# Is it possible to set the exposure compensation in manual mode?



## erotavlas

Hi, One thing I noticed when taking photos in Manual mode was that I have full control of many settings like ISO, shutter speed, apeture etc.  However when I change these settings I notice the exposure compensation changing by some amount everytime to bring the image back to whatever the camera thinks is the correct exposure.  

Does anyone know if it is possible to control the exposure compensation as well (switch it from automatic to manual) ?


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## ConradM

erotavlas said:


> Hi, One thing I noticed when taking photos in Manual mode was that I have full control of many settings like ISO, shutter speed, apeture etc.  However when I change these settings I notice the exposure compensation changing by some amount everytime to bring the image back to whatever the camera thinks is the correct exposure.
> 
> Does anyone know if it is possible to control the exposure compensation as well (switch it from automatic to manual) ?



If it's anything like my a33 than not really. There's a way I can adjust my exposure by small amounts but within a certain range. As far as I understand the light meter in the camera knows when the exposure is correct.


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## erotavlas

For the most part exposures have been spot on, however there were a few times when I took some longer exposures of 10+ seconds and I wished I could have underexposed slightly.  Maybe I could try tricking it by using the spot meter on something brighter and lock exposure to it before taking the shot...

Although I just noticed that the exposure compensation disappears completely when I switch the shutter to Bulb which is good


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## radiorickm

Not sure about your exact camera......but several things here.
#1 I don't think exposure compensation is EVER automatic. You have to set it. ALWAYS.

Nw if you are in one of the semi-auto modes, such as TV or AV, and you change a setting, yes, then the camera will adjust itself to get back to the correct exposure.

But, I have a question.....where are you SEEING the EC change?? 

On my camera, in the viewfinder, you see the actual light meter that you might think is indicating EC, but it's really indicating light levels, either correct or over/under exposed.

Maybe you can clarify this if your still interested.


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## unpopular

I am thinking that radiorick is right here, and it's a matter of reading the meter correctly.

is it working like this:

You initially dial in to zero:

-2  -1  0  +1  +2
                   ........^.........

Then you adjust the exposure to +1 since you initial was a bit dark:

-2  -1  0  +1  +2
                             ............^.....

What this is telling you is that the exposure is one stop above meter, just like you dialed in, and not automatically adjusting EC. This is perfectly normal, and represents useful information.

However, if your exposure is adjusting such that no matter what you do your meter always reads out zero, then that's another problem. If this is the case, I will not be buying an NEX.


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## erotavlas

radiorickm said:


> Not sure about your exact camera......but several things here.
> #1 I don't think exposure compensation is EVER automatic. You have to set it. ALWAYS.
> 
> Nw if you are in one of the semi-auto modes, such as TV or AV, and you change a setting, yes, then the camera will adjust itself to get back to the correct exposure.
> 
> But, I have a question.....where are you SEEING the EC change??
> 
> On my camera, in the viewfinder, you see the actual light meter that you might think is indicating EC, but it's really indicating light levels, either correct or over/under exposed.
> 
> Maybe you can clarify this if your still interested.



Ok I'm in Manual mode, with the dial I can switch between apeture and shutter speed, I set those to values I want.  I have no control over the exposure compensation, it sets itself. So say with the shutter and apeture I selected it found that -1.7 .  If I increase the shutter by a stop, EC automatically decreases to -2.0 to compensate .  If I leave shutter and apeture alone but aim my camera somewhere else that is brighter or darker, the EC changes to compensate.

I see this change on the LCD beside my apeture, the way I have my display set is shutter, apeture, EC, then ISO all along the bottom.



unpopular said:


> What this is telling you is that the exposure is one stop above meter, just like you dialed in, and not automatically adjusting EC. This is perfectly normal, and represents useful information.



Are you saying that the camera is not acually adjusting the EC? Because it sure looks like it is from what I see on the LCD -- HOWEVER it may just be doing this for the LCD to make the image more viewable.


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## erotavlas

OMG, ok I think I know whats going on.  I think its what unpopular was trying to explain.  Basically I took several shots in Manual mode, one underexposed where the EC indicated-1.7 and another where it said +1.7.  When I examined the pictures one was underexposed the other was over.  Also in the EXIF data the value corresponding to EC is called Exposure Bias.  It was zero for both shots.  Then I went to Apeture Priority mode and manually set the EC to + 1.7 and took a shot.  It was overexposed.  And the Exposure Bias in the EXIF data showed +1.7 this time.  I think it was the LCD that was fooling me, made me think the actual image brightness was being adjusted everytime the EC was changing but instead it was just the LCD.

Are we supposed to be able to change the EC in Manual mode -- or is this primarily controlled by Apeture and Shutter and ISO? 
Honestly I don't have a use for it except when using a filter but then the camera is metering through the lens anyway so it will tell me how far from 0 I am so there is no need for it....does that make sense?

Also, why is this setting available in PAS modes?


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## Ysarex

Auto exposure compensation does not function in Manual Mode (Nikon excepted), Manual mode means EC is off. The camera meter does however continue to function and the meter read-out will tell you to what degree it thinks you're wrong. If you don't know you're right, then the meter is probably right, but meter's are very often wrong.

Joe


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## unpopular

This is why I use spot meter. I pick the brightest point in the scene and increase exposure time to the outer edge of the cameras latitude, if something is over exposed, i will either remeter or if im close, just start decreasing exposure time until nothing is blown. 

If it appears too bright (not the same as "over exposed"), I pull down exposure in RAW processing and apply a curve in post. Obviously though, if the camera keeps trying to place my hilights at middle grey, the way the meter reads as correct, then this wouldn't work.

I'm guessing that on he NEX the same place on the display where you normally find EC you find meter readout in manual mode. The functional distinction is similar, but really they are doing different things within the camera. In AE mode you are programming an compensation value to be applied to the metered value which is used to compute exposure, whereas in meter readout you're reading the value above or under the specific metered value. Make sense?


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## erotavlas

unpopular said:


> This is why I use spot meter. I pick the brightest point in the scene and increase exposure time to the outer edge of the cameras latitude, if something is over exposed, i will either remeter or if im close, just start decreasing exposure time until nothing is blown.
> 
> If it appears too bright (not the same as "over exposed"), I pull down exposure in RAW processing and apply a curve in post. Obviously though, if the camera keeps trying to place my hilights at middle grey, the way the meter reads as correct, then this wouldn't work.
> 
> I'm guessing that on he NEX the same place on the display where you normally find EC you find meter readout in manual mode. The functional distinction is similar, but really they are doing different things within the camera. In AE mode you are programming an compensation value to be applied to the metered value which is used to compute exposure, whereas in meter readout you're reading the value above or under the specific metered value. Make sense?



Yeah it makes sense now.   On the NEX there isn't a meter read out in manual mode, at least I don't think so.  Instead the EC reading indicates how far away I am from correct exposure.  If I'm off it flashes with a positive or negative value.  My film camera also does this but instead of EC it uses a range of shutterspeeds in the viewfinder. It flashes what the correct value should be if the value I set is wrong. 

The only thing that confused me initially  was the LCD live view and how it doesn't show you the true image as it will appear when exposed.  If its overexposed it doesn't show everything as washed out, but instead it looks like a correctly exposed image, until you review it in playback.


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## unpopular

It's important to understand that the meter is not measuring "proper exposure". A light meter is measuring light as compared to a known standard. If the meter measures something that correlates to this standard at any given equivalent exposure, then the meter will read ±0EV. This is not saying that the exposure is "correct" but rather that, at the selected exposure value, it's equal to the value to which it was calibrated.

If you know that something is two stops lighter than middle grey, you could meter off it and provide two stops more exposure. So having a readout in EV, rather than shutter speeds or aperture values is very useful.

I really don't even like the concept of "proper exposure". Exposure should be about attainment of maximum detail in areas of importance and not something so rigidly objective.


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## dxqcanada

Hmm, this brings up some thoughts of when I was using my Film cameras:

I used to set the Exposure Comp (which was also the Film Speed dial) with different films, as I knew (from experience) that they would render better images. When shooting in manual exposure I did not have to think about compensating ... I just utilized the meter the same way.

I noticed on my SLT-A55 that I cannot set the Exposure Comp when in manual exposure mode ... which is too bad as I have noticed the A55 meter does tend to over-expose by about 1/3 stop.


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