A common perception is that auto white balance always cancels the effects created by color compensation filters. Is this true? Let us figure it out with a simple testing. The left image below was taken in a cloudy day using the Auto mode. Because it was cloudy, the image has a touch of violet/blue. To counter this bluish touch, a 81a light yellow filter was used to take the middle image. Now the image looks warmer even though the camera is in the Auto mode. To emphasize the cold mood, a 80a blue filter was used to take the right image, and, as a result, a stronger touch of blue appears. From these images, we learn that the auto white balance mode is not capable of completely canceling the effect of using color compensation filters. In other words, we still can play filter tricks if we want!
Auto mode | Auto mode with 81a filter | Auto mode with 80a filter |
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