photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

For the past several weeks my through the lens light meter wasn't working. I was permanently underexposed (according to the light meter). I worked around it using the sunny 16 rule. Today I was looking at the back of my camera and noticed a setting at 5. I clicked on the setting and it turns out it was my exposure compensation (I shoot in manual and in raw). I returned my exposure compensation back to zero and, wonder of wonders, my through the lens light meter worked. I never (knowingly) changed my exposure compensation, so how it happened I don't know. This is just a little tip if you wind up in a similar situation.

User ID

On a decently designed interface the EC control has no effect on manual metering.

BebuLamar

It does if the OP followed the meter. On the Canon I don't think you can set the EC in manual unless you enable auto ISO.

User ID

Quite likely, but I dont have one at hand right now. There is a difference between "manual mode" and "manual metering". I did specifically refer to the latter. You cant be manually metering if auto iso is always undermining your settings.

User ID

That doesnt make any sense, except on an old film camera where the EC and the ASA dial are really the same dial.
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BebuLamar

Any way on the Nikon it would let you set the EC in manual and auto ISO off. Now if you mean manual metering is to set the aperture and shutter speed so that the exposure indicator indicates a 0 then you will be off by the amount of EC set. -5 EV in the case of the OP. If you meant by using a hand held meter or you just know the correct exposure (sunny 16 or using a chart) then the EV setting doesn't matter.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

And yet again: Success is the photographer. Failure is the equipment.

BebuLamar

That's how the Canon works. Make sense to me. Check with Paul the Canon expert.

User ID

I'm sure I said, "On a decently designed interface ... ". Apparently Canon does not fit that description :-(

The OP did not mention camera brand.

He also did not mention age of camera. Brand is not the sole determinant. Interface design follows the dumbing down of the user base over time.

Sooooo .... thank you for this discussion which led me just now to check my new-to-me Z7 and I did find that its the same as a Canon. IOW I could accodentally bias the manual metering.

BebuLamar

And you know as well as I know on a Nikon if you set the EC to -5 and set the aperture and shutter in manual mode for the 0 display we would underexpose.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I can't speak for every Canon model, but EC is typically just the 'opposite' dial of the 'mode control' on an EOS camera. So, if in Shutter / Time priority on the back dial of the more advanced EOS models, the control dual nearest the shutter release is EC. Same if the back dial is aperture, again the dial by the shutter release is EC. Where / how you control the digital ISO has a number of variables: AUTO ISO vs Fixed ISO, how you've programmed your external controls, and how your specific model handles AUTO-ISO.

This recognition of the 'control' dial functionality is what moved me from Aperture Priority to Manual, now about 7 years ago. I already understood ETTR and positioning my RAW exposure about +1 to the right of the meter's 0-mark. I realized I was 'dialing in' EC with the same control that was shutterspeed when shooting in Manual. Turning the exposure dial to M, and I was explicitly controlling aperture and shutterspeed instead of aperture and EC for a given ISO setting.

On most older EOS models, in Manual with AUTO-ISO, the EOS camera adjusts the ISO to maintain a neutral exposure at the 0-mark. Our OP and their Nikon body may be experiencing the same functionality. Newer cameras from all brands allow for EC and an 'off zero' exposure with AUTO-ISO and using EC in Manual.

For bodies where AUTO-ISO is pegged to the 0-mark on the meter, in manual exposure you need to fix the ISO and adjust the shutterspeed and / or aperture to force an exposure to the right of the 0-mark for the selected ISO. While in the other semi-auto exposure modes, you can use EC to position the exposure off center with EC, even when using AUTO-ISO.

Cameras that allow EC with AUTO-ISO and Manual Exposure, these modern marvels really are the cat's pajamas. Given your RAW exposure really should always be at +1 ish, you can put the camera on AUTO-ISO and just always worry about aperture and shutterspeed, and the camera's brains offload from your brain the need to worry about ISO.

User ID

Actually I just checked and unhappily found that out. The menu allows disabling "Easy EC" but EC itself cannot be fully disabled. Not happy !

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

There is every reason to allow EC with auto ISO and manual aperture and shutter. In fact it’s one of the improvements with later 5D Canons. Here’s the scenario. You’re shooting action (sports or BIF). You pick a shutter speed to freeze the action and an aperture for the DOF or subject isolation you want, and you enable auto ISO to compensate for changing lighting as the subject moves. You chimp and notice it’s consistently under or over exposed. Just dial in the appropriate EC and continue on. What part of that doesn’t make sense to you? If your camera has good high ISO performance (you just ignore the ISO) and you shoot action, it gives you the control you need while letting the camera do what it does best.

User ID

Auto ISO is already ruled out here. The question is about whether the EC biases manual metering. There is no such thing as manual metering if auto iso is enabled.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Ive been shooting a lot in recent months in a school environment. Mixed fluorescent and LED lighting. Most of my shots use matrix metering, and I've learned that best results for publication are with +0.7 stop of EC. I don't care if it's in Program, Manual, Aperture, or Shutter priority, I want the extra exposure. Fortunately, my camera models work exactly that way. It may be that other Nikons don't. These shots get submitted before I leave at the end of the day. No post processing. No second adjustment if I change exposure modes. Easy and error free. Every time.