Can someone explain exposure compensation for me?

[9ballprodigy]

I guys, I am so sorry for the total newb question, but how does the ev +/- button work on my d7000? I usually shoot manual and I've encountered situations where if I added +1.0 ev, it just throws my meter gauge into the negatives. I usually get the right exposure with adjusting the ISo, aperture, and shutter speed, but I hear pros and my friends exclaim about the ease of exposure compensation.

I've looked on YouTube for tutorials on exposure compensation and they basically telling me to add ev to make the scene brighter and subtract ev to make the scene darker. I haven't had much results with either. Is it because i am in manual mode or is my d7000 a little wonky?

I've normally been ok with just adjusting the ISo, shutter speed, and aperture, but I got invited to be a second shooter at a wedding and I was concerned about avoiding camera shake images when I am shooting in the evening or indoors. The lens I plan on using is a tokina 50-135mm f2.8 which is nice, but lacks vr so I need to be shooting at least 1/200 sec to avoid blurry images. I would like to avoid taking the iso into extreme levels

 

[SCraig]

If you are shooting in manual then exposure compensation does absolutely nothing except make the meter read wrong. If you are shooting in any of the automatic or semi-automatic modes then it increases or decreases the exposure by the amount that you set.

 

[KmH]

Page 107 of your D7000 user's manual has some information you might find helpful. I don't think your D7000 is malfunctioning. It seems you still have some gaps in your technical understanding of how to use the tools you have.

All setting a + or - EV value does is bias the meter when using Manual mode.
For example, using manual mode you set a EC of +1 EV. When you manually adjust the exposure setting such that the meter indicator is at 0 on the meter, the actual exposure is +1 EV, not zero.

EC EV is adjusted in 1/3 stop increments. 0.3 is 1/3 of a stop. 0.7 is 2/3 of a stop. I am assuming you already understand what a 'stop' is.

EC is more used for the auto and semi-auto shooting modes - P. A, and S.

If you're concerned with camera shake, it might be helpful to re-assess your camera handeling technique to ensure that you are holding the camera/lens as still as possible when you release the shutter.

Another option is to rent a lens that has VR, or a version of it.

 

[KmH]

If you are shooting in manual then exposure compensation does absolutely nothing except make the meter read wrong.

The meter isn't wrong, it's compensated, or biased, by the amount the EC is set to.

When needed/wanted for a series of shots, I always found it easier to just set an EC value and use the zero indicator line on the meter when in manual mode, than to not use EV and use a + or - line on the meter.

 

[Tiberius47]

When you take a photo in Shutter or Aperture priority modes, then you set one value and the camera sets the other. It makes this determination based on what it thinks will give a correct exposure. However, there are some situations that can trick the camera's built in light meter. Classic examples are snow and a black cat sitting on a pile of coal (seriously, when was the last time you even SAW a pile of coal?). Since the camera tried to get the photo to average out to a mid tone grey, you could end up with an exposure setting that makes the coal look grey instead of black, or makes the snow look grey instead of white.

This is when you use exposure compensation. Basically, you are telling the camer to over expose or under expose, depending on what you are taking a photo of. In the coal example, you are basically telling the camera, "I know you want to make this grey, but it's meant to be black, so I want you to underexpose by a stop to make it black." And the same thing for snow, except there you'd be over exposing instead of under exposing.

 

[SCraig]

If you are shooting in manual then exposure compensation does absolutely nothing except make the meter read wrong.

The meter isn't wrong, it's compensated, or biased, by the amount the EC is set to.

When needed/wanted for a series of shots, I always found it easier to just set an EC value and use the zero indicator line on the meter when in manual mode, than to not use EV and use a + or - line on the meter.

I didn't say it was wrong, I said it READ wrong. Big difference.

 

[KmH]

If you are shooting in manual then exposure compensation does absolutely nothing except make the meter read wrong.

The meter isn't wrong, it's compensated, or biased, by the amount the EC is set to.

When needed/wanted for a series of shots, I always found it easier to just set an EC value and use the zero indicator line on the meter when in manual mode, than to not use EV and use a + or - line on the meter.

I didn't say it was wrong, I said it READ wrong. Big difference.

It is doing exactly what it is set to do.