Better than what? Every gym I've shot in with any camera I've owned being canon or Nikon has struggled with awb. Gyms have multiple light types and sources and they cause havoc on AWB. I always set my WB manually when I shoot in gyms.
Cycling lights are a problem because the lights themselves do not cycle in sync, therefore leaving different color casts across a scene. The phase being 60hz or so could also present an issue where a camera may not have enough time to sufficiently analyze the image to try and white balance properly. And on top of all that, the lights themselves are all going to have individual color casts based on their age, wear and tear, etc.
In my experience, the best way to work in a situation with mixed/phased/inconsistent lighting is to introduce your own lighting, either as a fill or as a main light.
Examples of fill light would be a small hotshoe flash on camera. Of course this brings about other issues with lighting (namely that deer in the headlight look, and good old demon eye).
Examples of main lighting would be a kit of 4-8 monolights or packs and heads. The problem here? Setup time, and cost, to name a few. Also, people tend to notice when you break out the fireworks from the Coneheads.
You can find ways to make your kit smaller, or cheaper, but every option has its own pros and cons.
But, to be completely honest, no camera can handle multiple light sources that phase independently, and have their own color casts.
Agreed, my question could use a little word-smithing, but Max articulated best what I was trying to get at here...
PShizzy wrote:
...The phase being 60hz or so could also present an issue where a camera may not have enough time to sufficiently analyze the image to try and white balance properly....
Compared to, say, the D3s, I was wondering if anyone has detected any improvement in the AWB to handle cycling lights.
I'm getting ready for basketball and last year I strobed because of cycling lights and high ISO noise (shooting a D700). I have a D3s now and in this particular gym I get clean images at high ISO, if I hit the cycle just right.
