Quote:
Originally Posted by Stecyk
No it isn't. The manual is virtually impossible to understand for white balance.
On page 51 of the manual, it states the following:
1) Press the AF-WB button (understood)
2) Select the custom white balance.
Look at the LCD panel and turn the dial to select custom white balance symbol (understood)
3) Photograph a white object
* The plain white object should fill the partial metering circle (easy enough)
* Set the lens focus mode to MF and focus manually (easy enough)
* Set any white balance setting (Then why did I do step 2? If I am moving to any white balance setting, what did I accomplish with Step 2? Can I choose AWB?)
* Shoot the white object so that a standard exposure is obtained (easy enough)
4) Select Custom WB via the camera menu
* Turn the dial to select Custom WB, then press set (easy enough)
* The custom white balance screen will appear (easy enough)
5) Select the image
* Turn the dial to select the image captured in step 3, then press set (easy enough)
* The image's white balance data will be imported and the menu will reappear (easy enough)
My confusion is steps 2 & 3. As I understand the written instructions (not very well), it doesn't seem we do anything with the custom white balance symbol in step 2. We select it, and we change it again before snapping a picture.
I later learned that...
1. Take a picture of a white object.
2. Select Custom White Balance on the back panel and press Set.
3. Choose the picture from step 1 and press Set. This stores a white balance setting.
4. Select Custom White Balance from the top panel when you want to use this stored white balance.
Aren't these latter four steps much easier?
Best regards,
Kevin
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One can always improve on any set of instructions. I have no problem with the Canon manual. The instructions are precise and exact and they work just fine. Step 3 could be worded better, but essentially they are saying you could use
any White Balance setting on the top LCD when shooting the reference photo, but if you choose it (CWB) to start with, then you'll not have to then choose it again later. And you notice in their instructions, they do not choose it again later.
Your instructions are perfectly okay, but just like the Canon instructions, have confusing elements. Which proves how difficult it is to write instructions. For example you say "Take a picture of a white object". Someone might think they could use a 3 dimensional object rather than a white surface. Of course Canon says this also which is a confusing element. That is to say, if you use a white ball as your reference, you will likely not get as exact a CWB as you would with a actual white card. And even then, a gray card will work better, because it is not as likely to have a hot spot. We could write several pages discussing this, but that would likely be more confusing in a manual than helpful. So Canon uses the pedantic approach which is "technically" accurate.
But actually the sort of pedantic instructions in the Canon Manual are good because they force you to work slowly through the initial phases of learning the step by step approach and then you can work out your own refinements.
I tried to explain all this to a model I was shooting and this was her reaction!
Re: Advice re: Canon 20d Digital SLR
Cheers,
Roger