Step Custom WB in Zero (Underwater) Steps

[carlkcarlk]

[This is both obvious and untested, but may still be useful …]

My stills look great, but my videos are bad because I don't have a custom WB set. I don't want to set a custom WB underwater. Instead, I'll set it before the dive. I'll set using a photo from a previous, but similar, dive.

Details:

To set a custom white balance for a camera like the Canon GX7 II, requires about 10 steps, underwater. (Canon offers an alternative "underwater WB" setting, but apparently no one uses or likes it.) For stills, WB doesn't matter, because RAW stills can be white balanced after the dive. If you mix videos with your stills, however, WB matters because it gets baked into the video's MP4.

Solution: Set the custom WB before the dive. Use a picture from a previous, but similar, dive.

Below is the previous photo, I used. Also, a picture of what my screen now looks like.

Does anyone else do this? What are the pros and cons?

- Carl

 

[JohnnyC]

If you set your WB on your camera to what it wants to be at depth, it will most certainly look strange when viewed above water in normal light.

My first suggestion would be to look through your menu system and see if you can set custom functions to either dedicated custom buttons, or perhaps overwrite a little used function so that you have quicker access to your white balance settings.

Alternatively, color grade your stuff in post. Even iMovie offers video white balance adjust. Stick a slate in front of your lens right after you hit record, balance in post based on the 2 seconds your slate is in front of the lens, and then trim it from the clip during editing. It will get you accurate white balance on a clip-by-clip basis.