Panasonic DVX200 Camera
White Balancing
Simply put, the White Balance function tells the camera what is white under different colour temperatures. The light colour itself is measured in Kelvin degrees, which corresponds to what colour a chunk of iron glows when it’s heated at certain temperatures: about 3200 Kelvin the iron glows orange-red, but at 5600 Kelvin the iron will glow a blue-white. The camera sees light for what it is; an area lit by sunshine, about 5600 Kelvin, will look blue-ish; indoor lighting is about 3200 Kelvin and will look to the camera as reddish. Therefore, to get the most accurate colour rendition it’s crucial to get proper white balance.
Setting the White Balance Manually
The manual white balance is set using either the A or B channels. To set the white balance, switch to either A or B, then get a white card or piece of paper - the purer the white, the more accurate the white balance. It’s crucial that you move the white card into the light that’s hitting your desired subject, not just in front of the camera lens. If you’re doing an interview, ideally it’s best to have the interviewee hold the card in front of their face because it's the light falling on their face that you need to do the white balance properly.
Zoom in on the white card until it fills the viewfinder frame (or as close as you can get). Then press the AWB button – the camera will display a message telling you that the White Balance has been set properly.
If your lighting conditions change, then you must set a new white balance.
Automatic Tracking White (ATW)
This mode will continually monitor changes in colour temperature and automatically change the white balance to what it thinks is correct. Press the ATW button to enter this mode and the camera will automatically start tracking white balance. ATW is great for shooting in situations when you are on-the-go, but for professional situations you want to use it rarely and simply set the white balance manually, especially for interview shots where the lighting conditions are not likely to change.
To activate the ATW, press USER 2. You will know the camera is in ATW mode when you see the letters displayed in the LCD Monitor/Viewfinder. Press USER 2 again to return to manual white balance mode.
