I am trying to set the white balance on my D300. I can't get it set. I have tried a gray card, white, my mag-float, egg crate. I can't get it set. Any tips?
no camera will handle a light temp of 20k or even close.
the only way to get proper white balance is through photoshop.
there are 2 easy ways to do this.
Shoot in raw, and then use the eye dropper and click on a white/gray section of the photo. (most times it maxes out the slider, and is pretty darn close.)
The second way is using photoshop elements (more commonly affordable for the hobbiest) and going to IMAGE ---> ADJUST LIGHTING ----> TONAL CURVE
there you have 3 eye droppers that let you set a reference to black, grey, and white.
done and done.
the second option is the best way to white balance a jpeg.
you can adjust a raw image the same way in both programs, and is my preferred method.
however, for use of the preview (it always uses a jpeg for the preview, even if only shooting raw) i set white balance to shade (through the menu, not the button & command wheel) and set it bias to blue +6 (or all the way to the left).
I would highly recommend in buying David Busch's "NIKON D300 GUIDE TO DIGITAL SLR PHOTOGRAPHY"
Its a great way to understand what all the new setting do, and how they work together, or against each other.
Thanks! I'm familiar with all of those, but I was referring to in camera settings. I was able to tune my D200 to get pretty close in camera. I wish I could do the same for this one.
I know it's not exact, but it's pretty helpful to see it close to what it is in the camera.
if you want to get close with say 14k, it can be done. ive used measure in the white balance setting, and i used a large lid from my calcium media.
fill the whole viewfinder, it does NOT need to be in focus.
that has worked for me in the past. Havent really bothered, as i shoot in raw anyways, and its just as easy.
sometimes is takes a few times, but with the d300 you can save it as a custom WB and select it again later....youll have to look up how to do that though, as im drawing a blank.