white balance question

[sbrand]

I'm not sure if this question fits here, but here goes... (sorry, it's long-winded).
I shoot with a Canon XSi and know that if I want to review a shot on my card, while the card is still in camera, I can see the WB I used when I took the image along with any WB correction I made in the WB Bracket feature in the camera. All I do is call up the proper display function in review mode.
Once I download the image, LR2 will give me the Kelvin # that I shot at ("as shot") but won't tell me (I don't think) how I had my camera set.
Therefore: I took an indoor pic (no flash) and set the WB to Daylight in camera. LR2 said I shot it at 495' K. When I modified WB for that picture in LR to "Daylight" in LR the K reading was 55'' (a pretty big difference).
When I modified the WB in camera to warm up the same shot (by moving the WB Shift/BKT indicator 2 notches to the right (toward Amber) my "as shot" reading in LR was 52''. (That means that LR's "daylight" setting, at 55'', was still warmer than my adjusted setting).
I then tried going back to my metadata to see if LR would tell me how I had my WB set in camera for other, older shots. If there is a way to find this (other than to know the various "as shot" Kelvin numbers for all possible WB settings in camera) I can't find it. Is it available?
I hope my question is clear....
Thanks
Stephanie

 

[Kiwigeoff]

Welcome to the forum Stephanie.
To your question - I don't believe that there is a way to look back at camera settings in LR as "in camera" settings are generally only readable by camera manufacturers software.
The difference you see is only a difference in what temp gives a "daylight" perception from different software developers eyes - I don't believe there is any "standard" temps for daylight, cloudy, etc.
Keep in mind that camera displays show a "processed" jpeg using the in camera settings.

 

[sbrand]

thanks--I have seen some "standards" on the internet, but all say that there is considerable variation.
Ultimately, I realize it's just a matter of what looks right.
stephanie

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Hi Stephanie, welcome to the forum!

I wouldn't worry too much about the numbers - they're only a guide, as each program will have a slightly different number for the same color. Even if you set it to an exact 55'' on your camera, LR will report it as different numbers, as will most other raw converters.

The great thing is if you're shooting in raw format, you're not fixing your white balance until you get to the raw converter anyway.