White balance Auto question on Hero 7

[persyst]

Using Hero 7, I was comparing the white balance Auto vs the temperature values on an indoor photo lit with a fluorescent light overhead, and I noticed that none of the temperature value photos matched the color tone of the Auto shot. All were either too cold or too warm. The Auto gave the best color match when compared by eye to the actual scene, so is the Hero 7 Auto WB picking a value that is NOT a selectable temperature?

Also, the Native WB seemed to be giving a pretty neutral tone, slightly less vivid than Auto, with no overly warm or cold tone. In general, should I be using Native for the most flexibility in terms of post color work?

Thanks!

[aenriquez]

Hi @persyst,

Thanks for reaching out. The Protune feature is very much essential when you want to set specific settings (e.g. WB, ISO, Shutter Speed, etc.) in the camera for recording/capture.

When the White Balance setting is set to Auto, the camera will control and adjust the overall color tone of the footage. Setting the WB to Native will give an industry standardized optimized color output, which I find the best way to go to if you want to have an easy color tone adjustments during post process.

Typically, I set WB to Auto unless I'm video recording in broad daylight and I want my footage to have warmer or cooler effect. I also find it useful to manually adjust the WB when using Night Photo or Night Lapse. I usually set 3500K to 4500K WB when capturing night sky photos in long exposure setting, then finish the adjustments on post process.

For more detailed information regarding this, check out this article: Advanced Protune Controls Explained

Hopefully this helps.

Kind Regards,
Ann

[persyst]

Thanks for all the good info Ann, I’ll be sure to put those a settings to use. So is the Auto WB, NOT using one of the selectable temperatures when it makes a choice?

Thanks again!

[aenriquez]

@persyst, when WB is set to Auto, the camera automatically analyzes and adjusts the color tone based on the environmental conditions. Therefore, depending on the current environment you're shooting at, the WB may still fall onto any of the preset, selectable temperatures but I also noticed that it isn't limited to the ones on the list, giving users the best, most natural-looking results.

[persyst]

Great @aenriquez just what I needed to know. Thanks again!

[aenriquez]

You're welcome, @persyst. Feel free to post back if anything else comes up or you may also answer other user's questions / threads. Stay stoked, and have fun capturing moments using your GoPro!