White balance changes on its own at DVinfo.net

Patrick Simpson · November 22nd, 2005, 03:43 PM

Sometimes when we shoot with our XL2 the white balance will shift all on it's own as we shoot. For example, recently we were doing a shoot inside with halogen lights and the XL2 set to the indoor white balance setting. As we shot it shifted back and forth from cool to warm. We've also had this happen with our XL1S cameras. Anybody know what's going on?

Richard Hunter · November 23rd, 2005, 12:18 AM

Not sure of the reason for this, but if you shoot with a fixed shutter speed (Tv mode) it doesn't happen.

Richard

Chris Hurd · November 23rd, 2005, 12:27 AM

Also be sure that Gain is not set to Auto, as that can affect WB.

Patrick Simpson · November 23rd, 2005, 11:21 AM

So I take it you guys have had the white balance shift like that for you too?

The XL2 was in Manual mode with the gain set to 0; so once a take started, the gain and shutter speed stayed consistent and yet the white balance still shifted a lot.

James Bridges · November 23rd, 2005, 12:03 PM

Had this same problem before. How I fixed it.

1. Don't shoot with auto settings.

2. Make sure all your lighting is the same temp.

If there is a flourescent light anywhere close and you are lighting with halogens then look out here comes the shifting.

Tim Dashwood · November 23rd, 2005, 12:25 PM

You mentioned Halogen lights. They are the seed of the problem. I have seen the same thing when shooting in a Hockey Arena with white set to preset.
The halogens are phasing out of sync with the shutter of the camera. Try setting your shutter speed to 1/60 and see if it solves the problem.

I'll look up a better technical explanation and get back to you.

Tim Dashwood · November 23rd, 2005, 01:22 PM

OK. Here's some info that might shed some light on the phenomenon.

http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%...oLightF900.htm

Richard Hunter · November 23rd, 2005, 06:35 PM

Thanks for the link Tim. It happened to me in an office interview shoot where there were both fluorescent strip lights and halogen downlights. When moving the camera around I noticed a blue colour shift even though I had set a manual WB. Setting the shutter to 1/50s cured it (I am in PALland).

Richard

November 22nd, 2005, 03:43 PM	#1
Patrick Simpson Tourist Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lindale, TX Posts: 2	White balance changes on its own Sometimes when we shoot with our XL2 the white balance will shift all on it's own as we shoot. For example, recently we were doing a shoot inside with halogen lights and the XL2 set to the indoor white balance setting. As we shot it shifted back and forth from cool to warm. We've also had this happen with our XL1S cameras. Anybody know what's going on?

November 23rd, 2005, 12:27 AM	#3
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Also be sure that Gain is not set to Auto, as that can affect WB. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

November 23rd, 2005, 12:03 PM	#5
James Bridges Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Posts: 113	Had this same problem before. How I fixed it. 1. Don't shoot with auto settings. 2. Make sure all your lighting is the same temp. If there is a flourescent light anywhere close and you are lighting with halogens then look out here comes the shifting. __________________ James out------ Check out the Southern Winds Film Festival. Call for entries is now open! http://www.southernwindsfilmfestival.com http://www.phigmentphilms.com

November 23rd, 2005, 12:18 AM	#2
Richard Hunter Trustee Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Lipa City Batangas, Philippines Posts: 1,110	Not sure of the reason for this, but if you shoot with a fixed shutter speed (Tv mode) it doesn't happen. Richard

November 23rd, 2005, 11:21 AM	#4
Patrick Simpson Tourist Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lindale, TX Posts: 2	So I take it you guys have had the white balance shift like that for you too? The XL2 was in Manual mode with the gain set to 0; so once a take started, the gain and shutter speed stayed consistent and yet the white balance still shifted a lot.

November 23rd, 2005, 12:25 PM	#6
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	You mentioned Halogen lights. They are the seed of the problem. I have seen the same thing when shooting in a Hockey Arena with white set to preset. The halogens are phasing out of sync with the shutter of the camera. Try setting your shutter speed to 1/60 and see if it solves the problem. I'll look up a better technical explanation and get back to you.

November 23rd, 2005, 01:22 PM	#7
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	OK. Here's some info that might shed some light on the phenomenon. http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%...oLightF900.htm

November 23rd, 2005, 06:35 PM	#8
Richard Hunter Trustee Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Lipa City Batangas, Philippines Posts: 1,110	Thanks for the link Tim. It happened to me in an office interview shoot where there were both fluorescent strip lights and halogen downlights. When moving the camera around I noticed a blue colour shift even though I had set a manual WB. Setting the shutter to 1/50s cured it (I am in PALland). Richard