Nikon D3x

	White Balance Summary
• Slightly sub-par white balance performance • Dealt with incandescent illumination better than many cameras • Precise control over white balance presets • Can only white balance bracket on amber/green axis • Can store five manual white balance settings
	Resolution	Page 6 of 18	Sample Photos

White Balance (10.68)

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The D3x white balance performance is one of the few areas we felt slightly let down by the camera. It underperformed compared to the competition, on both automatic and manual settings. For an explanation of how we test white balance, click here.

Auto White Balance (9.39)
The first part of our white balance test involves shooting an X-Rite ColorChecker chart under strictly controlled light sources simulating incandescent, cool white fluorescent, and daylight sources. These images are then tested for color error using Imatest software. You'll notice in the graph below that the D3x had a much higher error with incandescent bulbs than other light sources, a tendency in the vast majority of cameras.

Auto White Balance

The D3x didn't deal with daylight illumination as well as many other cameras, though the difference wasn't very significant. It tended to make the images a bit cooler than they should be.

Auto Daylight White Balance Performance Comparison

The D3x handled the always troublesome incandescent illumination quite well, in one of the few areas it outperformed the D700. However, it was still noticeably inaccurate.

Auto Incandescent White Balance Performance Comparison

With cool white fluorescent bulbs, the D3x introduced the same error as every camera tested here except the Canon 5D Mark II, and compensated too far into the warm end of the spectrum.

Auto Fluorescent White Balance Performance Comparison

Custom White Balance (11.96)
With a custom white balance, we expect much higher color accuracy than with auto or preset WB, so the scoring is much more demanding on this test. The D3x did quite well with the usually problematic incandescent, but it stumbled over daylight illumination a little.

Nikon D3x Custom White Balance

White balance was one of the few areas where we saw the D3x struggle, even a little. It had more trouble with daylight illumination than some other cameras, and both automatic and custom settings were less than stellar.

White Balance Score Comparison

White Balance Settings (12.50)

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The wide array of white balance presets includes seven types of fluorescent bulb, in keeping with the camera's overall pattern of granular control.

White Balance Types
Display	Mode	Color Temperature
	Auto	3500-8000K
	Incandescent	3000K
	Sodium-vapor fluorescent	2700K
	Warm white fluorescent	3000K
	White fluorescent	3700K
	Cool-white fluorescent	4200K
	Day white fluorescent	5000K
	High temp. mercury-vapor	7200K
	Direct sunlight	5200K
	Flash	5400K
	Cloudy	6000K
	Shade	8000K
	Choose	2500-10000K
	Preset Manual	n/a

The white balance presets can all be shifted along both the amber/blue and green/magenta axes, with 6 steps in each direction. In this case, a step is the equivalent of 5 mired, a unit of color temperature shift that takes into account that changes are more obvious at lower color temperatures. While you're shooting, you can adjust along the amber/blue axis by holding down the white balance button, then turning the front dial, but strangely you can't adjust on green/magenta in a similar manner.

White balance bracketing can only be used along the blue/amber axis, in increments of one (five mired), two (10 mired) or three (15 mired) steps. From two to nine photographs can be taken in the sequence.

For reusing manual white balance settings, there are five available slots, d-0 through d-4. D-0 is where the image is stored if you take a white balance while shooting. This can then be saved to one of the other four slots. Alternatively, d-1 through d-4 can be loaded with white balance settings from images stored on the memory card.
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