One of the main things I do is using the White Balance Setter in my Sony Cameras that gives me the "best white balance" taking a sample of the whitiest color in the scene. But with films simulations that can be challenging considering the Color Phase and all the specific settings each profile has. But.. I was wondering... If 5600K is the "most accurate" WB in daylight. And let's say Vektro 100: 4000K A5-M0.5 in daylight That means it has shifted from -1600K and +5 in A and +0.5 in M So if I usually shot in a studio with a setting of 6200K and M1 If I wanna get the Vektro 100 with the same WB, Should I "-1600K and +5 in A and +0.5 in M" to the 6200K So: 4600K A5-M1.5 Should be the equivalent in Vektro 100? If that's the case, I wonder in with K temperature were this FIlm Simulations Created taking the based footage. and if not is it possible to use the WB Setter with any film simulations? Or that feature is not usable with the recipes?
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Almost, but the deduction technique is different.
All film simulations are daylight balanced, besides Cinestill and other nighttime recipes which have 'night' besides their name.
Basically, you add or subtract the difference in temperature for your given environment compared to a Daylight setting. ~5500-5600K
With analog film, each film roll is balanced to a certain temperature condition (Daylight,Tungsten etc). If you would like to use a daylight film roll nighttime, you would have to use a color filter on top of your lens to balance out the colors. Now with digital we can do that in camera.
In digital photography, you adjust the kelvin according to the light source so you can get proper white balance. Bluehour, Daylight, Sunset, Nighttime. All require different Kelvin if you want to get perfect white balance or simply enhance the colors coming out of your camera. You can choose to push more warmth or coolness when needed. This is the flexibility digital cameras offer us.
Most film simulations are daylight balanced (~5600K) even if they look like this 3800K A7-M1. When deducting the difference, always deduct from daylight 5500K, not the actual settings of the film simulations, because they are balanced to daylight.
If the studio lights are set on 6200K, that is 600 K higher than Standard Daylight 5600K, so to get the same color as outside, you need to lift the temperature by approximately 600K. Might be a little less or a little more than 600K, so you need to fine tune the white balance to get the desired colors.
And that applies to all situations when light is changing. If you want consistency in your look, you need to adjust temperature as you shoot, or you will do it in post editing. This is what you would also do when editing your images in Lightroom. If you took 1000 pictures during a wedding in different lighting conditions, and want all of them to have the same mood, you will need to adjust the temperature and tint to match the colors. And that is because the light changes throughout the day, and consequently, color shift happens. The lightroom post-processing, it's exactly the same concept, but now inside the camera.
Of course, your eye is your guide, if you feel it's too hot or too cold, then adjust accordingly. Also, if you've hit one of the extreme ends, like 2500K-9900K, but you still feel it needs more warmth or coldness, then you start pushing more of your desired color using the color filter.
Hope this make it easy to understand.
'Can I use AWB?' - Kinda, but no.
I answered this in multiple forum posts, ( Here Here & Here ) and I recommend reading these answers as well for a better understanding. With most of these film simulations you can use AWB and still get better color out of the box, but the real magic happens when you use both the picture profiles with the color settings, because their role is to shift and calibrate colors. If you want to get the same results I am showcasing on the Blog, you need to use the kelvin and color filter adjustments.
I've made a straight comparison Fujifilm vs Sony film simulations, to showcase how these color settings will bring you closer to the Fuji Look. You can Check out the Blog Here.
Also, AWB does not give you color consistency, it's going to change from scene to scene, and it's not always supper accurate, it all depends on what kind of colors hit the sensor.
Also, film simulations which have the Color Phase bellow -2 might look bad without the Kelvin and Color filter adjustments. That is because the yellows and skin tones are shifted towards green and skies are shifted towards magenta. The Klevin and Color Filter remap and calibrate the colors. So keep that in mind.
So, if AWB is not recommended.
Can you recommended some value for the popular scenarios, besides from daylight like: overcast/cloudy scene, bright beach scene, indoor scence This will really help, as not everybody knows how to pick the correct Kelvin value
What about using an expodisk or a white balance card to adjust the white balance with incident light ? What effect would it have on the film simulation ?
I use AWB and it works!