Although the Nikon D200 comes with a very handy preset for white balance, you need to set the white balance yourself. Finding the right white balance (sometimes also called gray balance or neutral balance) is important if you want your camera to produce the right visual images. In this article I will briefly touch on each setting for the Nikon D200, and which mode is appropriate. Choosing the White Paper
In the beginning when you are able to make the Nikon D200 camera to Auto White Balance, AWB. While this setting will work in most common situations, making adjustments to the camera’s pre-settings can sometimes cause issues such as improper balancing and inconsistent balancing of multiple shots. As a product photographer with Lupo, this was the problem I encountered with AWB. Your lighting conditions will give different white balances due to the color temperature of the incoming conditions. Fortunately, the popular Nikon offers nine different settings for white balance that you can choose from.
To cycle through these make sure your D200 is powered up and press and hold the WB button on the left side of the camera. While holding down the WB button, use the dial located on the top right of your camera to cycle through each setting.
In the following sections I will give the name of each death, a brief description, and when it is appropriate to use it. If you have access to it, there is a handbook of these descriptions and color temperatures in your Nikon D200 manual that came with your camera. The table is located on page 35 and can also be found online at the Nikon website.
Auto
Auto white balance, or AWB, is a white balance setting that comes set as default on your Nikon D200. The closest color temperature for this setting is between 3,500 and 8,000 K. This setting is the best choice for most shooting situations, especially when the photographer plans to work on the image in photo editing suite, such as Adobe
burning
Next is the settings on your camera. It is illuminated by a light bulb light. The approximate color temperature for this setting is about 3,000 K. This setting is best suited for most non-fluorescent indoor lighting. Such instances would be in houses or buildings that use standard light bulbs.
Fluorescent
The fluorescent in your camera is illuminated by a small fluorescent tube with light rays coming from it. This setting has an approximate color temperature of 4,200 K, and is compatible with fluorescent lighting. Use in offices, homes, or any indoor sports include. Some homes are now equipped with compact fluorescent lamps as well.
Dir. Sun
This setting is illustrated with a small image of the sun. It has a close color temperature of 5,200 K. This setting is ideal for outdoor transmissions where subjects are lit in full light.Flash
The lightning strike flag, which looks like a small lightning bolt with an arrow at the end, represents this setting. It has an approximate color temperature of 5,400 K. Using this setting, with a built-in flash unit or additional Nikon flash units either in the studio or outside the studio.Cloudy
A cloudy setting has an image of a small cloud and a color temperature of 6,000 K. This setting is a day shot with a dark, cloudy sky.
Shadow
This setting is represented by a small house with a shadow coming from its side; The closest color temperature to this setting is 8,000 K. It is ideal for shooting outdoors, in full sun, when shooting in the shade.
Choose a Color Temperature
This advanced setting is denoted by a small K. This setting works in conjunction with the 31 preset values on your Nikon D200. This is trial and error for most people. You will have to experiment with each setting until you find the one that suits your shooting conditions.
White Paper Preset
This is the final setting of your D200 which is denoted by the letter “PR”. Your camera comes with four blank preset slots so you can write and save your 4 white balance settings. To use this setting, you need white or gray paper to get a white balance meter.
To do this, first make a white or gray paper in your lighting. Then turn your WB setting to the “PR” setting. Get close enough to the white or gray paper so that everything you see in the viewer is white or gray. It is important that there is no other color in the shot or you will not get an accurate reading. So do not worry if the card is not in focus, the camera does not take a picture, just like the color temperature metering. After you have selected “PR”, release the WB button and then press and hold it until “PR” starts flashing. Release the WB button and then press the shutter release button as if you were taking a picture. After the shutter opens and closes either “Good” or “No Gd” on the top of the camera will indicate whether the metering is good or not. You have now created the perfect white balance on the Nikon D200.
Sometimes it can take a bit of adjusting to the correct white balance setting. Sometimes neither card is gray, depending on the intensity of the lighting you use.
Remember that if you set “RAW” for the quality of the image in the camera, the camera will not use the white balance, but for exporting the image exactly as it is recorded in the sense of the image without any processing.
Sources:
Nikon D200 Camera Manual White Paper p. 35
