Nikon D300 Complete Manual page 314

bluer, even though the light being reflected by the shirt is now
reflecting a bluer light.
Unfortunately, both film and digital cameras respond to light
in a fixed fashion, so the resulting image taken with a camera
will reveal the shirt to be a bluish white in shade and a bright,
neutral white in the sun.
Color temperature is an objective measurement that defines
the temperature at which a "black body" object would have
to be heated to radiate light in the same wavelengths. Color
temperature—the color of light—is expressed in units of
Kelvin. Though it measures temperature, units of Kelvin do
not get a degree mark, just a K (e.g. 5200K, not 5200°K).
Lower numbers indicate a "redder" light (to our eyes), higher
numbers indicate bluer light. The light itself isn't "red," it just
has more red wavelength components than, say, a "bluer"
light (which would have more blue wavelength components).
On digital cameras, you set a "white balance" to adjust the
sensor to the wavelengths of light being captured. D300's
have nine basic white balance settings:
or Automatic white balance. Nikon claims that this
â
A
function works at any color temperature between
3500K and 8000K. Note that most indoor lighting
falls below that range! Moreover, my experience
tells me that the D300 gets less accurate towards
the extremes. I'd say the most accurate range is
much narrower, perhaps 4000 to 6200K.
Indoor shots using incandescent light bulbs
(3000K)
Seven variants: Indoor shots using fluorescent
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lighting (2700K to 7200K)
Outdoor shots in direct sunlight (5200K)
®
Indoor or outdoor shots lit primarily by flash
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(5400K)
Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
V1.02
Page 314