# LR4 White Balance Numbers Differ w/ Nikon D4 and D3s



## jhelms (Feb 13, 2013)

I've noticed that LR interprets the white balance settings differently for my raw .nef files coming from my Nikon D3s and D4 bodies; even when a specific kelvin temp is chosen in camera.

Here's a few examples:

D4 flash WB, LR shows as 6150, +2








D3s flash WB, LR shows as 6400, +9










D4 WB set to 5k, LR reads as 4750, +1






D3s WB set to 5k, LR reads as 4900, +10







Any thoughts on why this is happening, and what (if anything) I should do to get xxxx kelvin temp in camera to import as xxxx kelvin temp in LR?


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## Mark Sirota (Feb 13, 2013)

The white balance setting encoded in the camera isn't recorded in degrees Kelvin -- it is recorded as coordinates in a color space. When Lightroom interprets this, it may get different numeric results, but the neutral color will still be neutral. You can see this in your file; the color between the two looks quite similar even though the numbers are different (the exposure/contrast are clearly different too, but we're talking about color).

In other words, don't worry about the numbers -- just make sure the color looks the way you want it to look.


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