White balance and Colour
Image: AWB produces pleasing results and, at times, better than the preset WB settings, such as daylight WB. However, the results are a little warm in tungsten light
Given the target audience of first-time buyers, I would expect many photographers to stick primarily to auto white balance (AWB) and the standard colour mode. I found AWB to be generally reliable and in some cases it produces better results than the given white balance preset. In sunny daylight conditions, the AWB produces more accurate results, with the sunny WB producing yellowish images.
However, AWB in tungsten light is a little too warm, with the tungsten WB producing slightly cooler and more pleasing results. AWB can be fine-tuned easily via the white balance menu.
There are the usual white balance presets for a variety of lighting conditions, together with Kelvin WB, which I find particularly useful. In this setting, the colour temperature is controlled manually by scrolling around the white balance wheel and any adjustments are indicated through Live View on the screen. Custom WB can be easily and speedily achieved.
There are numerous colour presets and image effects that can be accessed through the function button on the body and then by selecting the Picture Wizard. These include portrait, landscape and some more specific ones such as forest. In the Picture Wizard, black & white is named classic. All such presets can be fine-tuned manually for colour, saturation, sharpness and contrast. I tended to apply most of these effects post-capture, although some presets, such as landscape, are not available.
Post-capture adjustments are made by pressing the function button when viewing an image, and any changes made are saved to a new file. There is a good balance between pleasing and reliable colour rendition in standard mode AWB and creative options in the colour presets.
