fjrwillie Loc: MA

When Do Use Exposure Compensation. I have rarely used, and maybe never, used EP and wondering when one uses EC. Do you change the metering methods from matrix, to center weight or spot. Only when in Manual mode versus Aperture or Shutter. All of my captures are RAW with Post Processing. I use a Nikon D7100, but the question isn't really camera specific

Willie

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

There is actually very little need for exposure comp - IF- you are shooting raw AND you NEVER shoot birds/airplanes in flight or birds/boats on water .....or all/mostly black/white subjects. Preserving highlights in direct sun or shadow details in low light scenes would be another good use of EC. EC becomes more important when shooting JPEG.

..

BebuLamar

You use EC (not EP I think it's a typo) when you know or think that when in any auto mode that including P,S,A and M with auto ISO would give you image lighter or darker than you want. You can use in M mode and auto ISO off as well but only if you would then adjust your settings to get the meter to indicate a 0.
I personally never use it. I would simply switch to manual.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

No, you don't change anything except for the EC. I use it all the time. Keep your metering the same and when you think you need more exposure, simply use EC. I use it all the time in wildlife photos. If the wildlife is in shadow, I up the EC by as much as 1 2/3 stops. If I'm taking pictures of flowers that are very colorful and they are in direct sun, I back off the EC by about 2/3 to 1 stop. The colors will really pop. It's a very useful tool and only takes a little experience to know when to use it and how to use it. I've been doing this for only 9 years and I know exactly when and how to use it and usually go right to the right +- EC....

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Always, in the semi-auto modes of P / A / Tv. For some advanced models with Auto-ISO in Manual, even then too.

I followed your Flickr link. Most everything is excellent so it was hard to find an example where EC would have applied to fit my "always" suggestion. Looking at these Flickr results, the question might be: what are your edit changes that typically occur between capture and presentation? If you're consistently adding brightness / exposure to your images, then adjusting the exposure during the capture should yield a better finished image.

The two or three images where I checked, the EXIF indicate exposure mode = AUTO. Again, scrolling your photostream is excellent and changing your mode will change the process, but not necessarily to the better.

Given your interest, look at your shooting and edit work flow and experiment. For a RAW exposure at the base ISO-100, you have a lot of latitude to adjust / brighten the exposure in post. To experiment off of AUTO, you might try some experiments capturing in your typical method, then try Program and using EC to brighten the same image clicking at 1/3 stops until you're +1 stop or until the image is overexposed with highlight warnings. Take those RAWs into your edit and experiment with the edit process to achieve the same results with each file.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

I believe that when you are in Aperture Priority it will adjust the Shutter Speed and when you are in Shutter Priority it will adjust the Aperture to allow you to over or under expose the TTL metering.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I used it extensively with my bridge camera when shooting jpg of American White Pelicans or flowers against dark backgrounds. #1 below was in a semi-auto mode (HQ Burst) with -1.5 or -2.0 EC. River was dark water, sun was shining brightly.

(EDIT re the pelican: using "equiv 1200 mm" lens at extremely long distance so impossible to meter solely on the bird - see my reply to User ID below).

With my dslr I often used aperture priority. In #2 below, I set EC to -1 to help retain darkness of deeply shadowed background. When setting EC to a negative number in aperture priority, the shutter speed increases (ISO was unaffected).

(Download)

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Rarely. Mostly when taking exposures where the scene has a lot of white; e.g. snow. +1.3 and mostly matrix metering. Otherwise 0 and spot metering something non white.

Also usefull when there is a lot of black you want to see detail in, e.g. black bear. Then -1.3 and spot meter on the critter.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Normally with white you (unintuitively) need plus EC, e.g. around +1.3 in snow scene. You must have used matrix metering for the white bird.

Auto mode usually overrides EC.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The Canon SX50's HQ burst mode is more like Program, allowing exposure changes via EC. This bird was extremely far away. The image is cropped; frame was nearly all dark water, with hardly any bird on which to meter

Also, I was shooting jpg and I discovered with that camera that slight under-exposure was far easier to adjust in pp than too light. Good points to clarify, thanks!

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

I use EC a lot. I don’t want to change the aperture but want to tweak exposure for the look I want. My Oly e-m5 II is always in live mode so I can see the effect it has.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I switched from dslr to M4/3 just under two years ago. Isn't that live exposure mode awesome?!

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

I use exposure compensation very often. It gives me precise control over exposure in the semi- and full- auto exposure modes. Especially useful in bright sunlight with many reflecting highlights in the scene, which you want to keep from clipping.

sandiegosteve Loc: San Diego, CA

I never used it until I started doing some events with rapidly changing light where I wanted to have set shutter and aperture. I then went to M with Auto ISO in matrix. It took a bit to figure out, but if the subject was becoming back lit, then I'd bump up EC to help with the faces. I don't care if the background lights are blown out.

In summary, changing light and rapid shooting/short moments. My scenarios are going from day to night sports with stadium lighting, or stadium lighting that is not consistent across the playing field.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

I use it to create sunrises and sunsets at mid-day. Looks cool to see a sunset at twelve o'clock high looking directly up at a 50-story skyscraper.