Why are the reds so awful?

Today in Melbourne the air was very smoky from the fires nearby.
When the sun went down, it looked bright orange because of this.

You could look at it with the naked eye.

So i to my K5 and made a picture. When I checked it, The orange had turned white, the rest of the picture was ok.
I then took my X-5 and did the same. This was even worth.
Later when the smoke got thicker and the sun had a lower angle the colour improved.

I had a similar thing happen every time when I take pictures of traffic lights or railway signals. The reds turn to white , especially in the centre of the light source. It is just like an ortho film taken in dauylight.
This never happened with colour slides. The reds where reds.
Any Ideas why this is so and how I can prevent it?

The first picture was with the K5 . The sun should have been bright orange.





The second picture also with the K5, But the sun was more obscured by smoke and already lower.




The 3rd picture with the X-5 and the sun bright orange




The 4th picture with the X-5 and the sun like the second picture with the K5.






You guys have to admit, this is pathetic.

Regards, Horst

There are two things I think.

First, over-exposure will burn out the sun to bald white. The sun is so much brighter than the landscape that it can't be easily reproduced at that size in the frame. Don't point your camera for long into the sun either - protect your sensor and your eyes.

Second, if you used AWB the camera will try and remove any colour casts. Film had a fixed colour balance, so if you want red to stay red then change the WB to a fixed value. I use Daylight routinely and Cloudy or Shade if the light is excessively cold.

Also bear in mind that even the fixed values will be altered slightly by the camera, unless you switch that option off. I switch it off. If I set Daylight I mean Daylight!