Auto White Balance - Nikon D300 User Manual

Auto White Balance

Auto White balance works pretty well in the D300(S). As the
camera's RGB meter senses colors, it does its best to balance
to any white or mid-range grays it can find in the image.
However, the color will vary a little on each shot. If you shoot
only in Auto WB mode, your camera considers each image a
new WB problem and solves it without reference to the last
image taken. Therefore, you may see a variance in the color
balance of each image when using Auto WB mode.
The Auto WB setting also has the fine-tuning screen
mentioned in Method 2. When you select Auto under
Shooting Menu > White balance, you can scroll to the right to
reach the next screen and fine-tune the colors. I don't see how
this is particularly useful, since each image is likely to have
slightly different color temperatures to deal with. That would
mean the fine-tuning would have little value for more than an
image or two. If you were shooting in the exact same light for
a period of time, I suppose the fine-tuning would be useful;
however, wouldn't it make more sense to do a PRE reading of
the light for exact WB? This choice will depend on your
shooting style and personal preferences.
My Opinion about Auto WB
If you are concerned with a series of images having the same
color settings so that they look similar and require no extra
post-processing, it is best to actually adjust the WB to one of
the preset or measured values. This way, each image taken
will have the same color balance. Auto WB takes control of
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