WB / color cast issue

[charlie]

I don't recall ever having had this issue before I got my D800.

New camera = New processing engine.

You must adapt to it as it surely will not adapt to you.

[MFloyd]

"If you don't have a greycard, use an elephant" will be my favorite for the coming months .... more seriously, Elsa, have a try with AWB, Nikon's one is really working well. 😎

[pluton]

This stuff is quite easy to test out. Find some outdoor scene with the green which has been troublesome and shoot the scene at each of 5600K, Daylight and Auto WB (Normal). Which shot looks the best while still on the camera? That will be the shot which is easiest to adjust further in the converter/editor if or when needed.

In the D810, D500, etc, did Nikon fix the incorrect* greenish yellow rendering that my D800 and D800E rear LCDs produce?  'Cause if they haven't, I wouldn't advise anyone to make color judgments from the rear LCD.
* = Meaning 'not the way humans perceive color'.

[Andrea B.]

I never had the D800 or D800E, so I've never seen that particular problem.
The LCDs on my D810 and D500 seem OK for colour.

Did the D800/E have a Monitor Color Balance setting in the Shooting Menu?
The newer cameras have that. I haven't ever actually used it, but it's there. "-)

[elsa hoffmann]

MFloyd -  One elephant on it's way to you.

ALL the comments made here are appreciated - sometimes one doesn't see the obvious - or you just don't think. If I didn't want to learn - I never would have asked the question. It is important to me to understand what I did wrong, and why  - rather than tell me what to do. So - your comments are valuable to me.

It is true that I am shooting a LOT outside now which I didn't do before. Most of my shooting was in studio - which explains some (to me at least).
I have found AWB in studio doesn't work well at all and for that reason stuck with K5600.  Clearly a huge mistake.

[charlie]

Of course, in a studio it makes perfect sense to lock down 5200-5600k because strobes are balanced for "daylight". Most modeling lights built in to strobes however are incandescent and somewhere closer to 3200k. AWB will make judgement based on the 3200k light that is filling the room and when the strobe flashes at 5600k your white balance will be off. That is why AWB is not to be used in a studio.

Out in the real world with actual daylight so many things can effect color temperature that one Kelvin setting will never be neutral for all scenes.

[elsa hoffmann]

Thank you Charlie - I have never so much of such an issue to correct my WB in Processing for outside shooting.
As Almass and others said - I could move to another raw converter - but if I dont address the real issue - I wont get very far anyway.

[Les Olson]

I think there is an alternative explanation to a WB issue. 

It is important to remember that shadows are not neutral in colour: they are the colour of the light that falls on them.  Usually this is hard to see, but if the surface in shadow is white it can be obvious.  A common example is shadows on snow on a sunny day, which are blue-lilac because the shadow is lit by the blue sky light.  Here is a famous example (Claude Monet, "Haystacks, Effect of Snow, 1891). 

Looking at your images, I wonder if the green cast on the wall in shadow is not light reflected from the grass.   

[elsa hoffmann]

I think there is an alternative explanation to a WB issue. 

It is important to remember that shadows are not neutral in colour: they are the colour of the light that falls on them.  Usually this is hard to see, but if the surface in shadow is white it can be obvious.  A common example is shadows on snow on a sunny day, which are blue-lilac because the shadow is lit by the blue sky light.  Here is a famous example (Claude Monet, "Haystacks, Effect of Snow, 1891). 

Looking at your images, I wonder if the green cast on the wall in shadow is not light reflected from the grass.

You are wondering 100% correct I think.... makes a lot of sense for shooting wildlife  in very green surroundings.  Now how does one get rid of that AWB???

[elsa hoffmann]

BTW - Mike also posted an image which is overly green in my opinion - Mike - what WB did you use?

http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,4471.0/topicseen.html

[pluton]

Did the D800/E have a Monitor Color Balance setting in the Shooting Menu?
The newer cameras have that. I haven't ever actually used it, but it's there. "-)

No such menu item.  Note to self:  Always get the second,  improved version of the Nikon camera.

[MFloyd]

As previously mentioned, green cast can come from light reflection on the gras: here two pictures, the one (locally) uncorrected, where you see that the plane's undercarriage has a green cast; the second one, locally corrected to neutralize the green.

[elsa hoffmann]

very interesting - thanks Mr Floyd

[David H. Hartman]

A low cost trick for a custom WB is a white Melita 8-12 cup coffee filter placed over the lens. The camera is pointed toward the light source. The WB may be a touch warm. I generally only use this when I'm dealing with really nasty, spikie light sources. I've used this from time to time since my D300s.

I would think most brands of white 8-12 cup coffee filters should give useful results. Follow the instructions in your camera manual or wing it if you'd like to try. YMMV.

Dave Hartman

[elsa hoffmann]

That's a nifty trick!