600D; Question about Lighting settings Indoors

<p>I bought the 600D and initially I was shocked to see my first shots and videos on my computer monitor.<br>

I then discovered that the videos were shot at Auto exposure and the camera was using 1600 ISO which is understandably ridiculously bad in an aps-c and even in FF? I believe. I changed to manual setting; to a low 100 ISO and the results are MUCH better.<br>

I have a 2 questions people please advice me:<br>

If you shoot indoors under these conditions of 1) Fluorescent lights and 2) Tungsten Lights and 3) Mix of the two<br>

What are you supposed to do? What settings should we change; do we change white balance or something like that? there is no fluorescent setting I could see.<br>

When I leave the camera to auto the colours are really not natual and obviously due to some flaw in the lighting; I don't know if it's too much fluorescent light from the ceiling or the flash.<br>

I attached a sample; but cut the person's face as I haven't got persmission to post a photo of him online.</p>

<p>Thanks </p>

<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eljamali/6058733702/in/photostream">http://www.flickr.com/photos/eljamali/6058733702/in/photostream</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eljamali/6058733702/in/photostream">http://www.flickr.com/photos/eljamali/6058733702/in/photostream</a></p>

<blockquote>

<p>do we change white balance</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Use a white paper (or better still, a whibal card) to set white balance. This will only work well if each of the different types of lights have even distribution. Otherwise, maybe look into this: <a href="http://www.oloneo.com/en/page/photoengine/hdr-relight.html">http://www.oloneo.com/en/page/photoengine/hdr-relight.html</a></p>

<blockquote>

<p>I don't know if it's too much fluorescent light from the ceiling or the flash</p>

</blockquote>

<p>There's a filter available (window green or some such) for the flash to match it to fluorescent</p>

<p>H. JM, you can set the white balance in the camera or in the software in post production. This is possible in the DPP the camera came with in the tool pallette under shot settings.</p>

<p>Shoot in RAW (or RAW + JPEG) so that you can change white balance in DPP if it is incorrect. Saves me a lot of photos as I forgot to change WB.</p>

<p>You can still shoot 'automatic' by choosing "P" and keep control of things like ISO.</p>

<p>In financial terms, white balance would be considered "fungible". That is, if you don't get it right in the camera, it is easily fixed in post, as they say. It is of an ephemeral character, especially if you will shoot RAW so as to have what amounts to a sort of digital negative. You can fix white balance in jpgs but RAW (or .dng or such) gives more data to work with.</p>

It's true that you can change white balance after the fact, especially if you shoot RAW files. However, if you have to

get it right in camera for immediate JPEG prints or for making a movie, the Expodisc is an amazing tool for setting a

very accurate custom WB value You can set a reasonably good custom WB from a gray card, but it's not as accurate

as the Expodisc.

 

Short of that, indoors the Incandescent setting can work reasonably well (but it's never perfect). Fluorescent lights

are tough because they cone in a variety of colors. For a blend of interior lighting, the yellow of incandescent lights

usually prevails, so stick with the Incandescent preset if you don't have the time or tools to measure a custom WB

value.

 

Don't forget to switch back to Auto WB or your other preference when you move into different lighting. If you forget,

you'll be sorry when you look at your next batch of shots.

<p>I will demonstrate my ignorance and ask a question related to the OPs. I do not shoot much video with my 5DII or 7D but unlike stills where you can change the white balance in post processing (I almost always shoot in RAW except for action sports). How do you do this in video mode. I have always assumed that when you go to video on the 5DII or 7D the camera uses the white balance it had set for the last still image you shot. However, when I look at the WB for video it never looks quite right if the conditions are difficult (e.g. Ski racing, ice hockey) and I have no idea how to change it in post. Since this appears to be part of the OP's question I though I would ask for clarification. If the poor WB in video a function of video or does the camera somehow default to AWB. I should say that when I do shoot video I have the camera in manual or aperture priority.</p>

<p>The problem with WB is you can never get it right in most indoor setting due to a mix of flash, fluorescent, incandescent and often window light. Your brain's WB is amazing and it surges up and down depending what you look at. AWB tries to guess what you want and tends towards the ultra warm side for my taste. If you're really picky, the best solution is to set it prior to RAW conversion. For important photos I set separate WB for the subject and background and blend them with a layer mask in PS. Looks just like what the human eye sees rather than a blueish flash subject with strange yellow background.</p>

<p>If you really need to get the WB right in mixed lighting, you will need to eliminate one of the light sources so that there is no conflict (for example, bounced flash off a ceiling with a low ISO, fast shutter speed, medium aperture will usually eliminate all other artificial light sources, but that might kill the lighting effect you wanted to achieve) or use gels (usually some strength of orange) on the flash to match the color of the existing lighting. Photoshop can fix most things, but why do all that work when taping a gel on the flash head can solve the problem right there.</p>