p.1 #1 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
So I took a 5+ year break from Sony (original A7s / A7rII owner)..
Picked up an A1 for the autofocus mostly, 8k video, and long lens selection for a little birding.
Been great so far, really an amazing camera.
One thing that has irked me is the camera's AWB, especially in golden hour / sunset / twilight.
Are there any tricks / tweaks / settings I should be trying here?
The AWB seems to be much worse in these scenarios than recent offerings from Leica, Hasselblad or Sigma.
This so far has been the only aspect that feels like a step back for me.
p.1 #2 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
AWB to be clear is imprecise to be honest, it reads whatever it sees and adjust it. Far better off just going in daylight especially sunset or golden hour as AWB is trying to correct it. You don't want that correction. Green walls it will try to correct it. It's basically dumb and stupid But it certainly is better than the older models so they have kicked up AWB to be better. Im finding I like the The A7RV better than my old A1when it comes to color a few other members have picked up on that as well.
p.1 #3 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
I have been finding the AWB on the A7R5 to be the best of the best so far. Worked with prior Sony bodies, OM-1, Canon R5 and Nikon Z7. In all cases this new Sony is DEAD ON where the others were not too reliable all the time to say the least. I'm impressed with what Sony's done with this new A7R5, that and their focus system.
p.1 #4 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
The A7R5 has that new sensor on the front of the camera. It that the secret sauce that is improving white balance??
Jan 18, 2023 at 03:20 PM
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p.1 #5 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
Bertrick wrote:
The A7R5 has that new sensor on the front of the camera. It that the secret sauce that is improving white balance??
that new white balance sensor made it's debut on the a7siii, and the a1 got the same thing.
the a7r5 could have improved a.i. white balance processing, tho.
Jan 18, 2023 at 03:39 PM
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p.1 #6 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
Stephen G wrote:
One thing that has irked me is the camera's AWB, especially in golden hour / sunset / twilight.
Are there any tricks / tweaks / settings I should be trying here?
The AWB seems to be much worse in these scenarios than recent offerings from Leica, Hasselblad or Sigma.
This so far has been the only aspect that feels like a step back for me.
it's probably a setup issue, but hard to tell since you didn't list what settings you are using, raw vs. jpg, surely you aren't trying to evaluate it with the evf/lcd, etc.
p.1 #9 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
Being unprofessional , I use AWB with priority set to White. And then of course I adjust to taste. The default is Standard, and there is a third option of Ambience.
Not sure changing those settings would help you.
As suggested you could pick Daylight as a neutral setting and adjust from there.
p.1 #10 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
q-w-z wrote:
Did you try different AWB settings e.g. White or Ambient Priority?
---------------------------------------------
tsdevine wrote:
Being unprofessional , I use AWB with priority set to White. And then of course I adjust to taste. The default is Standard, and there is a third option of Ambience.
Not sure changing those settings would help you.
As suggested you could pick Daylight as a neutral setting and adjust from there.
Thanks - this was the kind of info I was looking for.
Yes I shoot RAW, but didn't realize there were more granular settings to AWB - I will dig into the priority setting.
I have been shooting digital since 2000ish and had probably about 30 different DSLRs/RFs/Mirrorless, and AWB has usually been reasonably good enough, certainly the last 5 years, and especially Leica, Hasselblad, and a few others.
"You shouldn't use AWB" isn't a good reason Sony can't make theirs match the competition when everything else on these bodies is so good. If you don't like it, don't use it.. but if they are going to offer AWB, it might as well be good.
p.1 #11 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
I'm loving the white balance/colours on my A7RV. It's always difficult to evaluate as colour is so subjective but I'm much happier than with the RIV. I've been forced back to lightroom as well and I'm liking some of the colour matching profiles in there as well.
I'm not sure I'd use Sigma as an example of good AWB. My DPQuattro cameras are generally WAY off when it comes to the white balance.
Jan 18, 2023 at 05:57 PM
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p.1 #12 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
Stephen G wrote:
didn't realize there were more granular settings to AWB
"Even more amazingly, I’ve never used a camera where the Auto White Balance actually works quite well underwater. I know—underwater photography 101: Never use auto white balance for natural light. But the Alpha 1 actually throws that rule out of the window in some cases. I found it worked best in shallow water, but even when shooting wide reefscapes, it pulled out a lot of the colors that I would have never expected. I still recommend doing your own custom white balances, but it’s definitely super cool to see a camera that can actually automatically white balance underwater and it look realistic." https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/review-sony-alpha-1-a1-nauticam-housing/
"Even more amazingly, I’ve never used a camera where the Auto White Balance actually works quite well underwater. I know—underwater photography 101: Never use auto white balance for natural light. But the Alpha 1 actually throws that rule out of the window in some cases. I found it worked best in shallow water, but even when shooting wide reefscapes, it pulled out a lot of the colors that I would have never expected. I still recommend doing your own custom white balances, but it’s definitely super cool to see a camera that can actually automatically white balance underwater and it look realistic." https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/review-sony-alpha-1-a1-nauticam-housing/...Show more →
p.1 #14 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
To add to my comment I use C1 and this new A7RV really shines with my incoming Raw files. Now most of us don't shoot in camera jpeg but Im sure that got better as well. Once in C1 with my previews I typically will look for something white with my WB tool but if no white you can also even WB off a black something in the scene . Now all that means very little in a sense because we all see color differently so some like a cool temp look or a warm look. For clients I usually stay the course on WB and keep it neutral
"Even more amazingly, I’ve never used a camera where the Auto White Balance actually works quite well underwater. I know—underwater photography 101: Never use auto white balance for natural light. But the Alpha 1 actually throws that rule out of the window in some cases. I found it worked best in shallow water, but even when shooting wide reefscapes, it pulled out a lot of the colors that I would have never expected. I still recommend doing your own custom white balances, but it’s definitely super cool to see a camera that can actually automatically white balance underwater and it look realistic." https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/review-sony-alpha-1-a1-nauticam-housing/...Show more →
I had no idea why my A1 images always look more "true to life" in terms of WB compared to the [Canon] R5. That answers my question
Jan 18, 2023 at 09:46 PM
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p.1 #16 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
KarmaKramer wrote:
Why should they read the manual before posting? That’s a bit unnecessarily snooty.
he repeatedly trolled sony white balance, including after he proved that he didn't know how to operate the camera.
KarmaKramer wrote:
Getting people’s real life opinion is better than the manual.
why do you value the opinion of someone who doesn't know how to use a camera?
Jan 18, 2023 at 09:54 PM
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p.1 #17 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
docusync wrote:
I had no idea why my A1 images always look more "true to life" in terms of WB compared to the [Canon] R5. That answers my question
z9 apparently doesn't have one either... sony is technologically far ahead of the competition, but they don't always do a good job of marketing their advantages, like with this dedicated white balance sensor.
p.1 #18 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
I was not trolling Sony in the sense that I want to make fun of them.
I was asking a question about a problem I had with 1 function of a camera I otherwise described as great.
I put lots of "this is a great product" and "this is the one thing bothering me" around my one singular criticism and a few people still took this far too personally.
This isn't religion or team sports, its just tools we use for our job/hobby, so please don't take questions personally.
The only way products get better is if we talk about problems we have with them.
Not everyone has the same problems or uses the tools in the same configurations and situations.
Thank you to those who provided helpful information.
Hoping I can stick with LR and not switch to C1 like I had to for a few years with Hasselblad..
Coming from other camera brands, the menu of a Sony camera has seemingly more possible settings than most of the computers and other smart devices I own.
I am a software developer, and I do not "read the manual" when I am trying to debug an issue with a setting on my computer or in debugging a piece of code. Sometimes the man page helps, but often we use google, which 95% of the time works to find a working example, and if that fails, go ask a question.
Unfortunately given the economics of web advertising, a lot of camera related "how to" content has now moved to YouTube and I don't wish to watch 5 different reviewers 30min videos on how to setup my camera. We seem to have to fallback to forums more for photography in that sense.
p.1 #19 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
Unfortunately given the economics of web advertising, a lot of camera related "how to" content has now moved to YouTube and I don't wish to watch 5 different reviewers 30min videos on how to setup my camera. We seem to have to fallback to forums more for photography in that sense.
p.1 #20 · Sony White Balance / Color Science in 2023
All cameras use the same "color science". Arguing over which camera's red looker redder is like arguing over which chocolate tastes better. I like Ghirardelli and anyone who prefers Hershey's is a heathen. What is referred to as "color science" is just a default camera profile and gamma. If you don't like the default setting, change it.
, I use AWB with priority set to White. And then of course I adjust to taste. The default is Standard, and there is a third option of Ambience. 