Exposure and Metering Question (Page 5): Replies like this give me GAS, big time. I have a 'lowly' Rebel and it doesn't even offer auto ISO. :oops: Need, want, new.... something.

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

amehta wrote:

If auto-ISO is on, then exposure compensation would apply to that. Probably what the teacher had to do was turn auto ISO off. Most Nikon DSLRs have exposure compensation right next to the shutter release, even the lowly D3100.

Replies like this give me GAS, big time. I have a 'lowly' Rebel and it doesn't even offer auto ISO. :oops: Need, want, new.... something.

amehta Loc: Boston

Marionsho wrote:

Replies like this give me GAS, big time. I have a 'lowly' Rebel and it doesn't even offer auto ISO. :oops: Need, want, new.... something.

I have auto ISO and don't use it, I don't think that's a good reason for G.A.S. I can think of many better ones. :lol:

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Marionsho wrote:

Replies like this give me GAS, big time. I have a 'lowly' Rebel and it doesn't even offer auto ISO. :oops: Need, want, new.... something.

No...you don't need anything more.

You don't need auto ISO either.

I've had a Rebel, a 5DII and a 5DIII and trust me...you can make spectacular images on that rebel.

learn from my many thousand dollar mistake :)

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

rpavich wrote:

No...you don't need anything more.

You don't need auto ISO either.

I've had a Rebel, a 5DII and a 5DIII and trust me...you can make spectacular images on that rebel.

learn from my many thousand dollar mistake :)

Thanks. But I still have GAS! LOL
I'll take it up with the support group. :twisted:

amehta Loc: Boston

Marionsho wrote:

Thanks. But I still have GAS! LOL
I'll take it up with the support group. :twisted:

We support spending, but we try to help make it effective by reducing redundancy, optimizing appropriateness, and maximizing fun. :-)

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

amehta wrote:

We support spending, but we try to help make it effective by reducing redundancy, optimizing appropriateness, and maximizing fun. :-)

I'll take a note. :-D

davidheald1942 Loc: Mars (the planet)

I agree, there is too much gobbledygook about metering in general, and not particularly on this web-site.

I would like to add, you can use your built in reflective light meter in your camera as an incident light meter.

Get yourself one of those white Styrofoam cups that you would get your coffee in at any fast food restaurant and stick your lens in it with your meter on and face the direction you will be standing when you take the photo and set your f/stop and shutter speed to that reading and then walk over to where you planed on standing and ignore the cameras info it is now giving you and take the shot.

I used this metering method for many years and it does work.

Sometime I also would take a reflective reading off of a particular shade of asphalt. And this method of reflective light reading is also VERY accurate.

You might have to run some test shots to see what particular shade of gray most often is about the same as a 18% reflective gray card.

My advice is to buy an 18% gray card at almost any full service camera store. THEY'RE CHEAP.

Thanks for reading.
ronny

davidheald1942 Loc: Mars (the planet)

an incident light meter reading is ALMOST always more accurate than a spot meter reading. I think it's easier because it's just plain simpler (spelling) (I was an English teacher for years and cant spell lol)
thanks
ronny

anotherview Loc: California

On a Canon camera, you can meter for the sky, then press the Shutter Button half way down to lock all settings. You can then recompose, and press the SB all the way to release the shutter.

Another way exists for metering the sky. It's called Auto Exposure lock. Pressing and releasing the AE button on the camera saves the metered exposure setting. The AE button has a star-shaped icon next to it: *. This icon also displays in the viewfinder when you set AE.

This Web-site explains AE:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-lock-autoexposure-settings-on-a-canon-eos-6.html

rjrbigdog wrote:

Hi,
Just want to ask about working in manual mode. When I take a meter reading lets say from the blue sky and get my reading, when I recompose the shot the reading changes. Do i have to manually dial in the reading I got from the sky?

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Ben Long has a great tutorial on exposure on Lynda.com. Bryan Peterson's, "Understanding Exposure, 3rd. Edition" is a great book. Don't get hung up on manual mode. It's just a tool and not the mark of a good photographer. Aperture mode, Shutter speed and even Program mode all play a part in helping you achieve good exposure. Learning exposure and the relationship of shutter speed, aperture and ISO will help you achieve what you desire in making a good photograph. Good luck.

rjrbigdog wrote:

Thanks, but I am only new to digital.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

davidheald1942 wrote:

I agree, there is too much gobbledygook about mete... (show quote)

Better yet, buy an Expodisc and, wallah, you have both color balance and exposure at once.

May I ask you a simple question? What is an "accurate" exposure? Or will this start WWIII?

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

abc1234 wrote:

Better yet, buy an Expodisc and, wallah, you have both color balance and exposure at once.

May I ask you a simple question? What is an "accurate" exposure? Or will this start WWIII?

Well, maybe...!
Are you talkin' exposing film and JPEG image files, or RAW data? The difference is significant.
Actually, abc1234, a recent thread you started related to that seems to have wound down long after you bowed out It might still be of interest to you.
Dave

Dave in SD

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

abc1234 wrote:

Better yet, buy an Expodisc and, wallah, you have both color balance and exposure at once.

May I ask you a simple question? What is an "accurate" exposure? Or will this start WWIII?

In photography, exposure refers to the amount of light that impacts on the sensor or film. The desired amount of light (accurate exposure) is that which will give an image which appears to be illuminated at the same level as the subject was when the picture was taken. Note that the 'accurate' exposure may not be the most desirable. Often an image looks better when it is lighter or darker than the scene was when the picture was taken.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

mcveed wrote:

In photography, exposure refers to the amount of light that impacts on the sensor or film. The desired amount of light (accurate exposure) is that which will give an image which appears to be illuminated at the same level as the subject was when the picture was taken. Note that the 'accurate' exposure may not be the most desirable. Often an image looks better when it is lighter or darker than the scene was when the picture was taken.

I am glad someone got my point. Now, to complicate matters, the eye and the sensor, solid state or film, register colors and brightness a bit differently. Furthermore, the biological or technological detectors probably do not capture the range of colors and brightness of the scene accurately. Then, what do you go by? For me, I like natural looking prints so I do the best I can to reproduce the colors and brightness of the scene but may still adjust them to my own esthetic. We are on the same page.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

davidheald1942 wrote:

an incident light meter reading is ALMOST always more accurate than a spot meter reading. I think it's easier because it's just plain simpler (spelling) (I was an English teacher for years and cant spell lol)
thanks
ronny

For general photography you are right, an incident meter reading is usually more accurate. The exception is when the subject is in shade and you can't go to the subject location to take an incident reading. Like when the subject is a lion or a leopard.