Nikon’s improved Auto White Balance
Wolf | January 13th, 2010 - 11:16About a week ago Nikon released firmware update 1.02 for the D700, a camera, which I am using. One of the improvements mentioned was auto white balance performance.
I did a few test shots this morning in my snowy garden with auto white balance on the P setting. There are various ways of creating a reference image for white (or rather grey) balancing. I am using a QP Card, which is a simple and accurate method.
I was impressed with the results of Nikon’s improved AWB (auto white balance). The original RAW image measured 5,750 in colour temperature with a tint, as it is called in Adobe Lightroom, of -9. The medium grey measured from the QP Card came out at 5,900 with a tint of -5. One simple test does not reveal all but the results are pretty close.
Nikon’s improved AWB does not eliminate the need for grey balancing completely but gives the photographer a fair chance to balance images, which were made without a reference shot or custom AWB.
