Exposure Compensation

[EOS_JD]

also could come in handy in a commercial environment where you need specific dof, and action is taking place and you need specific shutter speed ALSO.

Then youll use it to fine tune .....

prob sports commercial, or car shoot, but hey its a good thing to have in that situation.

You would not generally use EC in this case. Set both Ap and Sh to required and change ISO tyo get the correct exposure setting. (EC on the fly using ISO)

 

[EOS_JD]

To clear up some stuff I've read in this thread with comments on manual mode, there is no exposure compensation in manual mode, is there? The exp. comp. in manual is you determining it with your settings. No magic EV button as there is in A or S (Tv) modes since you are setting everything in manual.

That's what Garbz was saying. In M mode you control all exposure inputs (ISO, SS & Ap values).

No need therefore to look for EC although when exposing you can still see that you are over/under exposing what the camera's meter is telling you.

In M you manually input the required settings.

 

[Garbz]

To clear up some stuff I've read in this thread with comments on manual mode, there is no exposure compensation in manual mode, is there? The exp. comp. in manual is you determining it with your settings. No magic EV button as there is in A or S (Tv) modes since you are setting everything in manual.

But what I also said up the top (read post #6) is that even in manual mode the exposure compensation (at least on Nikons) works on the light metre. So suppose you go outside it's a sunny day. Sunny 16 rule applies ISO100 1/100 at f/16. Now you want to over expose it by 2 stops so you go to 1/100 at f/8

Now your camera light metre reads 2 stops over exposed. But suppose this is the right setting, you know it just the camera doesn't and in the bottom of the viewfinder will be an arrow pointing at 2+ EV.

<- Bottom centre is the light metre scale
Now here's the kicker. If you set exposure compensation to +2EV the lightmetre in the viewfinder will read 0 even when your settings are set to over expose by 2 stops (f/8 1/100th in a sunny area)

In manual consider the exposure compensation feature the same way as you would a calibration target and it'll start making sense. You may not use the light metre, fine, others do, and myself included some of us rely on the ability to override the numbers our light metre spits out even when shooting fully manual.

 

[Tasmaster]

Trying to put this into simpler words: by definition, there is no such thing as exposure compensation in manual mode, because you are controling the exposure and not the camera. Expose is whatever you desire, so you don't have to compensate. You can set a desired exposure (by chosing EV steps off what the camera considers normal) using the EC function and the light metre will consider that as the normal exposure.

 

[D-50]

I'm sorry but this cannot work. You need to evaluate EVERY scene differently. Maybe for an average scene this will work ok but try shooting a snowy scene with EC at -0.7...... Or any other tricky lighting scenario....

It works very well actualy, give it a try. But yes you are right if Im shooting in the snow all bets are off because as we all know shooting a snowy scene is very different than shooting really anything else. And I do not just leave my camera on -.7 all the time, I was just saying if I had one chance to capture a scene and no time to mess around with metering and EV values I would use aperature priority and an EV value of -.7. With these settings the probability of blowig out a highlight is mitigated and through raw adjust ment I can usually lighten up any dark areas with no noticable increase in noise.

You would not generally use EC in this case. Set both Ap and Sh to required and change ISO tyo get the correct exposure setting. (EC on the fly using ISO)

Why would you change the ISO unless you absolutly had to have a certain shutter speed when using Ap. All that is going to do is increase noise, if yuo can get by throug changing your shutter spead ithat is a much better option. I change ISO only when necessary due to a shutter speed requirement.

 

[_SnapShot_]

To clear up some stuff I've read in this thread with comments on manual mode, there is no exposure compensation in manual mode, is there? The exp. comp. in manual is you determining it with your settings. No magic EV button as there is in A or S (Tv) modes since you are setting everything in manual.

Just like EOS_JD and you both said, there's no magic EV adjustment setting. If I'm shooting AV, TV or Manual, the EV is sitting on my shoulders. :mrgreen: Every shot is different. Unless I'm shooting portraits in a studio, in which case I'd be adjusting the exposure not trying to trick the camera's reading on the light meter.

What's interesting about the -.7 is most authors say you get the best latitude by exposing to the high side 1/3rd of a stop on the histogram.

I'd use EV if I knew my light meter was off, and I wanted to compensate for that inaccuracy.

 

[Tasmaster]

What's interesting about the -.7 is most authors say you get the best latitude by exposing to the high side 1/3rd of a stop on the histogram.

-2/3 for better results out of the camera (where it is needed).

+1/3 for even better results with post processing.

Cameras that overexpose slightly might be built with this in mind.

 

[THORHAMMER]

You would not generally use EC in this case. Set both Ap and Sh to required and change ISO tyo get the correct exposure setting. (EC on the fly using ISO)

see your point, but think youd get more consistent results leaving the iso
where it is unless you have to change it. The ev comp is there so you dont have to change modes, its supposed to save time in a situation where you need to pretty much keep the same settings and cant control your lighting too much. Also upping your iso isnt too smooth each time your like adding twice as much light, not as smooth as going up or down a third stop.

Thats my take on it. I dont really use EV comp except once in a while. who knows.........

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

I'll explain because if it doesn't make sense I can only conclude that you don't really know how it works or have an over-reliance on your AE Lock button.

When you are taking photos in A mode for instance, you have control over 2 of the 3 elements that make up the exposure. You can control the Aperture, and the ISO. Whatever you set these to the camera will set the shutter speed to keep the exposure constant. That is in A or S mode you have NO control over the exposure as the camera selects it.

Shot at ISO400 at f/2.8 and the second at f/4.5

Yes but I wanted to be able to see what colour my wall was. Notice that changing the setting doesn't affect the image brightness. The same was as changing the ISO won't affect this either. The camera will simply compensate by adjusting the shutterspeed to keep the wall black.

Now this one is shot at f/2.8 with Exposure Compensation set to +2

Like my plain light yellow/grey wall?

Not using exposure compensation you're making the assumption that the camera knows what you want to photograph. Like photographing a person against this window I would like the subject to be lit correctly and a brilliant white light to be streaming through from the back. I can't do that in A or S mode without exposure compensation since the camera will assume the image is overexposed.

This makes no sense in M mode since you have complete control but if I wanted to simply point and shoot and let the camera try to guess how to take the photo I would have bought... well a point and shoot camera.

/EDIT: My sister's $100 P&S has exposure compensation too.

I think you just re-worded everything I said in my first explanation.

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

Exactly for the reason you just mentioned. Go outside in the snow. In Auto modes the camera is going to underexpose. So either use EV compensation or switch to manual. In the latter case if you set the right exposure the camera will take the picture fine but when you look at the light metre it will show the picture is overexposed. This doesn't matter if you don't use the light metre in manual modes. As I said some people are very good at this and don't need to at all.

But consider you spend your entire day in the snow and in manual mode. If you set the EV compensation anyway the metre will be spot on before you take the correctly exposed (white is white) photo. Which is very VERY useful if you are in the snow, shooting manual, and the lighting conditions are changing.

It is even more useful if you are in the Arctic Circle and your LCD gives up (which happens to nearly all digital cameras when they get that cold).

I agree it's a feature that few will use, but it's also a feature some will sware by. I use it a lot since even when shooting in manual if the lighting changes the first thing I do is check the light metre to find out by how much.

Maybe I should clarify my self....If I were shooting in M mode, and I was shooting a snoe scene...I would intentionaly over expose by a full stop, ( not the thirds my camera steps in ) by adjusting the shutter speed if theres no motion. Also, if I was shooting a primarily black scene, I would adjust shutter or aperture accordingly to under expose by one full stop. Not using E/C. This is why I said it doesn't make sense to use E/C in M mode. If you want to compensate the exposure, instead of holding down a small button and scrolling to the +/- value you want, do it yourself while still looking through the viewfinder. It's what the camera would do anyway. I'm just saving the extra step. This is why I said it doesn't make sense to ME, not because I didn't understand the procedure. I know why you want to use it, but for me it's quicker and it's manual mode anyway. Plus, it's digital, and I can basically bracket using the scroll dial and my view finder anyway.....shoot the same shot a couple of times under, over, thirds of a stop, full stops, all without pulling my face off the camera and in less time than setting E/C or braketting with the buttons on top of the camera. I just shoot away, I've got big memory cards.......

 

[Garbz]

... I'm sure you said you didn't see how that made sense in A or S mode, and not M. And yeah it doesn't make sense to constantly change it as it would be an extra useless step. But say you spent your entire afternoon in the snow you can predict your camera metre will always underexpose by 2 stops then it may make sense even when shooting in manual at the beginning of the day to bias your camera's metre to the correct setting for reference. But in reality this is each to his own. I do it. It also gives a tad more resolution for the metre since the D200's metre reading on the bottom only goes to +/- 3EV. And that sucks if it's permanently stuck at +2andabit.

But hey as long as we're all on the same page now

 

[EOS_JD]

It works very well actualy, give it a try. But yes you are right if Im shooting in the snow all bets are off because as we all know shooting a snowy scene is very different than shooting really anything else. And I do not just leave my camera on -.7 all the time, I was just saying if I had one chance to capture a scene and no time to mess around with metering and EV values I would use aperature priority and an EV value of -.7. With these settings the probability of blowig out a highlight is mitigated and through raw adjust ment I can usually lighten up any dark areas with no noticable increase in noise.



Why would you change the ISO unless you absolutly had to have a certain shutter speed when using Ap. All that is going to do is increase noise, if yuo can get by throug changing your shutter spead ithat is a much better option. I change ISO only when necessary due to a shutter speed requirement.

I think you just agreed with everything I said!

 

[Tennessee Landscape]

EC will change the exposure. You might see the meter read what you say above prior to changing EC but as soon as you +/- EC, the setting will change.

I think this is what I didn't understand, not sure what settings you were refering to being changed. I mean obviously the camera will adjust the setting you're not taking priority of, but maybe I thought you meant something else.....anyway,...I've slept since then, so who the heck really knows. I think we both know what we're talking about, and just misunderstood each other's comments.

 

[JerryPH]

I agree with Sabbath. If I have one chance to get a shot I will typical set my EV at -.7 on my D200

Thats interesting... my D200 already consistantly underexposes by 1/3rd of a stop. I read about this at the Nikonian site, its very common with the D200... and they say that Nikon knowingly does it like that to preserve detail. Purposefully removing more means to me that you are likely adding a lot back in PP or enjoying darker pics.

Makes me wonder if this is a camera thing, a lens thing, calibrated monitor or just out and out user preference?

I recently had my monitor calibrated, but it was off so little as to make no visual difference before and after. A nice feeling. I was always adding about a third of a stop more exposure to all my pics. At least now I know why.

 

[Phranquey]

Thats interesting... my D200 already consistantly underexposes by 1/3rd of a stop.

If you saw my earlier post in this thread, I've had to do this (+ 1/3 EC) consistently on three different Nikons, the D70, D200, & D2Xs. I guess it's just a Nikon thing.