Fuji X-T1 - my struggle with AWB

[Olivier]

I have been enjoying my X-T1 for about 5 months now, but keep struggling with colors, somewhat from JPG and even more from RAW.
I first need to state that I am by far not an expert in color management but never had such severe issues with my D700.
I also need to restate that I am mostly colorbind, but the numbers (CMY) don't lie...

So, when set to neutral, AWB gives me really cold images, far too blue. Even I can see it!
I am opening the RAFs in PhotoNinja, save them in ProPhoto color space as TIFFs and open them in Photoshop CS6.
below is an example (a little cookie lover) of what I get if I do not touch the WB setting in PN. Too blue for me, and the dropper in PS says that skin tones really lack yellow.
I get such cold images whatever the lighting, even when I open the JPG (so it is not a RAF conversion issue). I can change the in-camera settings to modify AWB towards more yellow pictures but this only applies to JPG and I don't see why I should push yellows so much to get normal looking images.
Did anyone experience such issues with Fuji?
what is the solution (besides b&w conversion)?

if anyone wants to try, I can place the RAF file in my DropBox and share the link.
Edit: I just did: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a6ex00xyo8nqp9e/_OA05783.RAF?dl=0

Thanks for any tip!

[Sash]

What JPEG profile are you using in your camera? 
I never get that kind of cold colour with my XT-1 JPEGs.  Having used it for a year I think that 9 out of 10 FUJI JPEG WB is spot on, much better than Nikon anyway.
In this particular picture it may be affected by the lighting.

[pluton]

I wish I could help, but I've been shooting my Fuji XE1 for 2.5 years, raw files and Daylight WB only.

[PeterN]

First, relatively speaking, Fuji favors blues and reds while Nikon favors green and yellow. I've done a few tests and saw those differences in most situations.

However, yours is definitely off. I've sold my X-T1 so I can't specifically tell you where it is in the menu but there is a menu item that you can check if you haven't changed the WB-adjustment accidentally. It's a square with R,B, G, Y each on one axis.

If there is no accidental change in that setting, you could reset the camera. That has helped me once.

Sorry I can't help you better but as said, I don't have the X-T1 anymore.

[Gary]

I shoot Fuji and I am very happy with the AWB results. I am not a very technical guy. I wish I had an answer. Sometimes, when shooting in a fast paced environment, I accdently end up on the White Balance menu. So I second what PeterN has stated and check the WB menu.  Do some testing and adjust the balance accordingly then nail it in. Good luck.

[Andrea B.]

I would suggest that you buy or borrow a Color Checker Passport and profile your camera's colour in Photo Ninja. All it requires is a few shots in different light conditions to make a set of color profiles for your Fuji. I actually shoot my CC Passport at the beginning of each session and make per-session profiles. It is only about a 3 minute task to create a color profile on a per-camera or per-session basis in Photo Ninja.

I have a link somewhere about how to do this which I will dig out and provide.

BTW, once you have a color profile stored in Photo Ninja, you can choose saturation levels, sharpening, noise reduction, etc. and save all settings in a Preset. So, for example, you could make a Portrait Preset which would be quick to apply. Open photo in PN, select Portrait Preset, tweak adjustments, export as TIFF for additional editing elsewhere as needed.

Although PN's batching is a little strange, it is not impossible. So a portrait work session can quickly be profiled and batched.

Photo Ninja is not the only app which permits you to profile your camera's color. I mention it as an example because you have a copy. "-)

[PeterN]

I would suggest that you buy or borrow a Color Checker Passport and profile your camera's colour in Photo Ninja. All it requires is a few shots in different light conditions to make a set of color profiles for your Fuji. I actually shoot my CC Passport at the beginning of each session and make per-session profiles. It is only about a 3 minute task to create a color profile on a per-camera or per-session basis in Photo Ninja.

I have a link somewhere about how to do this which I will dig out and provide.

BTW, once you have a color profile stored in Photo Ninja, you can choose saturation levels, sharpening, noise reduction, etc. and save all settings in a Preset. So, for example, you could make a Portrait Preset which would be quick to apply. Open photo in PN, select Portrait Preset, tweak adjustments, export as TIFF for additional editing elsewhere as needed.

Although PN's batching is a little strange, it is not impossible. So a portrait work session can quickly be profiled and batched.

Photo Ninja is not the only app which permits you to profile your camera's color. I mention it as an example because you have a copy. "-)

That is great advice, Andrea. Howver, my hunch is that Olivier has the same issue that I had with the x-t1. In my case, the reset did it. Still don't know what caused AWB to be off but reset helped. As Gary said, Fuji's AWB is pretty good. Having said that, working with color profiles is great advice that I should also follow up upon. I did not know PN has those features!

[Lars Hansen]

Olivier - I have an X-E1 and my experience is that when using manual lenses then auto-wb can be rather unreliable.

I usually use the standard film simulation, Provia, setting in my X-E1 and with Velvia, auto-wb just get worse with my manual Minolta lenses.

If your shot is taken with your Nikon 105 (that I've seen you often use) then that could be the reason. I don't know if it is related to the coating but I've seen many odd color shifts with my collection of old Minolta lenses with different coatings. A friend of mine had similar experiences with his old manual Pentax lenses.

I suggest you try to use "Fine" (sunlight?) WB in daylight instead or (better..) use a grey card to set your wb manually though it's a bit cumbersome. Also, I don't like the color profile for X-E1 in my Capture One RAW converter so I often base my conversion on liniear response (no film curve etc.).

I recently purchased an extension for my Mastersix light meter to be able to measure color/wb but the extension is unfortunately faulty. When it sometimes works the wb is spot on.

Great shot btw. ! .. as always   

Update: it came to my mind that lens adapters from Fuji makes it possible to add some corrections in camera - this is the M mount adapter:
Quote: For each of the six focal lengths, users can define three image correction settings (distortion, peripheral illumination and color shading). As for the latter - there must be a reason  .. 

I don't know if there are similar adapters available for Nikon mount.

 

[Olivier]

First, let me ank you for offering putting a lot of thought in this and for offering great advice. I have not been able to spend much time on photography this week but have followed your suggestions and have some feedback.

Sash: I am using the standard jpg setting (Provia) but actually only use the raw files. I can fine-tune AWB in camera and increase yellows. The result is visible in jpg but not in raw (at least when opened in Photo Ninja). Happy to hear AWB works so well for you. In my case everything was wrong, always too blue!

Peter: I did reset the camera and it looks much better now. I haven't extensively tested yet but trials run this afternoon gave significantly better skin tones. Thank you!

Andrea: this color checker must be very efficient indeed. While I don't have one at hand (will look for one though) I checked that starting portrait sessions by including a white material used later to click white actually helped. It made a big difference in controlled conditions but is impractical in changing conditions, or while moving outside. And AWB should have be been more accurate than what it was! Now that I have reset the camera it is much better.

Lars: definitely, I will compare adapted lenses to my only XF lens at same focal lengths and apertures. I just haven't reached that point yet!

Again, thank you. Things are improving seriously and I will report further findings!

[Olivier]

Further tests indicate that resetting the camera helped dramatically.
Pictures made today, that typically would have been problematic (portrait, window light) are spot on now. Even with my Nikkor 105mm. Better than my D700 used to produce with regards to colors. Btw I sold the d700 yesterday.
I may finally enjoy the acclaimed Fuji colors!
Olivier

[Andrea B.]

I'm happy to hear that you found the solution, Olivier. "-)

I just wanted to mention that using only a white/grey card adjusts only the colour temperature. For complete colour adjustments on any camera, a colour profile must also be created and used. But this is advice for "perfectionists" and need not be heeded for general photography.