Canon EOS 10D - Manual (Page 50)

50
Selecting the White Balance
Press the < > button. ( ) 1
Select the white balance setting.
•
While looking at the LCD panel, turn the < > dial
to select the desired white balance setting.
•
To return to shooting, just press the shutter button
halfway.
2
The following white balance settings are provided: Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten,
fluorescent, flash, custom and color temperature.
White Balance
The three R (red), G (green), and B (blue) primary colors exist in varying proportions in a light
source depending on its color temperature. When the color temperature is high, there is more
blue. And when the color temperature is low, there is more red. As the color temperature
increases from low to high, the color cast changes in the following sequence: red, orange,
yellow, white, and bluish white. For example, if you have a white object under a lit tungsten
light bulb, it will look red or orange in the image. If it is under fluorescent light, it will look
greenish.
To the human eye, a white object still looks white regardless of the type of lighting. The human
eye is highly adaptive to different types of lighting and color temperatures. With a film-based
camera, you can attach a color compensation filter to the lens or use tungsten film to compen-
sate for the color cast caused by the light source's color temperature. With a digital camera’s
white balance setting, you can digitally compensate (based on a standard white color) the
color temperature so that the colors in the image look more natural.
The camera’s <
> feature uses the image sensor to set the white balance.
•
In the Basic Zone modes, < > will be set automatically.
•
In step 2 , turning the < > dial will select the AF mode. (
→p.64)
Auto Daylight Shade Cloudy
Fluorescent
Tungsten
Color Temperature
(
→53)
Flash Custom