PapaLazarou
Mr Joyful
Reged: 04/01/2006
Posts: 206
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I am photographic at a gig tonight and wish to avoid mixed lighting, I intend to shoot with a CTO (daylight to tungsten) filter over my 430 flash-head so as to match the native colour temp of the stage lights, however can anybody tell me (as the handbooks are unclear):
My camera seems to default to flash WB whenever the flash is atached, no matter what WB mode I have selected, can I over ride this, either at the body end or the flash end?
I want to shoot in tunsten WB so that the colours come out right, I know if I shot RAW I can ballance it all anyway, but for peace of mind I'd like to have a colour correct version to review.
Many thanks
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Fen
BAD WOLF
Reged: 12/03/2002
Posts: 20924
Loc: Currently Unknown!
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Have you checked that you can use flash? Some venues don;t allow it.
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Fen .......... My Galleries - My Blog - My Flickr
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El Sid
Going potty
Reged: 14/04/2003
Posts: 9463
Loc: Sussex-by-the-Sea
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I photographed a mates band a while back and I left the white balance mostly on auto... The lighting at most gigs is so varied in colour that there probably is no 'right' balance anyway but I found by and large that auto made a pretty good stab at rendering them pretty much as they appeared... I was shooting in RAW anyway which allowed me to further mess about with the colours in post processing. None of the copies I gave to the band were absolute representations of the true colour of the lighting but adjusted to give the best overall effect/appearance...
Using a filter over the flash is a good idea. I did take a few with flash added (though I was only using the built in one and IIRC I turned it down by a stop or so) and you can clearly see the balance difference between the flash illuminated subject and the background.
Not sure about the automatic setting of the white balance though... Normally I'd expect that sort of thing to be limited strictly to the scene modes while the PASM section should be fully adjustable. Is there possibly a custom function in the camera or on the flash which relates to white balance selection?
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Nigel
Completely BSRIPN 
ElSid Gallery
A camera in the hand is better than one in the cupboard........
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PapaLazarou
Mr Joyful
Reged: 04/01/2006
Posts: 206
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Hi chaps, yup, flash is allowed as its a friends band, cheers for the comments, I'm trying to even out the light sources regardless of gels on for effect, if I can get all lights at a base starting point of a similar colour temp then there is no danger of mixed lighting, and gels etc come out correctly, I'm also going to set a fairly lengthy shutter so that the background and foreground come out fairly naturally. Even in M with WB set to tungsten it still looks very orange so I'm guessing that the camera is giving me flash WB regardless, according to the handbook for the flash this can happen with certain models, it says to consult the handbook of the camera, which I have, and am still none the wiser....
Guess its shoot it in RAW for a few and see how it looks.
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Benchista
Wich Tyler
Reged: 11/08/2000
Posts: 37849
Loc: Everywhere and nowhere, baby
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I think the latest guns all set the WB automatically. Maybe there's a way of overriding it, but it'll be buried in the manual. If not, the only serious option for now is to shoot in RAW, and then maybe buy an older gun.
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Nick
www.nbrphoto.com
Light and Shade II - the new blog
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PapaLazarou
Mr Joyful
Reged: 04/01/2006
Posts: 206
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That is one of those really really handy features that just ends up annoying the hell out of you!
Guess I'll need to buy a film generation gun like a 380 or 550 then!
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Benchista
Wich Tyler
Reged: 11/08/2000
Posts: 37849
Loc: Everywhere and nowhere, baby
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Yeah, unnecessary idiot-proofing. The 550 is decent, and I also use the 420EX - it's better than the 380. But check if there's a Custom Function on the flash to override it first!
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Nick
www.nbrphoto.com
Light and Shade II - the new blog
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bob58
old appendage
Reged: 27/11/2005
Posts: 987
Loc: devon
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i have the 430ex&350d it allows me to select wb unless in basic zone then it selects auto wb
have you altered a setting witout realising it, you could then try setting back to defaults
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Benchista
Wich Tyler
Reged: 11/08/2000
Posts: 37849
Loc: Everywhere and nowhere, baby
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Actually, I may be wrong - you might be able to just override it on the camera. If so, don't use AWB, as the flash will communicate incorrect info if you're filtering it - I think.
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Nick
www.nbrphoto.com
Light and Shade II - the new blog
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PapaLazarou
Mr Joyful
Reged: 04/01/2006
Posts: 206
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I've tried a half cto filter which seems to be less pronounced, think I'll need to have a go at it, funny how some things work perfectly with tv cameras that don't work so well with stills!
Thanks for the thoughts.
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Malcolm_Stewart
Carpal \'Tunnel
Reged: 11/07/2005
Posts: 2578
Loc: Milton Keynes, UK
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Quote:
...Even in M with WB set to tungsten it still looks very orange so I'm guessing that the camera is giving me flash WB regardless,...
Your problem has intrigued me so I thought I'd see what happens with my gear. I've tried 3 bodies, 10D, 5D and 1D MkIII with two flashguns, a 220EX and a 550EX. I've used P and M modes, and firstly in no case did the flashgun, when On and attached, change the WB setting showed on the camera body (but that's not what you were worried about...). I've also tried taking snaps, P and M mode, with flash in my kitchen which has fluorescent lighting, and using various WB settings on the 1D MkIII. I'd say that in all cases the results are what I'd expect - the set WB modified the colours of my white fridge much as I'd expect.
When I tried putting my 5D, set to fluorescent WB, and on the green rectangle setting, it did change the WB to AWB - just as we'd expect, and back again when I came off the green rectangle setting.
Hope you get some good pics anyway!
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Malcolm Stewart
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PapaLazarou
Mr Joyful
Reged: 04/01/2006
Posts: 206
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Hi Malcolm, I'm going to visit lees lighting and ask for some samples of different grades of cto gel, when I find what works best I'll share the info.
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PapaLazarou
Mr Joyful
Reged: 04/01/2006
Posts: 206
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As promised....
Thanks to the nice folks at Lee I can now share that their 3/4 CTO gel (no. 285) mired +124 works perfectly, converting my 430EX output to tungsten.
I shouldn't share this bit probably, but if you also have a 430 or 420, the sample from their swatch book (free by request from their website) covers the face of the gun perfectly (held in place by a stofen...
Top hole!
The swatch book has hundreds of other filters for you to play about with if coloured flash is your thang...
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