Nikon D2x manual Fine-Tuning White Balance, Color Temperature

Taking Photographs—White Balance

Fine-Tuning White Balance

At settings other than (Choose color temp.) and PRE (preset), white balance can be “fine tuned” to compensate for variations in the color of the light source or to introduce a deliberate “warm” or “cold” cast into an image. Higher settings can be used to lend images a bluish tinge or to compensate for light sources with a yellow or red cast, while lowering white balance can make photographs appear slightly more yellow or red or com- pensate for light sources with a blue cast. Adjustments can be made in the range +3 to –3 in increments of one. Except in Fluorescent mode, each increment is equivalent to about 10 mired.

White balance is fine tuned using the White Balance option in the shooting menu or by pressing the WB button and rotating the sub-command dial.

The White Balance Menu

1 In the white balance menu ( 54), highlight an option other than Choose color temp. or White balance preset and press the multi selector to the right.

2 Press the multi selector up or down to choose the desired value and press the multi selector to the right. The shooting menu will be dis- played.

Color Temperature

The perceived color of a light source varies with the viewer and other conditions. Color temperature is an objective measure of the color of a light source, defined with ref- erence to the temperature to which an object would have to be heated to radiate light in the same wavelengths. While light sources with a color temperature in the neigh- borhood of 5,000–5,500 K appear white, light sources with a lower color temperature, such as incandescent light bulbs, appear slightly yellow or red. Light sources with a higher color temperature appear tinged with blue.

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