Adjusting White Balance On A Digital Camcorder

The ability to adjust white balance on a digital camcorder is an excellent aid to any camcorder user. Unfortunately, many people chose not to take advantage of a simple technique that can make such a positive contribution to the film and it’s use is definitely something to explore.

A digital camcorder gauges all of the colours that it records from a baseline of what it perceives the colour white to be. When a camcorder is ‘white balanced’ it is effectively re-calibrating its understanding of what the colour white is. This enables the camcorder to represent all the other colours in the footage as accurately as possible. This is why it is important to white balance your camcorder.

When filming with a digital camcorder, it is recommended that you should use the white balance function each time your recording conditions change in terms of lighting. If, for example you were recording some footage at a wedding, you would want to white balance the camcorder for recording inside the church and then again for outside in the sunlight. Then again for inside the reception. This will ensure the best results and colour representation and that the brides dress doesn’t appear blue!

To set the white balance on your digital camcorder is actually a very simple thing to do. Refer to your model guide if you need to, but often it will be accessed by a single button or basic menu selection.

To adjust white balance on your digital camcorder, simply use something that is white. A piece of paper or a white door or wall would be fine - in fact anything that is white will do. If you’re out and about you could carry a white card with you in your camcorder bag. Point your camera to the white item so that a minimum of 80% of the frame is white, and then simply press the white balance button.

If you’ve ever watched recorded footage from a digital camcorder where the colours just didn’t seem to be quite right - perhaps an overly strong tint of blue or a strange and visually unpleasant yellowness across the scene - then there is a good chance this was caused by the camera person not utilising the camcorders facility to adjust white balance.

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