Metering ?

[Marshy]

Hi all , i have just taken some test shots with my 20D in M mode . My understanding of it is that if the shutter and aperture are correct the exposure should be ok , took a pic of a yellow ice cream van in partial meter mode turned out very under exposed but the meter was in the middle , any ideas please ?

[robertwgross]

Do you understand Exposure Compensation? It does not operate automatically in Manual Exposure mode, but you need to do something like that to get the necessary results when the subject is very light or very dark.

---Bob Gross---

[Marshy]

Do you understand Exposure Compensation? It does not operate automatically in Manual Exposure mode, but you need to do something like that to get the necessary results when the subject is very light or very dark.

---Bob Gross---
In manual mode i didn,t think exposure compensation could be used the same as in other modes ?

[PacAce]

Hi all , i have just taken some test shots with my 20D in M mode . My understanding of it is that if the shutter and aperture are correct the exposure should be ok , took a pic of a yellow ice cream van in partial meter mode turned out very under exposed but the meter was in the middle , any ideas please ?
The camera thought that the yellow van was mid-gray in tone and set the exposure accordingly. But since yellow is much lighter than mid-gray, the setting that the camera used underexposed the shot. Since you're smarter than the camera and know that yellow is lighter than mid-gray, you should have set the EC to +2/3 or something like that. Then the shot would have been better exposed. Once you get this "right" setting, you can then transfer it to Manual mode if you wanted to shoot it in that mode.

OK, I misunderstood your settings. Since you are in Manual mode already, what you need to do to simulate EC is to adjust the shutter or aperture so that the "needle" is 2/3 of a stop (or whatever you deem is necessary) on the overexposure side of the meter from the center or '0' point (usually to the right for most cameras or towards the top if you have the meter on the right side of the viewfinder).

[robertwgross]

In manual mode i didn,t think exposure compensation could be used the same as in other modes ?

That is exactly the point. In other Creative modes, you set up Exposure Compensation and then it happens to every shot. In Manual mode, you get the same effect by dialing up or down from the Manual mode's center mark.

---Bob Gross---

[Marshy]

That is exactly the point. In other Creative modes, you set up Exposure Compensation and then it happens to every shot. In Manual mode, you get the same effect by dialing up or down from the Manual mode's center mark.

---Bob Gross---
Thank you guys , so much to learn so little time .

[Ken Fong]

The "zones and colors" paragraph of this article might be helpful to know how much compensation a particular color needs (which 'zone' to place it in):

http://www.normankoren.com/zonesystem.html

However, I thought the recommended values were a bit high (and I am not used to working in .5 stop increments.) For example, PacAce said +2/3 for yellow, but this article said +1.5! I thought +1.5 is too much (borderline blowout) and would much rather use PacAce's recommendation. Anywhere from +2/3 to +4/3 seems acceptable and will vary according to your tastes. You will probably eventually come up with your own table.