Set custom White Balance

[WouterB]

Hi,

I was wondering if anykne can confirm this. Paul Leeming in his Leeming Lut Settings for the Mavic 2 Pro suggests that of you point the camera of the Mavic 2 Pro at a greycard, and then select the custom white balance, it actually sets a custom white balance.

The reason I ask is because Paul Leeming also suggests (apart from filming ettr), that setting custom white balance in a camera before you start filming actually maximises the dynamic range.

Wouter.

 

[brett8883]

Hi,

I was wondering if anykne can confirm this. Paul Leeming in his Leeming Lut Settings for the Mavic 2 Pro suggests that of you point the camera of the Mavic 2 Pro at a greycard, and then select the custom white balance, it actually sets a custom white balance.

The reason I ask is because Paul Leeming also suggests (apart from filming ettr), that setting custom white balance in a camera before you start filming actually maximises the dynamic range.

Wouter.

To my knowledge you still have to set the custom white balance manually using the gray card (a white card would be better actually) as reference. However, with a drone setting white balance to daylight is all that is really needed 90% of the time.

LUTs require correct white balance to work properly so that makes sense. Saying it affects dynamic range is a bit of a strange way to put it, though it does make sense to some degree if you really dig into it. There are plenty of good reasons to set correct white balance and maybe saying if maximizes dynamic range is just a simplified explanation. This only matters for video and jpeg photos btw. RAW photos can have the white balance set in post without any issues.

Setting correct exposure in camera would have a much larger effect on dynamic range and thats the real reason for a grey card (not to be confused with a white card.) You use the spot metering tool to set the exposure on the gray card for optimal exposure. I wonder if this is what he was referring to? The problem with that is correct exposure on the ground isn’t necessarily the correct exposure in the sky so using the histogram is a better tool in this case than relying on a gray card.

 

[WouterB]

Thank you for your reply, what you say makes sense.

I have only a rudimentary knowledge about colorscience. I would think though, that assuming RGB is all perfectly level with the exact white balance, and the G beying used as main reference for luminosity, that setting a good whitebalance would indeed benefit the dynamic range. No clue to what extend though.

Being a novice, I tend to believe somekne like Paul Leeming though

To clarify, I am speaking about video only, log 10 bit 24p.

 

[eEridani]

With a set white balance, the chroma won't be all over the map as if you left the camera adjusting for whatever color the various scenes look like. Hence, you should end up with a more consistent dynamic range, and less chance some of the video is pegged into a corner case.

 

[brett8883]

Thank you for your reply, what you say makes sense.

I have only a rudimentary knowledge about colorscience. I would think though, that assuming RGB is all perfectly level with the exact white balance, and the G beying used as main reference for luminosity, that setting a good whitebalance would indeed benefit the dynamic range. No clue to what extend though.

Being a novice, I tend to believe somekne like Paul Leeming though

To clarify, I am speaking about video only, log 10 bit 24p.

White balance comes in after sensor data is read so it doesn’t affect sensor dynamic range. It would only potentially affect dynamic range due to editing the already demosaiced image in your NLE and it would affect color channels not overall luminosity. If you don’t change the color balance in the editor it won’t affect dynamic range at all. Like I said though you still want to get white balance correct in camera.

 

[WouterB]

Thanks for all the replies. They make sense.

So if I understand correctly, setting white balance in the camera will not affect the dynamic range of the image captured in-camera. But, if it is not set properly in the camera and I have to change it in post, that will influence the dynamic range.

Hence, setting white balance or not does have an effect on the dynamic range, but not in the way I thought. Setting the best white balance in-camera will ensure I will not lose dynamic range with colorgrading?

 

[brett8883]

Thanks for all the replies. They make sense.

So if I understand correctly, setting white balance in the camera will not affect the dynamic range of the image captured in-camera. But, if it is not set properly in the camera and I have to change it in post, that will influence the dynamic range.

Hence, setting white balance or not does have an effect on the dynamic range, but not in the way I thought. Setting the best white balance in-camera will ensure I will not lose dynamic range with colorgrading?

Yes. For example, say the blue channel is already close to clipping in the sky and then you need to make the white balance cooler. Well to preserve the luminosity of those pixels while making the pixel cooler, the editor will increase the blue channel while decreasing the red and green channel. You could have a situation where the blue channel is clips but the red and green aren’t clipped so you’ll get a color cast in the sky. Most evaluations of dynamic range will won’t count stops with clipped channels so technically this could be considered lower dynamic range. At least that’s the only way I can see how white balance would affect dynamic range. It’s certainly not directly related.

 

[Pixeldawg]

Hi,

I was wondering if anykne can confirm this. Paul Leeming in his Leeming Lut Settings for the Mavic 2 Pro suggests that of you point the camera of the Mavic 2 Pro at a greycard, and then select the custom white balance, it actually sets a custom white balance.

The reason I ask is because Paul Leeming also suggests (apart from filming ettr), that setting custom white balance in a camera before you start filming actually maximises the dynamic range.

Wouter.

This is an old thread, but I am having questions about how to custom white balance a M2P. I can tell you though that with a gray card, you dun the risk of inaccurate readings because of use. They fade, get dirty and are not as reliable as other ways of doing this. There is a device called an Expodisc that is 99.97% color accurate and is made for doing custom white balances. Here is an article that I wrote while writing for Popular Photography & Imaging magazine:

Field Test: Expodisc

Get the right white with this helpful and easy white balance tool.

www.popphoto.com

I use mine for just about every shot I make with the DSLR and rarely, if ever do I do color corrections. Works really, really well. Hope this helps.

Cordially,

Mark Lent

 

[WouterB]

I am aware of the existence of this device, which might be good for DSLR, but as you know, this was asking about a M2P, for which this device is completely useless...

 

[DoomMeister]

This is an old thread, but I am having questions about how to custom white balance a M2P. I can tell you though that with a gray card, you dun the risk of inaccurate readings because of use. They fade, get dirty and are not as reliable as other ways of doing this. There is a device called an Expodisc that is 99.97% color accurate and is made for doing custom white balances. Here is an article that I wrote while writing for Popular Photography & Imaging magazine:

Field Test: Expodisc

Get the right white with this helpful and easy white balance tool.

www.popphoto.com

I use mine for just about every shot I make with the DSLR and rarely, if ever do I do color corrections. Works really, really well. Hope this helps.

Cordially,

Mark Lent

Mark,

Can you explain how you use the expodisc on an MP2 (or any other drone) since it cannot be attached to the camera?