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Unable to White Balance using Measure option.

white balance d5300 led aquarium blue lights

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10 replies to this topic

#1
Nalchadz

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Hello Everyone,  recently I decided to purchase a DSLR camera to take pictures of my salt water aquarium.  The aquarium lights are mostly Blue LED's and White LED's.  I have been trying to do a white balance using a white balance card from a local photography shop but the camera keeps telling me that it was unable to do a white balance.  I can use the card outside of the fish tank under different lighting and everything works just fine.  Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better way to do a white balance.  My pictures do not come out nice if on Auto White Balance or even if I chose any of the other pre-set options.  The lights are 20,000 Kelvin.

 

Camera: Nikon D5300

Lens: Nikon 70-300 VR, Micro 85mm VR, and 18-55 VR.

 

 



#2
Adam

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The white balance card has to appear gray.  If there isn't enough light, it will fool the camera and thus have no effect.

 

I would recommend shooting in RAW, as this will give you complete control over the white balance in post-processing :)



#3
greenwing

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20000 K sounds very high. The D7100 manual (first one I opened - check yours for what your camera can do), in the specifications section under white balance, says "choose color temperature (2500 K - 10000 K)", so 20000 K is well out of the manually-selectable range, presumably out of the Auto range too.

 

Maybe you can shoot RAW and adjust in post processing.

 

Chris



#4
TBonz

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I agree...I would manually set to the highest temp (probably 10000) and see what it gives you.  If it still isn't quite right, shoot RAW to see what you can do in post processing.



#5
Nalchadz

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Thanks for your response everyone.  The D5300 does not have an option to change to a different K.  I did some post processing using RAW image and they are much better however I am still not able to get the natural look.



#6
Nalchadz

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When using RAW mode, what settings should I use on the camera?  For instance, should I be in manual mode or auto? Should ISO be low or high?  do any of these settings matter if shooting RAW image?

 

Thank you!



#7
Eagles1181

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Shoot the way you normally would.  

 

Focus and light still matter.  Although light is adjustable, the less you mess with light post processing the better.  Color shift (B&W conversions, white balance, ect...) don't matter and in fact are not even recorded in the file.

 

Eagle



#8
Nalchadz

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Shoot the way you normally would.  

 

Focus and light still matter.  Although light is adjustable, the less you mess with light post processing the better.  Color shift (B&W conversions, white balance, ect...) don't matter and in fact are not even recorded in the file.

 

Eagle

Okay, so as long as object in this case the fish is in focus and my ISO is high enough then I won't need to mess with the other settings.  Is that correct?



#9
Eagles1181

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Are you planning on shooting in auto?  If so, than ISO in controlled by the camera as well.  If shooting in manual, you need to worry about all three aspects of the exposure triangle (speed, aperture and ISO).

 

Eagle



#10
Nalchadz

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Are you planning on shooting in auto?  If so, than ISO in controlled by the camera as well.  If shooting in manual, you need to worry about all three aspects of the exposure triangle (speed, aperture and ISO).

 

Eagle

I am using Manual mode.  I've been doing some reading and it looks like there are tons of people who are having the same issue with shooting fish/corals under LED lighting.  Just need to keep changing the ISO, Aperture and Speed till I get the right combo I guess.



#11
Eagles1181

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LED is a strange lighting system as far as color goes.  You might try putting the white balance on AUTO and taking some test shots to see what the camera comes up with.

 

Eagle







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