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Nikon Z6ii and Z7ii white balance consistency issue

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robin_2

New Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2021
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4
Lightroom Version Number
10.3
Operating System
  1. macOS 11 Big Sur
Hi,

I'm having major problems with files shot on the Nikon Z6ii and Z7ii cameras not displaying a consistent white balance in Lightroom Classic, which just doesn't make sense, so I hope some can shed some light on this for me. I've used numerous combinations of Nikon bodies before side by side, and never experienced this issue before. Even the D850 with the Z6ii was spot on, however for some reason, the Z7ii isn't.

I use the Z6ii and Z7ii side by side for weddings, with manual white balance on both set to 5000k, with 0 tint. So I shoot to both cameras within seconds of each other, so I need the white balance to be spot on.

I can import these files in to Nikon's software and the white balance shows correctly as shot for both images (as one might expect), with the WB matching the values set in camera, and both files looking identical also. The dropper tool in the Nikon software confirms this. So in theory the two camera models do have the same white balance profiles, and variation between the camera isn't the issue. The same is true in Capture One - while the temperature value might vary slightly, the critical point is that they match between the two cameras. I'm not bothered about numbers, just consistency.

However, when they import to Lightroom, the ‘as shot’, values are 4900 +5 for the Z6ii files, and 5200 +15 for the Z7ii files. With these values the RAW images look the same, but of course if I want to consistently warm up images shot from the same scene with the two separate cameras, it is impossible, as the start points are different, the finish points are therefore vastly different if I apply a daylight WB of 5500. For some reason, Lightroom is modifying the raw files on import differently, to render them unusable. The only way to get round this is by working mathematically and adding the difference in temperature and tint for one camera to the other by adding the change made numerically, which is ludicrous and time consuming.

The problem is so bad I've had to resort to buying a second Z6ii body, so at least I can get consistent white balance between two cameras, but I still want to use the Z7ii alongside the Z6ii, as there is no logical reason why I shouldn't be able to it seems.

Is anyone able to shed any light on why this might be happening? Lightroom Classic and all camera firmware is up to date.

Thanks,

Robin
 
I think you can select them both in Grid View and use the White Balance control there. It is relative rather than absolute.
 
I'm not sure I follow. I can select the images from each camera in grid view and apply adjusted values to these, but not consistently across images from the two cameras. The point is that the values for both cameras should appear the same. I am not worried what the numbers are, as long as they are the same for both cameras on import, which they should be.
 
The Quick Develop panel in the Library module applies relative adjustments, like Hal said. That means that if you select all images from both cameras, and click on the button to increase the Temperature, the Temperature of all these images will be increased by the same amount, regardless of the initial value. That should keep them identical while making them look warmer.
 
The Quick Develop panel in the Library module applies relative adjustments, like Hal said. That means that if you select all images from both cameras, and click on the button to increase the Temperature, the Temperature of all these images will be increased by the same amount, regardless of the initial value. That should keep them identical while making them look warmer.
Now that makes a little more sense, thank you. I know the difference in value so I should be able to apply these as a short term workaround, though it would be good for Adobe to acknowledge and fix the issue, or at the very least explain to me why it is happening.
 
...though it would be good for Adobe to acknowledge and fix the issue, or at the very least explain to me why it is happening.
You won't get that explanation from Adobe here. You need to bring it directly to their attention by posting on the official Adobe feedback site (use the Bug Report/Feature Request link at the top of each page).
 
You won't get that explanation from Adobe here. You need to bring it directly to their attention by posting on the official Adobe feedback site (use the Bug Report/Feature Request link at the top of each page).
I know, it was just a statement of frustration. I've already logged the bug, but had no answer from Adobe, who don't seem interested in fixing the issue.
 
I've already logged the bug, but had no answer from Adobe, who don't seem interested in fixing the issue.
Unfortunately, I can only see that you've logged it in the Adobe User-to-User forum, which is sparsely attended by Adobe engineers. The link at the top of this page will get you to the official Adobe feedback site, which is the correct place to log bugs and suggestions, and where you can be sure that the post will at least be read by an Adobe representative. So if you haven't already posted there, I'd suggest you do that.
 
I know, it was just a statement of frustration. I've already logged the bug, but had no answer from Adobe, who don't seem interested in fixing the issue.
Could you copy the WB setting from one image and paste it into the others? This would force them to same (LR) WB temperature.
However, there does seem to be a bug in LR if it doesn't treat the 6 and 7 raw files in the same way, given the camera is in manual WB temperature mode, so it is unclear to me if the two images would end up looking the same.
 
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