White Balance Blinking Icon Straw Poll
 

Due to a thread here, and the feedback garnered so far, I felt it was necessary to obtain some real world experiences to ascertain where we are heading on this one . .. AND prior to me sending my XM2 in for ANOTHER going over . . . still love my cammie . . this aint no XM2 bashing .. just a reality check - yeah?

Please take time to answer these 4 questions . . If you would like me to "edit" these questions and "add" or simplify or explain them I'll do so. . . .. .

1 - Do you get CONTINUED blinking on setting manual WB? - Y/N

2 - In these circumstances would you say that there was enough light to hold the WB setting and the blinking to go off? - Y/N

3 - Do to continue to film with/using the blinking WB? - Y/B

4 - Having the blinking Icon and apart from NOT taking the shot what do you do to continue?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grazie

1 - No (not even in lowlight locations)
I haven't had my XM-2 for a long time yet, so I might still run
into the problem sooner or later.

2 - NA
3 - NA
4 - NA

1.Sometimes
2. Yes, we had studio lights set up.
3. Yes
4. In the past I have persevered till it stops but on the odd occassion I have just set to indoors (in my case).

Interesting thread, can't wait to see the outcome.

1 - sometimes
2 - probably. (My problems is usually that I'm too far from what's under the lights to get enough white to fill the frame)
3 - no, I've always assumed that would give me bad results so I never even tried it.
4 - I'll usually use the indoor preset. However, I don't like the color of that as much as when I can get a WB lock.

I always assumed that the WB would drift the way the focus drifts if you zoom while it's in auto. But I never actually looked it up. I'd be happy if I were wrong on that.

1. Yes, maybe 5% of the time

2. I've always assumed that the lack of light or a not good white source was causing the blinking in the first place so I guess, no.

3 - Rarely, usually try a few more times and get it solid.

4 - I've just gone with the blinking in some cases. Since I've not seen any bad results, I'm guessing it was "OK" at least. May have to try a test and compare results now that you've got me thinking about it.

Kris - Yes, interesting "lore" going on here . . . I've found that a red rich room can truly "skew" the balance, better lighting just makes it worse. Time for a "dialable" - TRULY manual WB in order? After all we are not actual MANUALLY setting WB we're at the "whim" and vagaries of the internal circuitry. Manually to me would be to manually dial in the 255:255:255 . . . . or whatever it is . . . this is out of my knowledge base . . .

Rob - "now that you've got me thinking about it" is exactly the reason I pout up this multiple choice for a Real World experience to be "logged" here. - Yeah, it's getting very very interesting indeed . ..

. . .okay . . who's next?

Grazie

1 - Sometimes

2 - Yes

3 - Usually I get it to work, but when in a hurry, as soon as blinking slows down I shoot.

4 - The few times I had the blinking Icon it looked better than the presets, and in post I´ve found out it matches the other whites...

Graham,

My DSR 500 displays the color temp in the viewfinder once it gets a white balance. Helps because you can compare what it thinks vs what you see. Only had a problem getting it to balance one time (last Friday). It was in a gym with mercury vapor lights (very orange) and two large windows with a fair amount of outdoor light. Plenty of light but color temp readings would vary significantly based on the white I was balancing on. Eventually used a white card (PortaBrace) to get a good balance. Verified it with a Pany LCD. Ended up being about 2100 degrees.

I agree that a manual white would be GREAT, but absent that, at least a display of what it thinks would be good.

1. Sometimes.

2. I've had it happen in both low light and what I thought would be enough light (my single chip zr60 was able to white balance in the same room).

3. I was frustrated with this and looked in the manual, which implied that blinking was better than a preset. I don't have the manual with me here at work, so I am going off my memory here.

4. Now I go ahead and take the shot. Before reading up on the issue in the manual I think I went to Auto WB.

Rob - Very good points


MArk, "I think I went to Auto WB" - I THINK that when it is blinking it is not only telling us that it CAN'T get a good fix on the WB BUT also it is in AUTO WB too! What do you think?

Grazie

Grazie:

In another thread, someone quoted the manual as saying:

"Depending on the light source, the flashing may at times change to a slower speed, rather than remaining lit. The result will remain better than with the auto setting, and you can continue filming."

I haven't done any tests on this - just taken Canon at their word. I think in the future I will probably make more of an effort to get a good lock on the WB (no flashing icon) before I give in to low light :)

Excellent reminder there MArk. I too read that some time back .. it is only NOW tht it is starting to make sense too . . .

WB Blinking
 

I have this occur only when there is "nothing" to calculate the WB off of. I just shot a wedding last week. All I had to do was fill the frame with a white wall. The blinking stopped and the WB was bang on. Out doors I try to find a neutral gray color to accomplish the same thing.

I'm really glad you posted this, because I thought I was the only one with this problem. I have a GL-1, by the way.

1 - Frequently.

2 - Sometimes.

3 - Never, although from reading the other posts here I may be changing my mind about that.

4 - I usually just use the auto white balance, which looks pretty good most of the time in my opinion.

Keep it up Guys and Gals !
 

This poll is proving quite valuable. It is showing where we use a function for "ease"; "how" we understand the value of the function itself; for me it is dispelling some of the "mythology" that can at times mask understanding [ you should read a post I set up "elsewhere" concerning Kelvin colour temperatures . .very interesting that one . . . ] ; oh yeah . .a shared experience AND the actual FACTS!

Keep it up Guys and Gals - Grazie