Take control of white balance on your Nikon camera

Interior image showing four white balance presets
Making the most of the settings on offer can give you whiter whites and avoid unwanted color shifts creeping into your images (Image credit: Future)

The human brain is a wonderful thing. Amongst all of its other clever tricks, it can automatically compensate for wide-ranging color temperatures of different light sources (within reason), so a sheet of white paper always looks white, whether it’s being illuminated by the noon-day sun or a light bulb in your living room. However, your Nikon camera isn’t quite as clever, and might need a little help along the way.

Scientifically, color temperature is measured on a Kelvin scale. It can feel a little counter-intuitive, as ‘warmer’ color temperatures actually have a lower Kelvin value. For example, candlelight is around 1000-2000K, the golden warmth of sunrise or sunset under a clear sky is around 3000-4000K, overhead sunlight is about 5000-6500K, a cloudy sky will give you about 8000K and a heavily overcast sky or shade will be as much as 10,000K. Things get even more difficult to predict with artificial lighting, which can have a range of hues and intensities, depending on whether they’re tungsten, fluorescent, LED or other types of lighting.

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.

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