White Balance - the most important setting on your Nikon Z Camera

In this video, we're going to show you how to set white balance on your Nikon Z camera.
Setting the white balance on your camera is an important step in taking good photos. In this video, we'll walk you through the process of setting the white balance on your Nikon Z camera. By following this guide, you'll be able to take amazing photos that look true to life!
I will also show you an inexpensive hack to get perfect white balance when you either don't have a gray card or color checker.
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#NikonZ #WhiteBalance #ShutterSpeak

[@tomtracy5396]

Excellent program. Thank you so much.

[@sandybottom6623]

Many thanks for a very informative and well presented video.

[@michaell5038]

Excellent video, thanks !

[@ulrichpflug2644]

As always very explanations. Thanks.

[@ramnoham593]

Thank you, this video helped me a lot understanding how to master white balance

[@NikCan66]

Always informative and educational information yet again. Merry Christmas to you and your family

[@CharleyHarley01]

Super information.. appreciated

[@reginaldogarcia770]

Very helpful! Thank you.

[@Johnnyhu888]

Thank you for the great information!

[@oc2phish07]

A very interesting and helpful video. I now have a better understanding of how to set white balance on my new Nikon Zf. Many thanks.

[@apehands4481]

great hack, that was awesome

[@lolingsaraee]

Perfect just what I needed 👌👍

[@johnyoung1606]

Always So Helpful !!!!!!!!!!!!! ThankYou :) :) :)

[@Bautaen202]

Great video and I really learned something useful today about white balance and my Nikon Z6II. Thanks a lot for this. Greetings from Norway 🙂

[@johnharkness6095]

A very easy to understand explanation of white balance and how to adjust in camera. Thanks Joe!

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you for watching.

[@byronjohnson8346]

VERY WELL PUT SIR. THANK YOU.

[@adebrian1737]

I have two Nikon lens cleaning cloths and thought the same but I wasn't 100% sure till I watched this video. I do have a white balance app on my phone but still shoot auto white balance. Thanks for posting and May God almighty bless you and your family.

[@devorahannikareeves9321]

So thrilled I found your videos.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Me Too!

[@cindyweber4692]

Thanks for sharing! Awesome hack!😀

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you for watching.

[@fly-pedro]

Exactly what I needed, thank you. Very useful explanation, I have a Z50.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you for watching. Happy Holidays!

[@johnscratchley3288]

Some great tips, thanks,

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you for watching!

[@csc-photo]

SUPER helpful! I’ve been waiting for a tutorial on how to set custom wb settings. I have a little foldable grey “card” (similar to reflectors but 8”). Now I can use it! 🙂

[@ShutterSpeak]

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.

[@gw2k66]

Great video. I didn't know I could save the white balance on the camera. Have a Merry Christmas. wishing you and your family all the best in this coming new year.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you! Merry Christmas to you and yours :-)

[@grantking4681]

Great tutorial again Joe, I used to set my own white balance with a grey card on my D90 but it was a little (lot?) different with the D610 and the D810 and now with the Z7ii however, I'll be using "Pre's" from now on. One of life's great mysteries, to me at least, is how you only have just over 8000 subscribers. I think your content is great and delivered in an easy to understand format and manner. Trust you and your family have a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year, look forward to seeing your posts in 2023.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you - Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for watching :-)

[@kibbo00]

Thanx Joe. Easy adjustment but has a lot of mystery in how it works. This simplified things. Especially the cloth for setting WB.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you for watching 🙂

[@sekaf4125]

Thank you! Doing this on my new Z8

[@ShutterSpeak]

Glad it helped

[@57sapke]

Thanks for the content. I set my camera always in auto WB and in post processing I use the blend option difference, threshold and curves to set correct WB.

[@ShutterSpeak]

That would be fine too, okay to do in post if you shoot raw. Not effective for a sports shooter where time is money though. Thanks for watching and sharing.

[@sum1sw]

Thank you so much. Very informative 1) Do you have a recommendation for a color checker? 2) When are we going to begin to see an LED setting?

[@lisalovesphotography]

Thank you for this. I volunteer as a photographer at an animal shelter where the rooms have been painted with bright murals (green! orange! turquoise! 🤦🏼‍♀️) and the lighting can be a combo of natural light, incandescent light, and my flash. Correcting for all that in post is a nightmare-I had no idea I could have been using presets in-camera. I’m so excited!

[@ShutterSpeak]

I hope it helps you! Thank you for watching.

[@mpn75]

Hi Joe! Thanks for your video! So did I get it right, that I can use for white balance either the white card or the 18%-grey card? Or what is the difference in use? And what for is the black card in the sets you can buy?

[@Interbeing_CDN]

Good tutorial Joe, I would also mention that, if needed, if you are working in RAW you can globally set your white balance in post to have consistency throughout your photos by setting the white balance to your liking in one photo and syncing it to all other photos in the group.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Yes, you could but I would not recommend it. You could set it globally at the start of a shoot. Best to get it right for your particular scene then to hope you can fix it later. Yellow street lights would be an example which would be very problematic for example. But if you set it first, it wouldn't be.

[@csc-photo]

Hey also a request, could you do a quick vid on how to utilize the focus memory / recall feature? Can’t quite figure that one out.

[@stanspb763]

This was a very useful tip. I do not have a problem most of the time except shooting in jazz and rock clubs which have so many different light sources that I end up on Auto and put away my white and grey card. In the studio the temperature is predictable with the strobes. I have different topic to offer a suggestion. Your mic is being hit by a lot of breath-blast pops that is irritating to listen to. There are two simple solutions. One being to move the mic further away, and the voice amplitute will be more consistent, whereas close in micing caused small variations in emphasis or distance to have a higher magnitude change in mic output for slight changes in distance or voice volume. The other option it move the mic face to point it offset from your mouth alignment. For example moving the face of the mic at an angle so breath blasts do not hit the mic face directly by lowering the mic and point it up towards your mouth while the sound wave are picked up but out of the stream of accellerated air jet that come out directly in line with your aligment of your lips. . In the recording studio we had a variety of vocalists with different approach to the mic so a pop filter was attached to the mic that performed the same defusing job as a scrim does for light shooting outdoors.. Also, getting closer or further away from the mic as you speak with a directional mic like your changes the frequency response of the mic and as you approach it closer than the diameter of the diaphram caused a dramatic increase in bass response that it not natural. It was done intentially for effect and was nicknamed FM radio voice, very bass heavy and someone whispering in your ear, at lower amplitute. Singers could to that in passages the sound intimate by lowering their volume while getting right on the mic. It simulated pillow talk. I doubt you intend that:>). I had a large recording studio for 25 years, 3 studios in a complex, that produced 197 gold and platinum albums. The photo connection is substantial side money was earned by taking snapshots with my film camera, usually B/W during breaks or in a lull, that were licensed for use on record covers or liner notes back with those were important and Grammys were awarded for record covers. So everything is relevant:>)

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thanks for the tips and thank you for watching.

[@markshirley01]

This has always been one of Nikons unnoticed advantages the Auto WB and Auto Iso actually work very well (D750 owner). Only now are Sony influencers actually commenting on the A7R5 awb being actually usable. 😆👍

[@felm.974]

Just subscribed, thanks for the useful tutorial. I have a question. Do I use this method at every location ONCE, or should I keep doing this through my journey? Like let's say, if I'm doing street photography, should I keep doing this, or will I be fine just doing it once? Thanks.

[@annebrooks5940]

Thanks for the video. Newbie here on Z7ii. So, if I am not shooting still shots, say, I want to shoot a dance recital, how do I set the white balance? How would I set Pre? I guess I don't understand that part when it comes to outside action or indoor shots such as a recital.

[@glennhettinger5917]

I don't have a PRE3 button on my Z6 and I don't know how to make one if i was supposed to make one to follow along with your tutorial. Please explain what i should have done. Thanks.

[@pjimmbojimmbo1990]

On my D800, D810, and D850, the Default Auto seemed to do good job in most light. The Z9 seems to work okay in the default Auto, except in Shade, there the Natural White works best, but everywhere else it is too Yellow

[@TM-19999]

Explained excellently. Hope you will guide us how to tackle white balance in entry level cameras like 800d etc as well. thanks.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you for watching.

[@bfs5113]

The instruction to do Custom WB for the 800D is on Page 165 of the manual. Set the camera/lens to manual focus and take a picture of a sheet of white paper (or something) under the lighting that one wishes to do a custom white balance and make sure it fills the frame. Now, MENU | Tab 3 of the shooting settings | Custom White Balance | SET | select the image one just took | SET | OK | MENU. The only difference between brands or models is that some use a saved image to do a custom WB instead of interactively. Piece of cake and remember to turn the AF back on.

[@BillyJphotography711]

Hi Mr Nuzzo is it possible to use the preset method with an on camera flash

[@geoffhirst5338]

Joe, this was fascinating. So much so, I ordered a set of calibration cards as the cloths you describe don't seem to be available in UK. So, thanks for this and do you have a video that explains the science behind the colour palette, rgb, adobeRGB etc? Thank you once again and Merry Christmas.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Thank you for watching and Merry Christmas!

[@ginotarabotto]

Can we make the yellow square smaller?

[@unclesesi5559]

What's a good practice to white balance indoor flash photography, where you're sometimes bouncing the light off the ceiling, walls, reflectors, etc... not to mention the various light sources from room to room: soft white 2700k vs 5000k in other rooms... in these run and gun situations, I can hardly be bothered with presets. I just rely on auto and with a camera like the Z8, you can count on it being precise 99.99% most of the time. Still, any tips for custom white balance in these situations?

[@Flyssac]

My white balance measure mode isnt popping up on my Zfc when i hold OK. Is there something im missing?

[@grantking4681]

Joe, I have an issue that's got me stumped and l hope you're able to help. I have a Z7ll and after taking a shot the image appears in the viewfinder and on the back of the camera but it stays there, forever unless l hit a button. I've looked through the menus and, maybe l'm a little slow, but l cannot find a menu option that allows me to set the time for review, say 5 seconds or 10 seconds. I remember having this option on my D810 but am unable to find the same option in the 7ll menu. Have l missed something, somewhere?

[@kseniasafonova1009]

Thank you! Hockey = life lol

[@ShutterSpeak]

Agreed!

[@richardadams.Carp.Hunter]

Thank you for a great video. One question the set icon witch button is that as I don't know that icon.

[@ShutterSpeak]

It is the "i" button on the back of your camera.

[@richardadams.Carp.Hunter]

@@ShutterSpeak thank you

[@jessicabutler1015]

Hi! Need some help. So I have noticed in my videos, I film with this camera just on the auto setting, that my hair and teeth look way more yellow in the video than they do in real life. How can I fix this? I don’t know if this is helpful, but when I do film, my entire background is white. I don’t have any warm lighting on while filming.

[@philiplaurell1163]

Thanks, but what I'd like to know is how to get the select photo option to work in white balance. This is useful for when you are shooting with flash/flashes. In this case the meassure will not work. It will take a measure but it will be inaccurate. There is the option of selecting a photo for white balance PRE, but for the life of me, I can't get it to work. You can take a photo of your grey card in the right light and select it as a PRE but it will not change anything in the white balance.

[@pattymattes7124]

That's great for studio or portrait type shots but how about events like Ice Hockey when you can't get on the ice to do a wb preset?

[@ShutterSpeak]

Just be in an area with the same light the rink has. Use a gray card or the cement steps if present (they tend to be gray)

[@caljackson3940]

Can you use a sheet of plain white copy paper to establish a pre white balance? Always enjoy your videos.

[@ShutterSpeak]

You can but it would be slightly off. An 18% gray card would give the best results.

[@thomastuorto9929]

Some good info. Does the pre/custom WB have to be shot on site, like in case of the hockey player, shoot card out on the ice or once you shoot a 18% gray card nice, t s always good?

[@ShutterSpeak]

In the hockey rink the lighting was always exactly the same. So once you knew the number I would dial it in using the Kelvin setting.

[@thomastuorto9929]

@@ShutterSpeak I used that as an example. So basically, you are saying it has to be done every shoot that’s needed & can not use the one from the hockey game at other shoots other than the hockey rink. Correct?

[@estwern]

Great explanation! Now, can you tell us how we can do this in your original, hockey shoot? Or on a football field?

[@ShutterSpeak]

Great question. Take the lens cloth, drop it on the ground when the house lights are on, and set your white balance using the manual method. 😎

[@estwern]

@@ShutterSpeak i don't think that photographers are allowed on ice rings or football/basketball fields.

[@ShutterSpeak]

@@estwern You dont need to be on the field or ice. Just in the same lighting.

[@Alsayid]

What about in a setting like an outdoor grandstand at a county fair where it starts out with late afternoon light transitioning to nighttime with poorly arranged flood lights, some incandescent and some not, lighting the stage?

[@ShutterSpeak]

Sounds like there are bigger problems there than the camera's white balance.

[@Alsayid]

@@ShutterSpeak Extremely difficult lighting, especially for someone who does not know how to make all the adjustments well. Also, I have found I do not like the auto white balance of my D3400 many times.

[@gfxmaniac]

I sometimes take a sheet of toilet papir. As WB point :)

[@davidhart6900]

Joe …’so how to set White Balance outside ? Do i shoot a “grey” card and save it ?

[@ShutterSpeak]

You could - it depends on how accurate you want to be because white balance can change day to day or even hour to hour. If auto is working okay you can use that or just set your camera's white balance to daylight to stay consistent.

[@ShutterSpeak]

Great question by the way.

[@davidhart6900]

@@ShutterSpeak Joseph I tried Auto but the colors were radically different I’ll try Daylight Nikon z7ii Thank you 🙏 David

[@pepper6253]

Merry Christmas ,sorry but you lost me one minute in lol Happy New Year .

[@ShutterSpeak]

Happy holidays!

[@hautehussey]

You probably don’t want to make your graphic for the videos have a red border, it could be seen by users as a video they’ve already watched.

[@lawyerdch]

Don’t you mean it is the most important setting on your camera if you shoot only jpeg? I shoot mostly in raw, in which case it becomes the least important setting, right?

[@ShutterSpeak]

If you are a working photographer time is money. You most certainly want to get it right up front. If you are doing white balance in post it is guess work.

[@lawyerdch]

@@ShutterSpeak good point. I am definitely not a working photographer. I am a hobbyist who occasionally shoots portraits and weddings for modest pay. Either way, learning how to set white balance on the fly in camera was super helpful. Thanks.

[@utopian666]

@@ShutterSpeak this working photographer disagrees. If you are in events/weddings it's nearly impossible to practice this. Low cri LEDs are everywhere, giving no true white balance, making it guesswork anyway. On top of that we often move from one lighting scenario to another multiple times in an hour, making it likely that your manual white balance will frequently be way off. It's easier and faster to grab a neutral inpost and batch it out to the rest of the photos for this scenario. Shirt collars are your friend for this.

[@ShutterSpeak]

@@utopian666 Yes - there are definitely times when auto is preferred. But shooting sports or commercial this should be set in advance. Obviously when the light will be constantly changing this would not apply. Thank you for watching and pointing this out.

[@gemstyxwalls1419]

Unfortunately your video is lagging and start and stopping.It's probably the website causing this issue.

[@federicosavini7560]

unnecessary long talk

[@ShutterSpeak]

Unnecessary comment

[@dvck0]

WB can set in post-production. Shot RAW nothing else.

[@ShutterSpeak]

It can be but what are you using to set it? If you don't use a gray card or color checker it is guess work. It isn't wrong to do it that way but you certainly would not do it for commercial work.

[@robinc-k7162]

Great video, thanks!

[@ShutterSpeak]

Glad you liked it!