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How to set camera white balance for A7II?


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Hi, new to the forum and the camera! The image is what I got with the handshake SCN settings, trying to get the background closer to white. Can anyone tell me how to set white balance? I'm doing some studio shots with a white background. Over time, I will invest in studio strobes. Right now, trying to push the camera, to both see the background as white, and also not blow out the subject too much. I'm thinking some kind of combination with HDR and exposure adjustment? Any advice? 

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SCN stuff has no place in a studio setting. 

   

Manual control is best for studio work. I'm 

going to assume you need some training 

in the basics of photography. Some prefer 

books and others use videos. 

   

Altho not "Lesson One" in "Photo 101", for 

working with a white [or black] background 

you should google about using a gray card 

for exposure measurement. While it's not 

"Lesson 1" it's also not exotic info, and is 

not only easy to understand as procedure, 

but where the tutorial mentions WHY you 

use it, then THAT element of the lesson IS 

a fine introduction to what exposure is all 

about ... IOW pretty close to "Lesson 1" :-)    

     

-------------------------------------------------------    

 

If your camera were reeeeally smart, and if 

every single pixel had its own autonomous 

ability to adjust white balance and exposure 

automatically, then all your pictures would  

be blank looking medium gray rectangles,  

with almost no hint of subject matter. If the 

reason for this is obvious to you then you've 

got a decent head start in photography. If it's

not obvious to you, the gray card use tutorial 

will give you a grasp of it. This is the essence

of photographic imagery, film and digital. 

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To clarify, back in university, I managed a camera store and shot professionally, so I have more than a passing acquaintance with traditional photography. Right now, I intend to use any digital tool and any auto button that makes images better, faster.  My interest when it comes to the "studio" stills work is to shoot/process as efficiently as possible, without a complicated studio set up, or a lot of work in post. As I mentioned above, trying to go as far as possible using only the camera. The maximum physical print size would be 8x10, most images will be used online. The question about white balance really has two parts:

 

 

PART I - single exposure

The first part is more of a "where is the button question" on white balance with the ARII. The camera's exposure latitude should buy me something for shooting stationary objects with a white background, right? Not looking for perfect hex f white, just a pleasing white background. (And yes, I have found the exposure dial, and tried to use a few white balance settings.) Any thoughts? Any preferred settings, or is it best to just use the exposure wheel, so that you can preview results on the screen? 

 

PART II - multiple exposures

I'm new to HDR, but it seems that if I could stitch together multiple bracketed exposures to correct the color of the sky in a landscape, I should be able to use the same technology to correct the color of a background in a studio shot. Again, to do as little as possible in post, are you finding the in-camera HDR settings effective for this kind of shooting? Or are you opting for bracketing exposures and creating HDR images in post? If you are going into post, what's your preferred HDR software?

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Guest Jaf-Photo

The auto modes are for happy snappers not for (ex) pros doing studio work. Also, your questions are at odds with your stated credentials. Not saying you're lying, just saying you should take a deep breath and go back to square one

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Ok, not hung up on auto modes per se. And my photo background is in traditional photography. Now, I want to leverage any new technology available for this particular task. Like an auto setting that combines a few images for stabilization, suspect that setting is related to the in-camera HDR setting?  I have about 400 paintings, sculptures and antiques to shoot, some items for auction catalog, While I will have more creative fun with landscape and other photography, for this work, the goal is to keep things as simple and fast as possible. Was hoping that I could get some pointers on how to best use the non-traditional camera features and capabilities to save time. 

 

Does anyone have any tips, particularly about leveraging HDR for this?

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Guest Jaf-Photo

If you are shooting antiques for a catalogue, the two most important things are staging and lighting. After that you just measure exposure and white balance once on manual settings. Then you just shoot.

 

Deep breath. Square one.

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`   

   

Jaf is right on, but didn't answer about HDR.  

   

Yes, HDR can be helpful, very helpful, with 

tricky contrat and uglee shadows. But you 

will almost always hafta do some post to get 

an atractive, eye-catching image. HDR can 

often look kinda "clinical". 

    

You likely WILL face situations where using 

HDR plus post is actually fater than trying to 

force the camera to provide a ready-to-use 

result WITHOUT trying HDR.  

   

IOW, despite 40 gazillion convenience and 

"safety" automatic options, there is still truth 

to "No Free Lunch" :-(   

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest Jaf-Photo

Does it tint the light? I'm just curious because Gary's selling point is that it doesn't colour the light, unlike the much cheaper tupperware people like to use ;)

 

I actually broke down and bought Gary Fong's lighting kit.

I've never paid so much for a grey plastic cup in my life but my skin tones are as good as any Alexa...

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No. You'll get the same white balance with the auto setting, under ideal lighting conditions.

But if you run and gun and want consistent skin tones, it's quite useful.

You have to hold it next to the subject's face.

 

Does it tint the light? I'm just curious because Gary's selling point is that it doesn't colour the light, unlike the much cheaper tupperware people like to use ;)
 

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That seems to be the use for it; if you're in a wide open place where you can't bounce.

Yeah, and with multiple light sources. Can't say if it's an improvement over a greyscale because to be honest I've never used one. I'm told the curvature matters ...

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