Custom White Balance for Video: Replicate Filters with Tint and Kelvin adjustments?

Am curious whether any of you have tried to replicate underwater filters with in-camera color temperature and/or tint (eg, magenta or amber shift) adjustments? The ideal would be the creation of a chart showing Kelvin levels and Magenta/Amber shift for water type (e.g., tropical blue or green) and depth.

I shoot with a Canon 5D2 but have not been wholly satisfied with manual white balancing for video (without video lighting). As an alternative to external filters, I wanted to experiment with setting color temperature and tint (toward magenta and amber) depending on depth and water type (blue/tropical vs. green) as an experimental alternative to custom/manual WB setting. Manufacturers do not appear to publish these specifications (e.g., the 3 flip filters for the GoPro, the Ikelite filters etc…).

Fundamental Question: when you set a custom white balance, does it impact magenta and green? I assume (probably incorrectly), that only the relative blue and amber levels are adjusted. If so, boosting magenta levels at depth would also seem to make sense.

My Canon enables me to set color temp (obviously) and a color shift to any of Blue, Green, Amber or Magenta (Canon claims these adjustments are equivalent to color correction filters). See chart for how the Canon can make these adjustments. Just trying to get in the ball park to compare to manual white balance results with video (sans lights).

Thanks.

Jim

I think what you're trying to do is overly complicated/OCD. I mean, there are so many different shade of tropical water depends of water contamination, quality of sunlight. To assume a certain kelvin at certain depth at different part of the world would just introduce flaw or have higher margin or error.

Before you go that route, have you consider adding red filter and then custom white balance? Also, do try out Magic Filter. Alex created Magic filter because "restoring" red is not good enough, there is a bit of orange etc. that Alex found to be a sweet spot. Some people may say Magic Filter is a hype, but everybody have different experience and result from it depends how you use it. The best result to use Magic Filter is when the sun is behind you, preferably in an afternoon sun.

I think what you're trying to do is overly complicated/OCD. I mean, there are so many different shade of tropical water depends of water contamination, quality of sunlight. To assume a certain kelvin at certain depth at different part of the world would just introduce flaw or have higher margin or error.

 

Before you go that route, have you consider adding red filter and then custom white balance? Also, do try out Magic Filter. Alex created Magic filter because "restoring" red is not good enough, there is a bit of orange etc. that Alex found to be a sweet spot. Some people may say Magic Filter is a hype, but everybody have different experience and result from it depends how you use it. The best result to use Magic Filter is when the sun is behind you, preferably in an afternoon sun.

Thanks. I suspect you are right. Magic Filters look interesting. Filtering out blues before the sensor makes sense to me. Any issues when you switch to stills with strobes and shoot RAW?

I have only shoot with strobe last year during a trip to Indonesia, and it was a loan strobe. I just got myself a strobe last xmas and will use it next week in Cozumel. Before that I have been shooting video with magic filter with natural light and custom white balance.

When I was in Indonesia, I had to make a choice: if I have the magic filter on (inside the housing), then I don't use the strobe. Many people would tell you to not shoot video and photo in the same dive. I'm not willing to give up shooting video so I ended up not to put the Magic filter on most of the dive. If I need to shoot video, I just custom white balance, and I do notice the color is not as nice compare to a white balance + filter route. For Cozumel trip I will bring a 67mm screw on red filter just so I can take off the filter if I want to.

If you shooting with strobe, I think you shouldn't do any adjustment. I was told to let the camera use the "auto" white balance. Some people dial into the kelvin number that match their strobe kelvin. Definitely shoot RAW just so you can fine tune it later.

What you say is correct. There is an issue however that the custom white balance in a camera has usually a given operating range. Once you are outside of the color temperature range the adjustment is not as effective.

A filter has both a warming effect (reducing temperature) and tint effect. Once you are outside your camera temperature range the filter can bring this back in to operate custom white balance properly

So in general you can emulate a filter with temperature setting only on land not under water

On three dives, I experimented with magenta and amber adjustments and the results were mediocre at best. Manually white balancing at depth (off my slate or grey fins) still produced the better results.