Underexpose or Overexpose

[Jade16]

If you had to choose one, which one would you choose?I finally made the switch to manual mode but am sometimes having trouble keeping the meter perfectly in the middle. Which way should I allow it to go? Over or Under expose? Which is safer?

 

[Dao]

Is your camera has a build-in light meter?

 

[Jade16]

Is your camera has a build-in light meter?

yes, it tells me whether it is overexposed or under before I take the shot.

 

[Scatterbrained]

If you had to choose one, which one would you choose?I finally made the switch to manual mode but am sometimes having trouble keeping the meter perfectly in the middle. Which way should I allow it to go? Over or Under expose? Which is safer?

Well, that's a bit of a loaded question, and it depends on what you are metering. If you're metering a scene wear everyone is wearing white in a white room and you meter to the middle the scene will come out underexposed. If you meter a scene where everyone is where a tuxedo in a room with dark brown walls and furniture and you meter to the middle the scene will come out overexposed. You need to learn how your meter works, and how you want to meter the scene.

 

[Buckster]

It would depend on my subject and the context in which I want to portray that subject.

 

[Scatterbrained]

 

[Bebulamar]

What camera do you have? While back in the old days it might be difficult to zero the meter most camera today can easily zero the meter.

 

[jaomul]

To be honest, unless you need a certain setting, the semi- auto modes generally work for most scenes. You select your prefferred speed or aperture depending on aperture or shutter prioity and let the camera meter and do the rest. This of course is general, but if you select manual and meter correctly you are deciding what the camera would decide if you go by the meter

 

[Jade16]

What camera do you have? While back in the old days it might be difficult to zero the meter most camera today can easily zero the meter.

I have the 5d mark iii. please tell me how to easily zero the meter. I find that by the time i zero it any slight movement of mine or shift in the lighting changes it.

 

[Jade16]

To be honest, unless you need a certain setting, the semi- auto modes generally work for most scenes. You select your prefferred speed or aperture depending on aperture or shutter prioity and let the camera meter and do the rest. This of course is general, but if you select manual and meter correctly you are deciding what the camera would decide if you go by the meter

would you trust using the autoISO in those semi automatic modes? I prefer using Shutter priority so my shutter doesn't slip below 1/200. I have found that when I have used autoISO, sometimes my pictures come out too dark so I don't typically trust it. maybe I should be using it more?

 

[jaomul]

To be honest, unless you need a certain setting, the semi- auto modes generally work for most scenes. You select your prefferred speed or aperture depending on aperture or shutter prioity and let the camera meter and do the rest. This of course is general, but if you select manual and meter correctly you are deciding what the camera would decide if you go by the meter

would you trust using the autoISO in those semi automatic modes? I prefer using Shutter priority so my shutter doesn't slip below 1/200. I have found that when I have used autoISO, sometimes my pictures come out too dark so I don't typically trust it. maybe I should be using it more?

I'm not necessarily saying use auto iso, even though I find it useful in manual mode, where I select aperture and shutter speed and the auto iso adjusts to get a good exposure. You can use one of the semi-auto modes and select an iso that gets the other parameter in a ballpark you want.

Example- you are on a good day but dull day, select aperture priority of f8 because you want a good depth of field, iso 100 gives a shutter speed of say 1/100th of a second, but you are hand holding a 200mm lens and want to be at 1/200 or faster, up your iso to 200 and let the camera do the rest. Keep an eye on things as the light changes

Its easier than manual mode, which some only shoot in, but its not always necessaray, in fact I think (you know what they say about opinions ), that manual mode should only be used when you want to use a setting that is very specific. For the most part manual mode complicates things, there are those who think it's the pure way to shoot. Pure and digital photography in the same line, is a myth

Learn your semi-auto modes well, than go manual if it suits

 

[snowbear]

RTFM. Is your metering mode appropriate for the overall scene? Does your camera have exposure compensation? If so, is it set for the situation?

 

[JoeW]

Yes, it's going to depend a great deal on the setting (shooting snow or a white background for instance). Yes, it's going to depend upon what your real focal point is (a well lit background but the baby you're focusing on has her face in shadow). Yes, auto exposure (say...set it to aperture priority) is pretty good these days on new cameras (man, that makes me sound like such an aging curmudgeon).

Those caveats noted....

I'd do with underexposure. The reason being...if you have to fix something post production, you have a better chance of being able to fix underexposure than you do overexposure. If you're at the beach shooting a portrait and skin has hot spots/highlights that are overblown, no matter what you do (other than clone other parts of skin) it's just going to be a gap in the photo...a spot with no detail.

 

[weepete]

Slightly overexposing is more desireable generally, as there will be more data captured due to the way DSLRs work, provided you don't blow out the highlights or the shadows. Also known as exposing to the right (it used to be used as a noise reduction aid but with modern sensors its pretty redundant.) I'll repeat it again though, only if you don't blow out the highlights or the shadows.

I think you should have a look into the different types of metering mode in your camera, how the work and when to use them.

 

[Ysarex]

What camera do you have? While back in the old days it might be difficult to zero the meter most camera today can easily zero the meter.

I have the 5d mark iii. please tell me how to easily zero the meter. I find that by the time i zero it any slight movement of mine or shift in the lighting changes it.

Put the camera into Program mode and you'll have the metered zeroed every time. Slight movement and shifts in the lighting are compensated for immediately and the meter stays zeroed.

Joe