Article on White Balance and the G7

by Vic Warwick

Article Date: 2 February 2008

Vic wrote me a mail on reaction to a article I wrote. Because it interesting I decided to place it as a article on the site....Vic says:

Arising from that, if you think the following two images are a good enough example of White Balance variation, and worthy of pursuit, I would like to explain how the two images were produced........ 

First and main point..........Canon G7 / P mode / In Camera Flash -1/3 /  WB Flash. 

Second point....................First image:  JPEG from camera with adjustments by Photoshop 7 to Levels and a little Unsharp mask.

Second image: RAW linked to the JPEG  from camera, opened in UFRaw then adjusted as before plus a little touch of  "Noiseware" (then to JPEG for e-mail).

No specific colour alterations have been made.

My conclusions from this comparison are; that UFRaw does a purer conversion than both the in camera conversion, and RAW Therapee, which has usually left me with a colour cast that I was often unable to eliminate and that UFRaw is quicker and more reliable in use.  Also, because I see the ornaments on a daily basis I am satisfied that the second image is truer to colour - you can see in the first that Beethoven is in "the pink" but we all know different :-)) .

Since the start of using the CHDK RAW facility in my G7, I have relied upon RAW Therapee as the conversion software but, from now on, I propose to use UFRaw because of its realistic colouring and ease of use.  I thought this particular comparison may be of interest, and, of some practical use to our undecided fraternity.

BTW -  Do you know of any quick and easy way to remove dust from between dozens of these pesky ornaments, the cabinet top needs to be wiped off monthly or else the "All Powerful One becomes very ratty!!