White balance – adjusting the color tone – Olympus E-410 User Manual

Page 49

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49

Shooti

ng functions – Exposure, image and color

3

Color reproduction differs depending on the light conditions. For instance, when daylight or

tungsten lighting is reflected on white paper, the shade of white produced will be slightly

different for each. With a digital camera, white color can be adjusted to reproduce more natural
white with a digital processor. This mechanism is called white balance. There are 4 options for

setting the WB with this camera.
Auto white balance
This function enables the camera to automatically detect white in images and adjust the color

balance accordingly. Use this mode for general use.
Preset white balance
Seven different color temperatures are programmed on this camera covering a variety of indoor

and outdoor lighting including fluorescent lights and light bulbs. For example, use preset WB

when you want to reproduce more red in the picture of a sunset, or capture a warmer artistic

effect under artificial lighting.
Custom white balance
You can change the color temperature of one of the preset WB settings to your liking.

g “Setting the auto / preset / custom white balance” (P. 50)
One-touch white balance
You can set the optimum white balance for the shooting conditions by pointing the camera at a

white object like a sheet of white paper. The white balance achieved with this setting is saved

as one of the preset WB settings.

g “Setting the one-touch white balance” (P. 51)
Color temperature
The spectral balance of different white light sources is
rated numerically by color temperature – concept of

physics, expressed using the Kelvin (K) temperature

scale. The higher the color temperature, the richer the

light in bluish tones and the poorer in reddish; the

lower the color temperature, the richer the light in

reddish tones and the poorer in bluish.
It follows, then, that the color temperatures of

fluorescent lights make them unsuitable as artificial

light sources. There are gaps in the hues from the

color temperatures of fluorescent light. If these

differences in hue are small, they can be calculated
with color temperature and this is called correlated

color temperature.

The 4000 K, 4500 K and 6600 K preset settings in this camera are correlated color

temperatures, and should not be considered strictly as color temperatures. Use these settings

for shooting conditions under fluorescent lights.

White balance – Adjusting the color tone

• The color temperatures for each light

source indicated in the above scale are
approximate.

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