[Mike Veitch]

using a red filter like the magic filter will help, as it cuts down on how much correcting it needs to do, useful to about 50-60 feet and will help you get better colour too.

are you using manual setting or something like P or A or S? you will find using MWB needs a lot of light to get a GOOD reading.

You will find f5.6 and 1/60 or 1/30 will usually get the result you want. 1/30 is not too slow for reef scenics which is what you are shooting i assume. Also, try pumping your iso to 320 or even 400. but don't go higher than that or the results look crap with d70 :D

[howard4113]

I don't use a red filter because I use an Ike case and dome port with a strobe (or 2). There's no provision for removing the filter underwater - it would have to stay on the lens. I suppose I COULD get green strobe filters too. Yes MWB needs ample light -- so I usually switch over to P before taking a MWB frame. I leave the ISO on the slowest setting to eliminate grain - and why use a higher ISO with strobe? (I'd just forget to set it back) I will try your advice and open the thing up to overexpose and maybe that'll do some good. Thanks for that suggestion.

M