Why is custom white balance in Canon DSLR's so cumbersome?

Question

I've always wondered why custom setting the white balance in Canon dslr's (focus on white surface, take picture, goto menu, goto define custom white balance, choose picture, validate) is so much more annoying then custom WB on, say, entry-level professional video cameras (focus on white surface, push "custom WB" button) ?

After scouring the web for other techniques or ways that I could have overlooked, seems there's no easier way to set custom WB on Canon.

For Nikon users it seems simpler, yet not quite as simple as in video cameras: you have to be in some 'PRE' mode and just shoot a white surface.

Or am I missing something and custom WB is just a not so much used feature for photographers, and I'm just spoiled by my experience with video cameras ?

Asked by Berzemus

Answer

I was also wondering why the setting is created this way, then a senior photographer explained to me that it has several reasons:

• this way, the calibrating image is saved on your memory card and you can capture more of them, one for each scene and then eventually swith between them (however, I find this quite uncomfortable as I would need to browse the card a lot and I often use more then one card, so the calibrating image might not be saved on my actual card at all)
• the main reason I suppose is that it keeps it saved for post-production. If you accidentally change your WB settings (and that can happen very easily, because Canon camera remembers WB settings for each capture mode individually), the whole rest of the picture set can go wrong and you need to repair WB settings in post-production. In that case, you can load the calibrating image and correct pictures with its help in a much easier way. Otherwise you would need to guess the WB and the result would depend on your screen setting, PC-room light conditions etc.

BTW, I can recommend using a WB calibration cap - it is very small (it has the same size as a filter), it is made from a white translucent plastic and works like a charm. Much more comfortable to carry around than a white balance card, toilet paper or whatever. You just need to take a picture with this cap on your lens using manual focus and the result image can be used as the WB calibrating image.

Jakub

Answered by Jakub

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