White Balance - Show setting in Viewfinder/LCD screen

[erik_christensen3]

<p>Came across the a question today regarding showing the white balance setting in the view finder/LCD screens just like you have the ISO, shutter speed etc.<br>

I am aware that all experts say no need, as if you use RAW then it is a piece of cake to change it in PS or LR etc.<br>

Are there any Nikon models, which can show this optional information f.inst. like bracketing - turn on/off?</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

I don't think it's in the viewfinder of any Nikon (though

I've not checked older models). It's on the control panel

LCD of the D500, D610, D8x0 (etc.) and single-digit

Nikons, though it's missing from the D7x00, D750 and

Df. I think it's on the info display on the rear LCD of

everything.

 

I don't know that there's "no need" so much as it taking

up a lot of space for the icons, because they're shown in

a way that doesn't overlap; if the viewfinder display was

actually a pixel matrix this wouldn't be such a problem.

Plenty of pros shoot jpeg (or raw + jpeg) and in theory it

could affect the metering even for raw - though I don't

know how many use custom wb (I rarely bother, but I'm

no pro).

[Matthew Currie]

<p><em>...missing from the D7x00,...</em></p>

<p>I just got a D7100 and it's on the top LCD screen of that one. When you push the WB button, the rear wheel controls the basic WB setting, and the front fine tunes it toward the amber or blue within that setting. If you set the WB to "K" then, when you press the button the color temperature in Kelvin appears at the top of the display and can be set with the front wheel. The basic setting is always present as an icon at the bottom left of the display, the fine tuning or Kelvin settings appearing when the button is pressed. When a basic setting is altered, an asterisk appears in front of its icon.</p>

<p>I think on the D7200 this display is changed and no longer appears on the top, in favor of bigger numbers and simultaneous display of ISO and shots remaining, which was toggled in the D7100. </p>

[Andrew Garrard]

Thanks Matthew. So much for my research - I was going

to say "it's on all control panels except the Df" (since it's

been there on every camera I've owned) then thought I'd

double check some manuals, and carelessly

extrapolated between the D7x00 models. I should know

better! And the colour temperature thing rings a bell;

shows how often I spend away from "auto"!

[rodeo_joe1]

Custom white balance shouldn't be neglected. It's

the only option for some types of lighting. It

certainly gets a truer result under domestic CF

lamps than AWB. Also works for over blue "white" LEDs.

 

All that's needed is a sheet of white paper and the

patience to hold the WB button for a few seconds to set the camera into Custom White Balance acquisition mode.

 

Getting the same result manually means tweaking the "K" or other preset balance by moving the origin of the Lab colour graph in the WB sub menu. And that's a very time consuming trial-and-error process.

 

Of course from RAW you simply have to find something white or neutral grey in the image and drop the colour-picker tool on it in an image processor. FWIW, I often use the white of a person's eye for that purpose.

[erik_christensen3]

<p>Thank you very much for your comments. Learn something every day - I was not aware of the fine tuning of the K value by pressing WB and front command wheel!</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

Just to confirm that the D7200 has no permanent

display of WB on its top LCD. A display panel on the rear LCD opens up when the WB button is pressed to display WB mode and fine-tuning.

 

On the D700 and D800 that I have, the selected WB mode is displayed on the top LCD all the time the camera is turned on. As Matthew says, an asterisk next to the WB mode indicates that it's been adjusted away from its default setting.