When is white balance bracketing useful?
Asked 6/14/2012
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2 answers
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My Canon 550D has a white balance bracketing option. In what situations is WB bracketing actually useful, and when would I be better off using another approach?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
9
To reply specifically to “Could you maybe add a concrete example of a situation in which I would want to use it?”:
You may want to use White Balance bracketing if: you don’t shoot raw or very rarely process raw files, either because you prefer the quick process of shooting JPEG files and not messing much or at all with them, or because you don’t want to learn raw processing software (Lightroom, Aperture, Camera Raw, etc.).
As others said, if you do shoot raw you probably have no use for White Balance bracketing.
Originally by user10207. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user10207
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
White balance bracketing is mainly useful when shooting JPEG and you’re unsure which white balance setting will look best. The camera records multiple color-balance variations so you can pick the best result later without doing much editing.
If you shoot RAW, WB bracketing is usually not very useful. RAW files don’t bake in white balance the same way JPEGs do, so you can adjust WB afterward and create as many versions as you want.
Better alternatives are:
- Shoot RAW if you want maximum flexibility.
- Use a custom white balance with a neutral gray/white card when accurate color matters.
A practical use case for WB bracketing is fast JPEG shooting when you want small files and minimal post-processing, but the lighting is mixed or uncertain. Otherwise, most photographers either set a custom WB or shoot RAW and correct it later.
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