was_a_guru

Is there a difference between using exposure compensation vs. just changing aperture and/or shutter speed to accomplish the same effect?

BebuLamar

Are you asking or are you giving us a quiz? Of course there is the difference as you just pointed out in your post. As far as the effect on exposure? It depends.

Depending on which mode the camera is in. It changes the shutter speed or aperture or both. When you change the shutter speed and aperture in manual do you use the same combination?
Even if you do choose the same combination on some cameras the exposure is slightly different because on some cameras the aperture and shutter speed vary continuously and not in steps.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Yes.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Go back and review your October topic, specifically where I said, "do controlled tests..." I'm sure there is other helpful information in that thread also

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

The short answer is this, no matter what camera you're using. Changing the aperture and shutter speed in opposite directions will produce exactly the same exposure. Changing the exposure compensation will either OVER or UNDER expose the shot by the increment set on your particular camera.

If you are on manual, without floating the ISO, then shortening the shutter speed or stopping down the lens (or the opposite), you will get over or under exposure by the same increment.

All the exposure compensation button does is adjust what the meter reads as normal. You have to change the settings to change the exposure. If you're in one of the automatic modes (i.e. floating any of the three elements to match the meter) then the actual exposure settings will be changed, if not, the exposure won't change just by adjusting EC - it will just indicate that you're over or under exposing.

Got it now? Once you think about the exposure controls and meters as separate controls, you should be okay.

Andy

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

It depends on the mode you are using for the E-M1 mrII. In Program mode, it allows you to change either aperture or shutter on one control wheel, displays the other function, and changes that function along with ISO based on Olympus algorithms. Olympus puts more importance on aperture and shutter over ISO from what I can delve from looking at my image's data. So the algorithms tend to keep the ISO in a narrow range and change it last in that range until the limits have been reached for shutter and aperture where it again starts changing the ISO upwards or downwards as the exposure should require. This is different than Shutter mode and Aperture mode where it tends to "fix" the ISO at 200 and change the the other control until it run out of range. Once the limits have been reached for shutter and aperture, then it starts moving ISO to accommodate the exposure. And then there are algorithms that look for exposure exceptions to all the above and change the exposure controls according to that algorithm. So, sometimes using a mode and exposure compensation is just like operating in total manual control but not all at often.

And AndyH is right too. When you change the exposure compensation off the "correct" metered exposure, it changes the various controls per the mode you have chosen and the algorithms controling that mode to give you the overexposed or underexposed image that you have dialed in per the exposure compensation.

BebuLamar

The OP asked a question and several of us answered. I asked the OP a question but I haven't heard from the OP.

Bipod

The question really amounts to: "How does exposure compensation work?"

The short answer is that EC affects metering, and the camera just does whatever it
normally does in the selected automatic exposure mode.

Another way of describing this: EC is permitted to whatever exposure setting(s) were
selected by the camera, not bu the photographer.

Effect of +1 EC:
AP mode: slows shutter speed by 1 stop
SP mode: widens aperture by 1 stop
Program mode: slows shutter speed and/or widens aperture so that the combined
effect on exposure is +1 stop

In manual exposure mode, the action of EC is not specified. A particular camera
can use it for whatever it wants, or it can do nothing at all. It's up to the designer
of the camera's user interface.

The granddaddy of EC on film cameras was changing the ISO setting to make
the camera under- or over-expose. ISO film speed selector is coupled to the
meter, usually electrically. EC is just a handier way of doing the same thing.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Lots of info here -

https://www.lightstalking.com/why-use-exposure-compensation/
http://www.diyphotography.net/use-exposure-compensation/
https://digital-photography-school.com/ev-compensation-explained/
https://photographylife.com/what-is-exposure-compensation?utm_term=2017-06-29#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-is-exposure-compensation

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Maybe he has found his question answered and moved on.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

One of the differences is that on my Nikon I can do smaller steps on 1/3 of a stop at a time with exposure compensation. I can set it differently in the custom menu if I want.
You cannot use EC in Manual. I use it in Aperture priority to do small adjustments.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

"Is there a difference between using exposure compensation vs. just changing aperture and/or shutter speed to accomplish the same effect?"

Yes, there is a difference.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

At least on Nikon cameras, exposure compensation is only available when shooting in either shutter or aperture priority. As your question implies, in manual it is unnecessary.

srt101fan

On my Nikon, Exposure Compensation is also available in the M+Auto ISO shooting mode, not just Shutter or Aperture Priority. I think it's also available in P....

awis01

Maybe he didn't like your snarky reply.