Jbravi

Even though I have the exposure compensation on camera [+/-] I have never used it. I adjust exposure in post process in lightroom.
When do you exactly use this feature on camera? I am not using that. Thank you for your help.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Primarily in aperture priority or shutter priority shooting modes when I want a different exposure from what the camera's metering system chose. For small changes, shooting in raw and making the adjustment in the editor works equally well.

In addition to f8lee's classic examples written below (also, snow scenes), I often shoot in high contrast lighting situations, and may want a silhouetted foreground, or the opposite - to keep the background as dark as possible.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

This is meant to be used in situations where the camera’s Meter might be “fooled”. For instance, a bright day at the beach where the meter puts too much weight on the bright sky; your subject might be rendered as a silhouette unless you compensate by “telling” the camera to overexposed the shot a couple of stops. That would likely blow out the sky but at least your subject would be better captured.

Another classic scenario is a “black cat on a dark blanket” where the meter, in its blind attempt to render an average 18% grey, would make an exposure that is overly light. In this case you would set the compensation to underexposed a stop or two in order to achieve the black.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

If you shoot RAW, most of these settings can be applied to the file in Post Processing. At least they can with my Sony cameras and the Sony RAW processor. This saves a lot of time trying to figure out compensation, vivid/landscape, contrast, sharpness, etc., before you take the shot.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this question. It was good to see what others felt about that question because I ,also, was a little put-off by the When& Where I should intervene with this tool. I have to do in in menu and don't like that option....and wish I had a wheel on top like some cameras do.

Thanks again guys !

BillFeffer Loc: Adolphus, KY

Even when shooting RAW, the best practice is to come as close to the correct exposure as possible. EC allows you to compensate for variables in the scene since most metering systems are calibrated to a specific standard.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Commonly seen on UHH are white birds against dark backgrounds where the white has little to no detail because of over-exposure. I learned early on with my bridge camera, Canon sx50 and shooting jpg, to set exposure compensation to -2 on white pelicans in dark river waters

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

I use it most when lighting is difficult or extremely variable and the camera gets confused. I find it extremely useful!

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

And like most tools in the camera, the more you use, the more it becomes second-nature, automatic - no thinking required

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

"Even when shooting RAW, the best practice is to come as close to the correct exposure as possible"

It is impossible to disagree with this statement. Exposure with digital cameras is not the nightmare it used to be, especially when we were using slide film. Today we have instant feedback and a histogram to guide us toward a good exposure.
Exposure compensation can be done in AUTO or MANUAL modes and as it has been already pointed out to you that it comes very handy with subjects that are not a middle tonality. That middle tonality we keep calling "middle gray." It is my understanding that some modern digital cameras can do exposure compensation in the Manual mode but AUTO is what I have always used for the exposure compensation button.

As Linda said, minor adjustments are no sweat using in post exposure compensation and except in the case of opening the shadow areas trying to fix a clipped highlight is almost impossible.
Opening the shadows could show the ugly face of noise.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

When shooting with a EOS 5DIV you have listed, you should be exposing to the right (ETTR). That is: the meter should register on the right-side ( + ) of the 0-mark on the meter. A feature of the EOS 5DIV model is the ability to shoot in Manual, with AUTO-ISO and with Exposure Compensation (EC). For most older EOS models, if you set AUTO-ISO in Manual, as you adjusted the aperture or shutter speed, the camera would adjust the ISO to place the metering at the center 0-mark. Now, like using EX in A / P / S, when you're in manual you can use EC to establish a metering above (or below) the 0-mark. For these other exposure modes, you use EC with a fixed or auto ISO to maintain a consistent exposure to the right (or left) of the zero mark.

Why overexpose? Noise control and 'true white' in your RAW files. The links demonstrate the ETTR concepts.

Recommended resizing parameters for digital images

ETTR in Practice

Your Nikon model is 'ISO invariant'. Technically, you can adjust an underexposed image in post with a negligible impact of noise (on the RAW file). The ETTR techniques still apply, particularly when shooting at an ISO value above the base ISO-100 of the camera.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

I use EC when there’s any chance a portion of an image to get blown out. Simple as that.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If we each fill-in our own understanding of "correct exposure", then we cannot disagree.

But, some of us RAW shooters believe "correct" is pushing the data capture aspects of the RAW file for the subsequent (and the required) aspect of processing the RAW file. Your noise performance of an EOS model, and in general most DLSRs, will benefit from exposing to the right and adjusting that exposure / brightness in post rather than needing to brighten the image that adds noise in post. Shadows that need to be darkened in post will have much less noise as compared to the image that needs to brighten those areas.

So, "correct" needs to be correctly defined for each individual photographer and camera model to have the same understanding / definition. Although linked above, I'll link here again to emphasize the ETTR concept with a series of actual examples of the concept in practice: ETTR in Practice

bleirer

Just to get into the weeds a bit, I'd say you should dig into your manual about how it is implemented. I was surprised to find on my Canon that auto lighting optimizer still overrode ec changes, so you might not get the effect you are after. I think Nikons have similar active-d settings. Also my camera can take ec out of shutter speed if it runs out of iso but it doesn't change the displayed shutter speed value. If you shoot full manual with no auto-iso there is no need for it, of course, you can roll your own.

Jbravi

Thank you friends for all your valuable input, much appreciated!