Why did two photos taken minutes apart have different color on Auto White Balance?
Asked 5/17/2024
7 views
2 answers
0
I shot two JPEGs of the same tree about two minutes apart with a Nikon Z fc and NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S. The weather was cloudy with light rain, and I was standing in the same place. The second shot was aimed slightly to the right and at a subject a few feet farther away.
Settings were very similar: Aperture Priority, f/2, ISO 200, matrix metering, Auto WB. But the files show very different white balance values: one at 7750K and the other at 4650K, and the greens look noticeably different.
Why can the color change so much when the light seems unchanged, and how can I keep color more consistent in this kind of situation?
Originally by prasad_. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
prasad_
2y ago
2 Answers
20
The camera's metering system and auto white balance system are basically a database of many shooting scenarios, and the camera tries to "guess" what you are shooting and how you want it to appear. If you move the camera, and, for example, there is more sky in one photo than another, or more dark areas, or more bright areas, or more green than blue, or more blue than green, etc, etc, then the camera may decide that you want a different look.
If you want precise control of the colour captured by the camera in these situations, you should look into how to measure and set a custom white balance in your camera.
Another option is to shoot in Raw format instead of JPEG, and adjust the white balance afterwards, on the computer. If things get really critical, it helps to shoot with a known colour reference in the scene – something like a ColorChecker Passport. But you can get very good results using other options like a small WhiBal card, which is more subtle, more portable, cheaper and quicker maybe.
Originally by osullic. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
osullic
2y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The main cause is Auto White Balance, not a big change in the actual light.
AWB analyzes each frame separately and makes a best guess based on what it sees. When you changed the composition slightly, the camera likely saw different proportions of sky, foliage, dark areas, and possibly a light/white object in one frame. That can make it choose a very different white balance, which is exactly what your metadata shows.
Matrix metering can also vary exposure a bit between frames, but the big color shift is the WB change.
To get more consistent color:
- use a fixed white balance preset instead of AWB
- set a custom white balance if accuracy matters
- shoot RAW so you can adjust white balance later with much more flexibility
- for critical work, include a neutral gray/white reference
So the two photos were not really shot under “identical conditions” from the camera’s point of view: the scene content changed, and AWB responded differently.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI2y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why do different gray targets give different white balance readings?
Can large white balance corrections in RAW processing increase visible noise?
Why do two shots with different ISO/shutter settings look like they have different white balance?
Why does phone flash make brass look gray or pink indoors?
Why do cameras need white balance if our eyes already adapt to different lighting?