What is white balance?
White balance is a camera setting that tells the camera what color the light source is so it can compensate and render white objects as truly white. Without correct white balance, photos shot under tungsten lights appear orange, and photos in shade appear blue.
How white balance works
Every light source has a color. Candles are warm and orange. Daylight is neutral. Shade is cool and blue. Your brain automatically adjusts so a white shirt always looks white regardless of lighting.
Your camera cannot do this automatically unless you tell it what the light source is. White balance is that instruction — it adds the opposite color cast to neutralize the light’s tint.
Setting white balance to tungsten (3200K) tells the camera to add blue to counteract orange light. Setting it to shade (7500K) tells it to add warmth to counteract blue light.
White balance options
Auto White Balance (AWB): The camera guesses the light source. Works well in most situations. Can be inconsistent between shots.
Presets: Daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, flash — each calibrated for a specific light source.
Custom/Manual: You photograph a white or gray card and the camera calibrates precisely to that light. Most accurate method.
Kelvin: You dial in an exact color temperature number. Maximum control for professionals.
Cameras at Camera Shop Egypt
White balance tips for better results
If you shoot RAW, white balance can be changed freely in post with zero quality loss. Set it to auto and fix in editing — this is what most professionals do.
If you shoot JPEG or video, get white balance right in-camera because fixing it later degrades quality.
For video, lock white balance to a specific Kelvin value before recording. Auto white balance shifts mid-clip look unprofessional.
Use a gray card for critical work — custom white balance from a gray card is the most accurate method available.
For video, never use auto white balance. Set a specific Kelvin value before you start recording. A white balance shift in the middle of a talking-head video is one of the most obvious amateur mistakes.