Nikon has defended the screen on its D800 DSLR, after many pointed out a green tinge which made images appear to have cooler tones.
Speaking to TechRadar, James Banfield from Nikon UK said, "The viewing conditions of the screen can affect how it looks. In a studio environment it will be most neutral. The only way to get over this is to block out the ambient light."
After the issue was reported by NikonRumors several weeks ago, Nikon support team claimed that the problem lay not with the newer cameras, but with older cameras - leading to misleading comparisons.
Speaking about the images themselves also having a slightly cooler tone than is preferable, Banfield claimed that the "greenish" tone was more accurate, if less pleasing. "It comes down to the philosophy of the designers trying to be as neutral and accurate as possible. Accurate is less pleasing, so there are two options so you can decide which to use."
Options
On both the D800 and Nikon D4 you can choose to have the Auto White Balance prioritise warmer tones, depending on preference, along with the usual options for specific shooting conditions.
In our review of the D800, we found that the screen had a tendency to present images as cooler than the real scene. We also found this to be true on other Nikon models, including the Nikon D3200, the company's recent entry-level introduction.
While not necessarily a huge problem for D800 and D4 users, who would be used to shooting in raw format and correcting colours in post-production, for beginners it could present more of an issue if the screen can't be relied on for accurate colour reproduction.
