Auto vs. Manual white balance comparison clip

[The Blue Whale]

Great comments here. One thing that is obvious for everyone is to know the difference in MWB and Auto and when it makes a difference. I prefer to set the white balance with a card but have used sand and the side of a boat. I'm trying to decide how much the visibility variation effects the depth at which the filter goes on. In clearer water it definitely is deeper. Also, we'll be playing with those Red LED lights and no filter to see how it works for the look of ambient light during day diving. Should be interesting and hope to have some results to show.

 

[jridg]

I actually never use AWB any more - When shooting with lights, I simply do a MWB with the lights. I dive white fins (APS Mantaray) so I never forget my 'card'

I have found that I get good results with MWB with lights as well - slight improvements. Also, It's VERY difficult to change from MWB to AWB on my camera during the dive, so I tend to simply leave it in MWB mode to enable max flexibility.

Shooting on a SANYO HD-1 in an epoque housing.

 

[ronscuba]

I used the sand to set MWB. Definitely not ideal as the sand was a light brownish color, but it still produced a clear improvement over AWB. This was shot in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Caribbean sand is whiter and works great as a MWB reference.

 

[kayak]

Thanks to everyone who answered. The white board I have is nice, but it is large. I can't see myself taking it down. I just purchased a FX7 and I am heading to Fiji next Monday. One of the reasons I purchased it was to be able to adjust the WB. Isn't it better to adjust WB at the depth and backround you are shooting? Rather than the bottom of the boat?

 

[jridg]

I find it is extremely helpful to adjust WB every few feet of depth for optimal correction. You will certainly want to be able to adjust at depth.

 

[beautybelow]

Thanks to everyone who answered. The white board I have is nice, but it is large. I can't see myself taking it down. I just purchased a FX7 and I am heading to Fiji next Monday. One of the reasons I purchased it was to be able to adjust the WB. Isn't it better to adjust WB at the depth and backround you are shooting? Rather than the bottom of the boat?

I usually head straight for the closest white spot of sand I can see when I am descending and try and lock in a MWB before I really start the dive. If I can get the camera to lock at 40-50', depending on the sunlight, then I normally won't try to re balance at deeper depths unless it is another sandy area with good light where I think I can actually make an improvement.