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pixelfor
Inspiring
October 18, 2022
Answered

Flash Color Temp question

  • October 18, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 4161 views

@J453: Since you work at Adobe would you please forward this to the person who makes Adobe Camera Raw? Thank you.

1. My Nikon camera has a color space setting it calls "Flash." It can be selected when using a flash to light a scene. Nikon owners manual states the color temperature for the flash setting is 5,400K.

2. Adobe Bridge data readings show that Adobe Bridge sees that the Nikon flash setting was utilized.

3. Adobe Camera Raw however opens any Nikon image made with the Nikon flash camera setting as 6,150K and +1 tint and Adobe labels that color temperature "As Shot."

4. Adobe customers have to manually change the Camera Raw color space setting from As Shot to Flash. Adobe Camera Raw flash setting is 5,500K.

5. Please make Adobe Camera Raw follow Adobe Bridge in recognizing that a photo was made with "Flash" color space and not the "As Shot" color space which is always 6,150K if a flash was used. Or at least give your customers the option to select As Shot or Flash as a default when opening photos in Adobe Camera Raw which were made with a flash.

6. Just out of curiosity, what flash unit has a color temperature rating of 6,150K and +1 tint?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer D Fosse

Thank you for a reasonable reply. I have no active preset in ACR. I never used Sony. Your Sony is set to Flash mode and you get different values in ACR As Shot, correct? I'd like to confirm before having Adobe do a remote to see what's wrong.

 


Hang on, I misunderstood a bit. I left camera white balance on auto, since it will compensate for the flash as long as camera/flash communication works as it should.

 

But if you set camera white balance to fixed "flash", then yes, it should come in with fixed temp/tint numbers. But that won't be the same numbers as in the camera! That's normal and expected, for the reasons I wrote above. It's a different processor, so to achieve the same result it may use other numbers.

 

 

2 replies

Rikk Flohr_Photography
Community Manager
Rikk Flohr_PhotographyCommunity Manager
Community Manager
October 20, 2022

All in-camera WB adjustments (automatic or manual) come into Camera Raw as “As Shot” since they reflect how the camera was operated in the field when the exposure was made.  This is by design.

The Flash and other settings inside the White Balance popup menu in ACR/Lr are Adobe presets and, while they may have the same name as the in-camera option (e.g., Flash, Daylight, etc.) they are intentionally not the same.

 

Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org
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    pixelforAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 22, 2022

    I'd like to thank an Adobe employee named Sundbar for his genuine interest during a remote session in exploring this issue. Sundbar has a great attitude and is willing to look at things from the customer's viewpoint. The technical issue sparked his interest. He never gave the impression it's unsolveable. As far as I know he's still thinking about it. Nikon, Inc was also very helpful and their explanation was so transparent and easy to follow. While the issue will always be unresolved in the eyes of some customers (I've read other photographer's comments on several websites) today's technical limitations of camera, camera to software, and software itself are what they are. And I did receive one unsigned email from an Adobe employee that was a bit condescending.

     

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    pixelforAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 22, 2022
    @pixelfor wrote:

    Some photographers, myself included, would like to have the option to change the default 6150K number to a default number of our chosing. It would be a little easier and quicker in the editing process for some of us if we could choose that starting number. It seems the 6150K number is not the result of any measurement which is taking place but that rather it is a default number that was chosen.

     

    Easy: Make a preset to add or subtract the temp number values until you get your 'magic' number of CCT 6500K or any value you wish. Happy now with the color apparence of all images shot under strobe? 

    Let me know when you're ready to tell me if the raw image provided has the ideal or correct CCT value presented. Thanks.


    In a folder in Bridge there are images which have been captured with available light and on-camera flash. The available light images were captured with the camera "color" set to Auto and the camera was set to Flash for the flash pictures. Bridge metadata already knows which images are "Flash." From Bridge, I want to open those up in Adobe Camera Raw with ACR and it's As Shot giving all the various numbers for those made with Auto setting and the ACR number of 5,500 (not 6500 no clue where you came up with that - mistake?) for all of those made with Flash setting. Can you please provide the step-by-step procedure to make that happen when I highlight those mixed images in Bridge and hit CtrlR? When I'm done all I want to do is highlight those mix of images in Bridge and hit CtrlR. Please provide the step-by-step to make this preset you posted about and I'l definitely try it and I will definitely get back.

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    pixelforAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 18, 2022

    If the camera is set to Auto for a color setting the Adobe Camera Raw dialog recognizes that and the color temperature numbers are different for each frame that was made with Auto color set by the camera. If the camera is set to Flash for color setting the Adobe Camera Raw dialog always shows it "As Shot" instead of "Flash" and the color temperature is always 6,150* +1. It doesn't matter if the flash was only 10% of the exposure or 100% of the exposure or if a flash was not used. ACR always opens with "As Shot" instead of "Flash" and always 6,150* +1. I was just wondering if there is a way to make ACR open an image with "Flash" as the chosen color since Bridge has already recognized "Flash" as the color space of that image. Just looking to save some time in the editing process without having to do a batch operation to change all flash images from "As Shot" to "Flash." If that can be done and anyone knows how, that'd be great!

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    pixelforAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 18, 2022

    1. JPG is how the image data appears in Bridge.

    2. JPG is how the same image appears in Camera Raw and skin color looks bad.

    3. JPG is after "As Shot" is changed to "Flash" and skin color look normal.

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