Vladimir200 Loc: Beaumont, Ca.

Absolutely correct. When using exposure compensation on my D750, after I take a picture, it does "not" reset itself, i.e. the shooter needs to remember to go back into the settings and reset.

MtnMan Loc: ID

EV was adjusted. Perhaps you had bracketing on?

On Nikons if you adjust EV in M mode the center meter reading then equals that EV adjustment. I think.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Ah ha! Good interpretation of what the OP said...but he should confirm.

So we are thinking after adjusting it to -4EV for the first shot he only got it back to -1 EV for the second, in which case A mode would underexpose by -1EV.

Need to check manual on when EV resets to zero. Definitely not after every shot on higher end cameras and evidently not after changing mode. It may or may not reset after turning camera off. It does not reset on my D800.

I thought he meant he adjusted shutter speed, f-stop, or ISO to center the meter. But if he did what you surmise then that for sure is the cause on the problem.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

The camera does not "somehow" change to bracketing either.

And if bracketing were enabled the settings for it would be shown in the Exif data, but they are not. Zeroing the meter has nothing at all to do with bracketing, but changing EC is precisely the way to zero the meter in Manual exposure.

Nothing indicates bracketing with those images. Everything is totally in agreement with the Exposure Compensation being used to zero the meter.

MMC Loc: Brooklyn NY

I am sorry but I am not sure that I understand correctly meaning of zeroing the meter. I think that when I am trying to get best exposure in manual mode I am trying to place indicator on zero changing SS, aperture or ISO. Am I right? If I am wrong explain me please.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

We have to assume that the OP meant he adjusted something until the viewfinder light meter indicator said zero, instead of + or -. Changing any of ISO, aperture, shutter or Exposure Compensation would accomplish that. (See page 94 of the D750 manual.)

But only changing the Exposure Compensation will cause the Exif data to say it is set to -4 EV as is indicated in the data from the OP's image.

deayala1 Loc: Pleasanton, CA

(Download)

deayala1 Loc: Pleasanton, CA

I think the problem was that somehow I had "Auto ISO" on and when I tried to zero out the light reading it somehow effected the EV. I took some sample shots today on manual and Auto ISO off and I got 0 EV.

Thanks all

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

The Exif data for both images say that Auto ISO was not enabled. It says both were shot at ISO 100.

It appears the sequence you went though was setting f/11, 1/500, ISO 100 and Manual exposure; then you adjusted Exposure Compensation until the meter indicator in the viewfinder was zeroed (at -4 EV), and took a picture. Note that the Light Value was 15.9 EV. That was at 01:16:51 on June 11, 2016.

Then you changed the camera to Aperture Priority exposure mode (with the aperture still set to f/11), and adjusted Exposure Compensation until the indicated shutter speed was again at 1/500. ISO was not changed. The recorded Light Value is again at 15.9 EV. You took the second image at 01:17:28, or 37 seconds after the first shot.

The framing is slightly different, with more white area on the left in the first shot than in the second. It does not, however, look to be enough to explain why there is a three stop difference in EC but only a slight difference in actual brightness. The histograms of the two images show that the first image is under exposed only a little more than the second. It looks like the second image would have been just about right with a +1 EC rather than -1, which would have used a shutter speed of about 1/125.

deayala1 Loc: Pleasanton, CA

Hmmm. I really never touched the EV on either shot.

My normal process is shoot manual, select the Iso (usually 100) then the fstop then adjust the light meter to 0.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

What do you mean by "adjust the light meter to 0". Exactly what controls on the D750 did you change to get a 0?

What exactly do you mean by "never touched EV", because there is no adjustment for EV. EV stands for Exposure Value, it is a unit of measure, not something you adjust. That is the unit of measure for a light meter. So in those images the Light Value (the actual meter reading) was 15.9 EV. It happens that Exposure Compensation is also measured in EV, where 0 is the calibrated meter reading, and adjusting it for a bias is -1 EV, -2 EV and so on.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Maybe not but I've managed to inadvertently turn bracketing on with my D800. And it does not turn itself off. Only one of three images was properly exposed. Fortunately I was shooting in RAW and was able to recover some of the others.

Presumably you mean EV. On Nikons if you change EV in M mode it does not affect the exposure you have set. It just affects the value the meter centers at. So the OP had set an exposure of -4 EV. Turning the wheel with the EV button pressed merely let the EXIF record how bad the exposure was set.

Then he must have turned it back to -1 EV. So the aperture priority shot obediently underexposed by 1EV.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Might be exactly what you did. But the OP didn't. The Exif data clearly indicates there was no bracketing turned on.


We can presume that you mean Exposure Compensation, EC.

EV = log2 (fstop² / shutter time)

Any time you change EV it means you changed the exposure (either by changing the aperture or the shutter speed, or both). Exposure value is essentially an amount of exposure. It is the unit of measure for a light meter. If you change EV, in any mode, it means you've changed the exposure.

EV is also used as the unit of measure for Exposure Compensation. In the Exif data EV shows up in two places, as the Light Value and as the Exposure Compensation.


He set the Exposure Compensation, EC, to -4 EV. That is an EC button, not an EV button.

The problem is that the OP says he zeroed the meter. It is possible that he didn't mean exactly what he said though, and only zeroed the meter when after setting the camera to Exposure Priority... if "zeroed the meter" means he adjusted EC until he got the same 1/500 shutter speed that he had previously. I assumed that he meant making the meter scale read zero, but that might not be the case.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Correct. Exposure compensation (EC) does not work in Manual mode if unless you use Auto ISO.

However, if you follow the camera's recommendation, it can lead you to the wrong exposure. With EC set to -4, your meter suggested the wrong manual exposure setting.

In this case an exposure of 1/500 @ f/11 is an EV (exposure value) of 16, which is appropriate for "Light sand or snow in full or slightly hazy sunlight (distinct shadows)" per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_value

For a "Typical scene in full or slightly hazy sunlight (distinct shadows)" the appropriate EV would have been 15, assuming you did not use an ND or CPL filter, either of which would lower the recommended EV.

You underexposed by 1 stop, maybe 2-1/3 if you used a polarizer.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

or your meter could be off a bit, my 5200 was off, everything was always darker I had to allow for that when I would shoot.