Wow! I’ve owned the Z9 for 9 months and didn’t know you could measure the scene for white balance. I’ve been using presets and customs one this whole time (which works good) but measuring would be easier in many cases. Thanks so much!
Hi Tom. I recently bought a couple of Nikon Zfs and was unsure about how to set a White Balance. Your video really sorted it for me. Many thanks, excellent little Tutorial.
I typically shoot a pic with a grey card or color checker in the frame and then set white balance for the images in post from that first image. Always shoot in raw of course. Thanks for the question!
@@TomReplogle - Doesn't help Tom. Having the same issue with a Z6III. There are a lot of us who want to do a custom preset of the actual light mixed with our strobes. You get different results clicking on White or gray after the fact. Also sometimes we need to gel lights on the job to get close to the ambient. I've been able to do this with every Nikon DSLR since 2002. Do you know if it actually possible to do a Custom WB with strobe or in photo mode at all?
Hello Tom. I just watched your video, and after spending a week or two prior, I am still unable to take a reading with my Z9 using either of the two methods you discuss here. I don't get the icon with the eye-dropper to adjust, nor do I get the reading after holding down the WB function button. The only two icons I see are the i menu and the OK. Have I inadvertently turned something off? I was able to set a manual WB once, about 2 months ago, and since then I am unable to re-create that or use a preset. Any help would be appreciated sir.
Hey Michael, I don't believe there is a way to disable setting a custom white balance anywhere in the menu. For the Z9: 1. Press and hold the WB button on the back of the camera while rotating the rear command dial until you see "PRE" 2. Rotate the front command dial to select which Pre-set custom position you want to save to (1-6) 3. Release the WB button 4. Press and hold the WB again for at least 2 seconds (until the measure screen appears) 5. You should now be able to put your focus box on your gray card and get a reading. If none of that works, you likely have changed the function button labeled WB on the back of your camera to do something else. You would need to go back into your setup menu and change it back to WB. I have a video on how to do that. Check my Z9 playlist if you need help. Thanks for watching!
@@TomReplogle Figured it out....the camera shutter has to be in single shot mode in order for the WB manual reading to work. Thanks again for the reply sir.
Glad it was helpful! There’s not a direct way to know the actual Kelvin. The way I do it is to snap a pic and then check it on the RGB histogram screen. Thanks for watching!!
Thanks for the info, has been helpful. How would you set a Custom White Balance in a studio environment......using flash ???. In other words, you want to set a custom white balance of the flash.
I think the best way with flash in studio is to set you WB to flash, shoot in RAW, and have your model hold a white balance card for the first frame. In post you can correct for white balance on the first frame and then correct the rest of the images. The Flash preset WB should be very close unless you are using mixed lighting.
Tom, while you demonstrated several ways to "measure" the WB, once acquired, you did not reveal how to find what value was given (other than importing the file into LR/PS). Is there a way to know what degree K the camera is using once you performed this operation? Also, when you say "then you can go ahead and take the shot", I assume once your WB is set, you can take the rest of the shots using that PRE value in the similar light and circumstance, not a shot of the grey card. Yes?
You can see the Custom WB K value once you take a shot and review the image (screen with the RGB histogram). As to your second question, I believe it says "data acquired" once the custom WB has been set and of course you will see the WB change on screen. You may need to exit out of the Custom WB capture screen before shooting (there should be a prompt) and then you can go ahead and shoot away and won't need to change a thing unless the light changes. I don't have my camera with me so this is from memory. I hope that makes sense.
I find just carrying a crumpled up white paper works pretty darn well, too. It's literally free. Just uncruble it , take your reading, crumple it back up, and off you go. If you lose it, it won't be the end of the world 😂 this works, i promise.
I have the Z6 II and Z7 II. Going from the D5300, D5600, and D7500, the white balance swings are ANNOYING, to say the least! I couldn't believe how much of a swing it would do it a 2 second burst in even H+! I have no idea how auto white balance works on other systems but there needs to be some hard reworking to that algorithm on Z cameras.
That’s a bummer! I haven’t experienced that with my Z9. Seems like it should be able to be fixed in firmware. Perhaps give NPS a call and see what they say. Thanks for watching!
Very well done. You explain this topic as if you were talking to a friend.
Thanks Wolfgang! I appreciate that!
Wow! I’ve owned the Z9 for 9 months and didn’t know you could measure the scene for white balance. I’ve been using presets and customs one this whole time (which works good) but measuring would be easier in many cases. Thanks so much!
You bet! I'm glad the video helped! Thanks for watching!!
Hi Tom. I recently bought a couple of Nikon Zfs and was unsure about how to set a White Balance. Your video really sorted it for me. Many thanks, excellent little Tutorial.
"a couple Zfs" I'm jealous!!! lol! I really want to get my hands on that camera. Glad the video helped and thanks for watching!
Thanks!
Thank you so much Wolfgang! That is very nice of you!
Hello. Good video but how do you get white balance with studio flashes? You need to take a photo and then get white balance.
I typically shoot a pic with a grey card or color checker in the frame and then set white balance for the images in post from that first image. Always shoot in raw of course. Thanks for the question!
@@TomReplogle - Doesn't help Tom. Having the same issue with a Z6III. There are a lot of us who want to do a custom preset of the actual light mixed with our strobes. You get different results clicking on White or gray after the fact. Also sometimes we need to gel lights on the job to get close to the ambient. I've been able to do this with every Nikon DSLR since 2002.
Do you know if it actually possible to do a Custom WB with strobe or in photo mode at all?
Thank you! So helpful!
You are very welcome! I'm glad the video helped. Thanks for watching!!
Hello Tom. I just watched your video, and after spending a week or two prior, I am still unable to take a reading with my Z9 using either of the two methods you discuss here. I don't get the icon with the eye-dropper to adjust, nor do I get the reading after holding down the WB function button. The only two icons I see are the i menu and the OK. Have I inadvertently turned something off? I was able to set a manual WB once, about 2 months ago, and since then I am unable to re-create that or use a preset. Any help would be appreciated sir.
Hey Michael, I don't believe there is a way to disable setting a custom white balance anywhere in the menu. For the Z9:
1. Press and hold the WB button on the back of the camera while rotating the rear command dial until you see "PRE"
2. Rotate the front command dial to select which Pre-set custom position you want to save to (1-6)
3. Release the WB button
4. Press and hold the WB again for at least 2 seconds (until the measure screen appears)
5. You should now be able to put your focus box on your gray card and get a reading.
If none of that works, you likely have changed the function button labeled WB on the back of your camera to do something else. You would need to go back into your setup menu and change it back to WB. I have a video on how to do that. Check my Z9 playlist if you need help.
Thanks for watching!
@@TomReplogle Figured it out....the camera shutter has to be in single shot mode in order for the WB manual reading to work. Thanks again for the reply sir.
Very helpful, thnaks! Is there any way to know the white balance measured value?
Glad it was helpful! There’s not a direct way to know the actual Kelvin. The way I do it is to snap a pic and then check it on the RGB histogram screen. Thanks for watching!!
@@TomReplogle I don't have this value when checking on the RGB histogram on my Z6, it shows only the wb mode, thus pre1...
Bummer! When I’m in playback it has it in parentheses right next to the WB. It must be just a Z8/Z9 thing.
@@TomReplogle maybe it will come to Z6 with a future update 🤞
@@thibaud_juin I hope so!
Thanks for the info, has been helpful. How would you set a Custom White Balance in a studio environment......using flash ???. In other words, you want to set a custom white balance of the flash.
I think the best way with flash in studio is to set you WB to flash, shoot in RAW, and have your model hold a white balance card for the first frame. In post you can correct for white balance on the first frame and then correct the rest of the images.
The Flash preset WB should be very close unless you are using mixed lighting.
Tom, while you demonstrated several ways to "measure" the WB, once acquired, you did not reveal how to find what value was given (other than importing the file into LR/PS). Is there a way to know what degree K the camera is using once you performed this operation? Also, when you say "then you can go ahead and take the shot", I assume once your WB is set, you can take the rest of the shots using that PRE value in the similar light and circumstance, not a shot of the grey card. Yes?
You can see the Custom WB K value once you take a shot and review the image (screen with the RGB histogram). As to your second question, I believe it says "data acquired" once the custom WB has been set and of course you will see the WB change on screen. You may need to exit out of the Custom WB capture screen before shooting (there should be a prompt) and then you can go ahead and shoot away and won't need to change a thing unless the light changes. I don't have my camera with me so this is from memory. I hope that makes sense.
@@TomReplogle No worries. Thanks for taking the question on. I'll try it tonight and if there is a more specific issue, I'll ring you up once more.
I find just carrying a crumpled up white paper works pretty darn well, too. It's literally free. Just uncruble it , take your reading, crumple it back up, and off you go. If you lose it, it won't be the end of the world 😂 this works, i promise.
I like the way you think! Nice!
I have the Z6 II and Z7 II. Going from the D5300, D5600, and D7500, the white balance swings are ANNOYING, to say the least! I couldn't believe how much of a swing it would do it a 2 second burst in even H+! I have no idea how auto white balance works on other systems but there needs to be some hard reworking to that algorithm on Z cameras.
That’s a bummer! I haven’t experienced that with my Z9. Seems like it should be able to be fixed in firmware. Perhaps give NPS a call and see what they say. Thanks for watching!