topic white balance in Cyber-shot compact cameras

rx100m2 - problems setting white balance underwater

rx100neil — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 08:18:58 GMT

Hi,

I need to set custom white balance when diving. I am able to do this on land, if the light is good, so what I'm doing is fine. When I do exactly the same underwater, or even in a dimly lit room, I get a custom white balance error. My fuji camera has no problems setting custom white balance even at 30 m. I have tried lots of different settings and nothing seems to work. Everything else works fine, so my combination of settings must be causing the problem.

Can anyone help with this issue, please? The camera is not fit for (my) purpose until I can resolve this.

Thanks.

Re: rx100m2 - problems setting white balance underwater

Pumpkin_Duke — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 09:26:00 GMT

Hi,

Getting the error message doesn't mean that the white balance hasn't been set correctly.

It only means that the value is beyond the expected range.

Cheers

Re: rx100m2 - problems setting white balance underwater

rx100neil — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 00:03:52 GMT

Thanks for the very quick reply.

I find that error message confusing rather than helpful, especially as I get exactly the same error message at 3m and 20m. In fact, I’m getting it in almost any circumstance where there is slightly degraded light.

Customising the white balance will almost always involve a compromise in picture accuracy, so what is the error actually telling me? What is its purpose? How can I quantify the scale of the problem when the error is always the same?

Thanks again for your help.

Re: rx100m2 - problems setting white balance underwater

seaurchindivers — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 21:00:45 GMT

This is a known issue, I cant use custom white balance either without the infamous error, and the resulting correction is completly wrong. I'm waiting for Sony to comment.

You can use a red filter for video. For stills use raw and then correct in lightroom.

Re: rx100m2 - problems setting white balance underwater

seaurchindivers — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 21:02:44 GMT

The correction is completly wrong when it gives a white balane error. Ive not managed to get it to work at all and i have tried all sorts of settings to help it, including different grey cards

Re: rx100m2 - problems setting white balance underwater

rx100neil — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 21:40:56 GMT

Thanks for letting me know. I've not seen any other references to this problem and, when I raised it with the diving camera shop where I bought the camera, they were unaware of it. Can you give me a link to other reports of this? The camera is not fit for purpose at the moment.

Thanks.

white balance

seaurchindivers — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 21:51:23 GMT

http://interceptor121.com/2014/06/03/sony-rx100-white-balance-woes/
As this is not sold as a underwater camera not sure you will have a strong case.for stills its ok as you can do all in lightroom with raw pics.You can still some correction in video suites for the video.just disappointing reallyotherwise a very good camera
Panasonic GX7 with the newer 14-42 Kit lens is the alternative but a mirrorless camera

Re: white balance

seaurchindivers — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 21:55:07 GMT

Sorry. as you got it from a underwater camera shop, you may well have a case with them..

there are variuos posts about it

Re: white balance

rx100neil — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 22:09:35 GMT

Thanks. I had missed that article. 😞

This is sold as part of an underwater system and is a rather high-end non-slr setup. It is very disappointing to see that it is incapable of doing decent white balance. My substantially cheaper Fuji does a great job and the sony setup was meant to be an upgrade, not a downgrade. I'm surprised that Sony can't or won't fix this.

I'll go back to the shop and see what they say.

Many thanks for your help,

Neil.

Re: white balance

seaurchindivers — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 12:15:06 GMT

How do you get on?

Re: white balance

rx100neil — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 10:12:53 GMT

They were unaware of the issue. There again, I contacted Sony support and they didn't recognise it as a problem either. So, a case of caveat emptor.

It works ok with the strobe, so not all is lost, but there are times when I want to use custom white balance instead. It is a pity that they won't fix this.

Re: white balance

seaurchindivers — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 10:24:29 GMT

You can correct in lightroom better than the camera can do onboard long as you use raw. Best wishes.

Sent from my iPhone

Re: white balance

rx100neil — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 11:11:24 GMT

I'll do that.

Many thanks for your help. It is much appreciated.