Customizing the white balance - particularly on the Canon 5D Mark II

Most dSLRs come with pre-programmed settings for the white balance for use in the different light types. (Daylight, cloudy, shade, tungsten, flourescent, or the exact Kelvin colour temperature setting) Or the camera can be set to automatic white balance (AWB).

If you only shoot in RAW the automatic white balance setting (AWB) will probably be a good solution - as the settings do not influence the RAW image data - but the white balance information can be used in your RAW processing programme later on.

However, if you shoot in JPEG, or JPEG and RAW - or especially a VIDEO, a correct setting of the white balance can be essential. The white balance of a RAW image should be corrected in the editing phase - but a colour cast on a video recording is troublesome - and will take a long time, even if you have got the proper video editing programmes for this.

Here is a video showing a quick and low tech way of customizing the white balance - you only need a sheet of white paper, a white t-shirt, etc.:

Customizing the White Balance on the Canon 5D Mark II


This video explains a lot more of the various opportunities for WB settings:

Canon 5D Masterclass in Depth White Balance Settings