Canon 30D - Manual (Page 27)

Page 27 of 35 © Ken Rockwell 2006
WB SHIFT/BKT: This allows you change (shift) the white balance slightly, or
bracket them (make several shots, each slightly different).
Shift: This is what you do to make subtle color shifts to images. To do
this, press MENU, spin the dial to select WB SHIFT/BKT, press SET to
get into it, use the unmarked rear navigation button to set the color
shift, and press SET to lock it in. Oddly the center push of the button
won't get you back to 0; you have to click back over the hard way. (The
30D ignores you if you forget to press SET.) This shift is subtle, you
have to look carefully to see it. If you set it away from 0, you'll see a
small "WB =/-" on the top LCD to remind you.
Bracket: Spin the big dial and you'll see three dots where before there
was just one. Spin in one direction to get red/blue bracketing, and in
the other direction for green/magenta. Shooting this way is easier than
exposure bracketing, since the 30D automatically records three files,
one for each exact WB, for each shot. This is because WB is
calculated internally for each shot, unlike exposure. WB BKT records
three frames from each shot automatically. Of course you also always
need to press SET for these settings to take effect. You may shift the
WB as in the above paragraph, and then bracket around it. Slick!
The unslick part is that this WB offset takes effect for all other WB settings. To
turn it off or on or change it you have to get into these menus. You can't save
a different value for Daylight and another for Cloudy, as you can on Nikon.
Nikons are better because they make changing this as simple as spinning the
front dial while holding the WB button. Nikons are better because they store
and recall the WB trim (shift) separately for each WB preset.
Canons are better because they also allow altering the WB along the
green/magenta axis, which Nikons don't. Personally I never use
green/magenta bias anyway. Canon also provides more adjustment points,
although I find Nikon's +/- 3 settings more than enough. I prefer the Nikons
here.
CUSTOM WB is how you set the 30D's white balance to a white or gray card
or Expodisc. It's complicated, unlike Canon's compact cameras.
To set the WB to a random reference, first make a shot of the entire frame
filled by that reference, but do it in anything other than the Custom WB mode.
The Custom WB mode is an icon of a little square in the middle of two ramps.
Now press MENU, spin the big dial to CUSTOM WB, press SET (spin the dial
again if you want to set the WB to an image other than the one you've just
taken), press SET again to set the WB to that shot. You'll probably get a
reminder now to set the WB (use the WB button) to Custom (square and two
ramps).
If you did this correctly, your next shots will have perfect color balance.