Understanding your camera’s built-in metering system

What metering mode are you using? If you're used to an auto "sports" mode, manual mode might be too much to bite off at one time. You can try keeping your aperture open by being in AV mode, and if you center focus/ center weighted metering will be the most confined metering for a T3.

billysangel wrote in post #17721626
I have a Cannon EOS Rebel t3. It takes great shots in the day no matter the different modes it has but I go to sprint car races and of course I take shots of them while racing. The only problem is figuring out which mode to use and how to get them to not be so dark. Right now I use manual mode to shoot night shots because with the cars racing can't keep the sports mode on that takes great shots in daylight but if you try to take them at night on the sports mode they get real bright and unfocused.

Hosted photo: posted by billysangel in
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You really need to be in manual mode for this. Shooting at night under those lights is maxing out the capabilities of your camera. Start with the highest ISO possible and the largest aperture on your lens (smallest number). Then take test shots at shutter speeds stating at 1/200 of a second. Adjust the shutter speed up or down until the image looks right. Learn your histogram.and understand what it tells you. What you may find is that your lens and camera may not be well suited for action in such poor light.

He said he was in manual mode. But unless one has a good grasp on exposure, that's not always the best mode to be in. Unless one wants to experiment and find the best exposure settings, choosing the right metering and priority mode can be a good versatile method. In this situation, keeping an open aperture in AV mode can lead to good results. Since I started with all manual SLRs, I don't know how good auto ISO is. I would also side with maxing ISO....for outdoor scenes I've comfortably gone up to 6400 ISO, but don't know how that looks on a T3.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17721855
You really need to be in manual mode for this. Shooting at night under those lights is maxing out the capabilities of your camera. Start with the highest ISO possible and the largest aperture on your lens (smallest number). Then take test shots at shutter speeds stating at 1/200 of a second. Adjust the shutter speed up or down until the image looks right. Learn your histogram.and understand what it tells you. What you may find is that your lens and camera may not be well suited for action in such poor light.

He is already at the smallest aperture number of this lens, he is already @ 1/160s, he is already at the "acceptable" limit of the high ISO of his camera, what he need it's a lot faster lens that's all ... i suggest an f/1.4 lens or a 50mm f/1.8 like the 50-nifty which is cheap and might fit his budget, even an f/2.8 lens might help here with a gain of 2 stops

His image states: 41mm | 1/160 | f/5.6 | ISO 3200. I think his posted shot is about -1.5EV to -2EV too dark.

Growing up in the film era, I would have suggested ISO 400 (the highest available), 1/30 f/2 (but I have no idea of the real perceived brightness of that track compared to my starting assumed brightness from experience)

If we compare his shot's parameters to my starting parameters...

His f/stop is -3EV under my starting f/stop
His shutter speed is about -2.3EV under my starting shutter speed
His ISO is +3EV above my starting ISO

so in total, -3-2+3...about -2EV under my starting guess!

My point...with a lot of experience you can guess simply by assessing the relative brightness of a place vs. past experiences. For the raw beginner, you might simply memorize ISO 400, 1/30, f/2, and use that as a starting point to shoot a photo of an 18% grey card, then adjust your ISO up or down and take other shots to make 18% appear to be a medium tone (peak close to the midline of the histogram, just a tad to the left). With experience, you will calibrate your own eyes to be reasonably close!

1/30 in a sports shot?? I think 1/100 panning is about the slowest usable shutter. And yes, obviously need more exposure (at least 2EV if not more)....it's all reciprocity as to how small a f number, slow a shutter speed, and high an ISO is acceptable. Considering the underexposure, I am thinking the meter, no matter mode, was not showing 0EV

davesrose wrote in post #17721898
1/30 in a sports shot?? I think 1/100 panning is about the slowest usable shutter. And yes, obviously need more exposure (at least 2EV if not more)....it's all reciprocity as to how small a f number, slow a shutter speed, and high an ISO is acceptable.

No, I never said it was in a sports setting that I used that exposure starting point (exposure was why the photo was posted), it was merely indoor available light common reading that I encounter. I was looking at the suitability for the action involved. Yes, I have been at tons of sporting events in which the ambient light was dim at night, and electronic flash (if close enough to the action) had to be used. And past experience told me the setting used by the image's poster was likely not to work (as reflected in the underexposure).

davesrose wrote in post #17721898
Considering the underexposure, I am thinking the meter, no matter mode, was not showing 0EV

I tell people often that if they simply MONITOR their camera-chosen value (regardless if it is shutter speed or aperture or ISO), they can prevent some of the underxposure and overexposure and even shakey shots because they know what the camera is doing. As you indicate, an indicator not centered (on '0') is something that must be monitored...as then you can determine, "Is my flash turned on?" if it is not centered.

Well here are the exposure settings I used for my most recent sports event. It was a cycling race that started before sun down and continued when it was pitch black. Rather then just adjusting exposure as ambient light was diminishing, there also was lights on the finish line that they'd cycle on and off. I prefer being in a priority mode for such a situation....as the camera has a faster reaction time then me. You do have to monitor settings. When I see that shutter speed is going too slow, I'll see if it's acceptable to open aperture and/or raise ISO. The poster's situation is challenging in that minimum shutter can't be much below in what it was (and ambient light was very low)...so one has to be able to raise ISO and/or opening aperture.

For cycling, 1/160 does seem to be acceptable (got a few keepers that went as low as 1/100)

IMAGE LINK: https://davesrose.smug​mug.com …riterion-Race/i-DVvtzbc/A

IMAGE LINK: https://davesrose.smug​mug.com …riterion-Race/i-PRDbbKZ/A

IMAGE LINK: https://davesrose.smug​mug.com …riterion-Race/i-w6gSk7R/A

davesrose wrote in post #17722186
When I see that shutter speed is going too slow, I'll see if it's acceptable to open aperture and/or raise ISO. The poster's situation is challenging in that minimum shutter can't be much below in what it was (and ambient light was very low)...so one has to be able to raise ISO and/or opening aperture. (photo caption ) Canon 5D Mark III | 1/200 | f/2.8 | ISO 6400

Yeah, one of those things that digital has (wonderfully) turned us into spoiled photographers in recent years...super high ISO! I grew up with film and lived only with film for 40 years, before digital came along...fastest B&w film was ISO (ASA) 1250 Royal-X Pan, and it was not in 135 but only sheetfilm format...and digital was limited to ISO 1600 even in 2004. My brain got calibrated to low light exposures for handheld shots of suitable subjects with ISO 400 film...then you pulled out an electronic flash (they weren't 'speedlights' back then, Canon offered no flash units in photographic prehistory! ) So to your earlier question about 1/30 f/2 use with sports...<roflmao>

Yep, I first learned photography with film processing as well (and do know how spoiled we are now). 1600 film was super grainy, and trying to "push" film development was something else. My first DSLR was a Canon 5D. Even though it's ISO wasn't as good as the 5D3, I was blown away by how much more detail there was at ISO 1600 or 3200 (especially compared to the 1600 film I had processed). Also, since these sports are a fair distance, flash isn't very effective (and can be frowned on from the athletes...ditto for AF assist). Being FF, the 5D3 has better ISO (and 6400 seems easily acceptable for 8x10 prints). The T3 won't have the same range, but if it's a small enough image, the max ISO can be acceptable. Of course fast lenses help too (and then it's more challenging to get focus right with smaller DOF). Photography is improving greatly with digital. Now that camera brands are maxing out the MP with the current generation sensors, will be interesting to see what comes next. As for your rotflyao, I'm glad I can provide comic relief to you.....but your suggestion was unusable settings for the poster's situation, and you then didn't explain reciprocity. The poster's image obviously has reciprocity failure (and my exposure settings are a full stop more EV then your "baseline" situation).

davesrose wrote in post #17722317
The poster's image obviously has reciprocity failure (and my exposure settings are a full stop more EV then your "baseline" situation).

Reciprocity???...not a characteristic of digital, which is simply linear in its light-electrical response, unlike the S-curve of film emulsions. Reciprocity is being way way down in the toe of the curve, where

twice as much light ≠ twice as much response

That posted photo was simply a guess at manual exposure with no monitoring of the exposure scale in the manual mode viewfinder, -2EV underexposed plain and simple! You expect reciprocity with 30 second exposures with film, not 1/30 sec (with digital).

Yes, as far as needing to raise EV even more at very slow shutter speeds..."failure" wasn't a good word for me to use, but "reciprocity" is the heart of the subject. The poster clearly under-exposed. If by going by my example scene, it's a full stop more EV then your baseline. The best and quickest technique is understanding metering and trusting what the appropriate meter says (since lighting conditions always change).

davesrose wrote in post #17722186
Well here are the exposure settings I used for my most recent sports event. It was a cycling race that started before sun down and continued when it was pitch black. Rather then just adjusting exposure as ambient light was diminishing, there also was lights on the finish line that they'd cycle on and off. I prefer being in a priority mode for such a situation....as the camera has a faster reaction time then me. You do have to monitor settings. When I see that shutter speed is going too slow, I'll see if it's acceptable to open aperture and/or raise ISO. The poster's situation is challenging in that minimum shutter can't be much below in what it was (and ambient light was very low)...so one has to be able to raise ISO and/or opening aperture.

For cycling, 1/160 does seem to be acceptable (got a few keepers that went as low as 1/100)

IMAGE LINK: https://davesrose.smug​mug.com …riterion-Race/i-DVvtzbc/A

IMAGE LINK: https://davesrose.smug​mug.com …riterion-Race/i-PRDbbKZ/A

IMAGE LINK: https://davesrose.smug​mug.com …riterion-Race/i-w6gSk7R/A

Oranges and apples
The OP have a 1100D which is Canon's most basic entry level DSLR and far to be a 5D3 specially at high ISO ....
And i don't even speak about the lens you used (a $ +2000) compared to the OP's lens