R.G. Loc: Scotland

Exposure compensation, and the digital environment as a whole, have developed quite a bit since the days of film, and one of the formative influences was the desirability of simple but effective controls. We now have the digital environment which opens up various possibilities as far as assistance and simplicity are concerned. Put another way, things are the way they are because of the desirability of the features that are now considered basic.

In-camera metering isn't perfect but it's become ubiquitous for a reason. And EC is a common feature of modern digital cameras for the same reason. The consumer-driven market has gravitated towards in-camera metering and features such as EC because the majority of consumers have their preferences. One of those preferences is obviously to use in-camera metering and its various workarounds. If there was a preponderance of consumers finding that situation intolerable, cameras wouldn't be the way they are now.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I had a variant of 'EC' on the Pentax "Super Program" which I purchased in 1983; with that camera, it was built in to the ISO dial - since ISO was set by my selection of film, changing ISO setting and changing EC setting were effectively the same - I was telling the camera's mechanism to pretend it was using film of a different ISO value when doing its metering. I carry that thinking forward to this day - although the setting labeled 'ISO' does change actual sensitivity when exposing JPEG on an modern digital camera, the setting labeled 'EC' tells the metering to pretend that that a different 'ISO' setting had been used. 'Av' mode still keeps aperture constant and varies shutter speed. 'Tv' mode still keeps shutter speed constant and varies aperture. 'TAv' mode still keeps the shutter speed, aperture settings I set and changes the ISO setting. As far as I can tell, only 'P' mode is changed because changing ISO assumed will change what conclusion the automated system uses {and reports back to me} - so I usually switch to 'M' mode in this case and control them myself.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Let me add that if one's goal is to get an absolute perfect exposure absolutely everytime ... it ain't gonna happen.

The best metering system ever devised is the ZONE SYSTEM developed by Fred Archer with the assistance of Ansel Adams.

It is brutally effective in nailing exposure in most instances , but requires some math/metering.

Proper matrix metering does the math and zone metering at what must be warp speed. I am convinced that Adams would have used it had it been available.

Does it achieve the aforementioned nirvana? No.

It will get you to within 1/3 stop probably 95% of the time.

Just as in Adams time, the rest is darkroom touchup.

My experience with matrix metering is wholly NIKON's.

Now, if someone is more comfortable with EC ... enjoy.

My $0.02. Your mileage may vary.

BebuLamar

Not true! Many early cameras with auto exposure don't have exposure compensation. The Canon AE-1 doesn't have it. The Nikon EM only has a button to increase exposure by 1 1/2 stop.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

If in A mode, shutter will change when compensation dial is activated. If in S mode, aperture will change.
In P mode it will depend on which combination of A and S whether the aperture or shutter changes. With an EVF you should be able to see what changes when viewing on either the EVF or your monitor.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Err.... Spot metering allows for an exact metering of what you need. The surrounding is BS if you are unable to capture your subject properly.

I need a specific dof? Spot metering. Speed? Spot metering.

Spot metering has never let me down. The 'art' of spot metering is to know where to measure.

As to the folks claiming 'snow, sand, sky or other highly reflective surface'... Use incident light measuring, not reflective. Incident light is the same for everything, black, white, whatever. The result it that the exposure used is generic so the same for all surfaces reflection. Yet knowing the light reflecting from an object always absorbs some of it, this will result is a slight underexposure inferior to 1/3 EV so negligible. The little dome on your meter takes care of that...

In the case of high contrast correction exposure does not work either, it is a balancing act, not a correction per say. Today post processing allows stack blending for luminosity meaning that you take two or more captures (with spot metering) in order to capture the full luminosity and no, not one camera has a DR capable of capturing all the extreme correctly. This is were the raw format shines by the way. And no, this is not about the infamous overcooked HDR.

In this thread I noticed a remark about ISO. This setting may go the way of the dodo due to the new invariant sensors that rewriting and invalidating the exposure 'triangle' theory. Since few cameras use that don't worry about it but if you purchase new cameras that have an invariant sensor, check out its capability (do note that invariant sensors can do only so much and is not a way to correct a poor capture).

bleirer

I was just checking how my canon acts. Without auto ISO, in aperture priority EC changes shutter speed and in shutter priority EC changes f stop. In manual mode there is no EC when auto iso is off. In flexible mode, using EC without auto iso, there is no EC.

With auto ISO, in aperture priority using EC changes shutter speed and leaves the auto ISO unchanged, but in shutter priority using EC changes ISO when ec is used. In manual with auto ISO, using EC changes ISO. In flexible mode with auto ISO changing EC changes ISO .

Bottom line is either manual mode with auto iso or flexible mode with auto ISO is like having aperture and shutter priority at the same time, with the auto ISO changing as you change either setting. EC gives a degree of control over the auto iso in that case.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

At the risk of hijacking the thread, there are some relatively safe methods rising to prominence at the present time. Highlight Protected metering is one of them. Highlight alerts (blinkies, zebra or whatever) are also becoming more common. As before, if we learn how to use these features properly they should do a fine job of keeping our failure rate low. They'll be simple to use as well - a feature that'll guarantee their future popularity.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Color of snow is artist’s choice in any case. Strictly speaking, 255,255,255 is white and 0,0,0 is black, but 255,255,255 is what you get if the sensor is exposed to too much light, so the photographer has decide how much “gray” is acceptable. In the Age of Film, I shot Kodachrome, and around here that meant a lot of experience judging lightness of snow.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Whether I'm shooting a black bear or a snowy egret in the same light I will be using the same exposure.

In broad daylight I might use Sunny 16. If it's not sunny I might use an incident meter.

Full manual, no EC, no camera meter, usually no light meter.

Both shots will come out right and I don't waste any time playing with the EC dial and chimping the shot.

hammond

I find that when shooting with my 58mm f/1.4,
if I want to shoot wide open at ISO 100 and 8000 shutter (max on my D500) in full daylight, I am still sometimes over exposed.
I could close down the aperture, but that would affect depth of field.
So instead I reduce the exposure compensation as necessary.

Since all three of the settings in the "exposure triangle" will affect visual elements of the image;
higher ISO introduces grain, shutter speed affects any movement in the subject, and aperture affects depth of field (and depending on your lens, also effects vignetting, chromatic aberration, etc.),
exposure compensation allows you to adjust brightness/darkness without affecting these settings.

At least that's my understanding of how it works.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Apart from not knowing what "flexible mode" is I agree with what you're saying. If you add EC to M+AutoISO you gain full control over the exposure, and it all happens in a simple, intuitive way. To that I would add that EC should be decided on at the outset rather than mid-stream.

mflowe Loc: Port Deposit, MD

mflowe Loc: Port Deposit, MD

Err... spot metering is still going to underexpose the snow unless you adjust for it