Selecting The White Balance; About White Balance - Canon EOS 1D Instructions Manual

Selecting the White Balance

The following white balance settings are provided: Auto, daylight, shade, overcast, tungsten,
fluorescent, flash, custom, color temperature, and personal white balance (set with the
bundled driver software, →p.45).
Auto Daylight
Personal white balance settings (→p.45)
Not displayed if not registered in the camera.

About White Balance

The three R (red), G (green), and B (blue) primary colors exist in varying proportions in a light
source depending on its color temperature. When the color temperature is high, there is more
blue. And when the color temperature is low, there is more red. As the color temperature
increases from low to high, the color cast changes in the following sequence: red, orange,
yellow, white, and bluish white. For example, if you have a white object under a lit tungsten
light bulb, it will look red or orange in the photograph. If it is under fluorescent light, it will look
greenish.
To the human eye, a white object still looks white regardless of the type of lighting. The human
eye is highly adaptive to different types of lighting and color temperatures. With a film-based
camera, you can attach a color correction filter to the lens or use tungsten film to compensate
for the color cast caused by the light source's color temperature. With a digital camera's white
balance setting, you can digitally compensate (based on a standard white color) the color
temperature so that the colors in the image look more natural.
When < > is set, auto white balance is obtained with the CCD sensor and external white
balance sensor. If the external white balance sensor is obstructed, an auto white balance
reading will still be taken. However, it will be a different reading from when the sensor is not
obstructed. If you cannot obtain the image with the desired white balance setting, use a white
balance setting other than <
Select the white balance setting.
1
•
While pressing the <
to select the desired white balance setting. Then let
go of the <
Shade Cloudy
Color Temperature
>.
> button, turn the <
> button.
Tungsten
Custom
> dial
2
Fluorescent
Flash
41