# Shooting Canon 5D Mark III in M mode with auto ISO



## k.udhay (Nov 6, 2017)

Hi,

I have a wedding to be shot in January next year. I plan to hire 5D mark III. I have used it once for a marriage few months back. 

Last time when I used, I used Aperture priority mode most of the time. At places where the flash was lighting, I adjusted my exposure compensation to negative side by few stops to get correct exposure. This time I plan to use Manual mode with auto ISO. I was going through this video in youtube to understand M mode with auto ISO:






At 1:09, he explains in 5D mark III, adjusting exposure compensation is not possible, if I use M mode with Auto ISO combo. Can any 5D mark III user confirm this pl.?


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## Tomasko (Nov 6, 2017)

So, you're shooting a wedding (one of the most complicated, demanding and stressful sessions possible) in 2 months using a rented camera with settings you don't have any experience with. Well, good luck.


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## jowensphoto (Nov 6, 2017)

Tomasko said:


> So, you shoot a wedding (one of the most complicated, demanding and stressful sessions possible) in 2 months using a rented camera with settings you don't have any experience with. Well, good luck.




I have to whole heartedly agree with this. Knowing your tools is of utmost importance, that's your foundation. 

If you're shooting weddings, asking about camera functionality on such a basic level is a HUGE red flag.


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## Braineack (Nov 6, 2017)

k.udhay said:


> At 1:09, he explains in 5D mark III, adjusting exposure compensation is not possible, if I use M mode with Auto ISO combo. Can any 5D mark III user confirm this pl.?



This shouldn't be the case. 

the body is adjusting the ISO based on the metering.  you should still be able to dial in expo. comp., in M mode, when using Auto ISO, to determine the final exposure.


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## TCampbell (Nov 6, 2017)

I still have (and use) my 5D III and also own a 5D IV.

Both exposure compensation and flash exposure compensation work in aperture mode on the 5D III.  This is my probably my most-used shooting mode.  

If you're using an E-TTL flash, then you should be using flash-exposure compensation (not normal exposure compensation) to de-power the flash.

Av mode will meter for the ambient light (so you don't have light fall-off issues) but fire the flash to illuminate your intended subject.  An E-TTL flash will adjust power to make sure it doesn't over-expose the subject.  

With a manual (non E-TTL) flash, you could stop down the aperture to reduce light, but that would reduce both ambient and flash (everything gets darker).  If you just de-power the flash only (don't change the aperture) then you'll fix the flash over-exposure without dimming the ambient light.

If the flash is an E-TTL flash then it should have a flash-exposure compensation adjustment.

BTW, when I shoot in Av mode with flash, I go into the "External Speedlight control" and set the "Flash sync. speed in Av mode" to the value "1/200-1/60 A" setting (the default is "Auto" which lets the camera pick any shutter speed it wants).  The range setting (1/200-160) means it gets to pick the shutter speed as long as it remains within that range.  Since the exposure on the intended subject is based on flash, it wont really alter how the subject is lit ... but it will alter how much background ambient lighting is picked up.  But in cases where the background is fairly dim... it wont allow the camera to pick a shutter speed where the shutter speed is too long for a hand held exposure.  The 1/60th limit works pretty well.


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## k.udhay (Nov 6, 2017)

TCampbell said:


> I still have (and use) my 5D III and also own a 5D IV.
> 
> Both exposure compensation and flash exposure compensation work in aperture mode on the 5D III.  This is my probably my most-used shooting mode.




Thank you, Campbell. Have you tried M mode with auto ISO and exposure compensation together?


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## k.udhay (Nov 6, 2017)

jowensphoto said:


> Tomasko said:
> 
> 
> > So, you shoot a wedding (one of the most complicated, demanding and stressful sessions possible) in 2 months using a rented camera with settings you don't have any experience with. Well, good luck.
> ...



I appreciate your intention to save me from a huge risk. I will be one of the three shooters in this marriage. Also, I use my Nikon cropped sensor with M mode and Auto ISO function. So I am confident with this setting.


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## Braineack (Nov 6, 2017)

Curious why youre renting a Canon over a Nikon then?


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## jaomul (Nov 6, 2017)

Braineack said:


> Curious why youre renting a Canon over a Nikon then?


Only thing I can think of is primary shooter uses canon and will end up editing all files and doesn't want to arse around with different colour profiles from different brand cams


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## Braineack (Nov 6, 2017)

jaomul said:


> Braineack said:
> 
> 
> > Curious why youre renting a Canon over a Nikon then?
> ...



yeah id be mad too if I was a canon shooter and my second's images were much better in terms of DR, color and bit depth


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## Tomasko (Nov 6, 2017)

It's good you're not the only shooter. From your original post it seemed that way and it would be a terrible idea. I have yet to see a photographer who would be able to cover the whole wedding in such situation, even if he owned the camera and had previous experience with it...

Anyway, I'm wondering why you're worried about exposure compensation, when you can easily alter it yourself. If it won't work for you, simply turn auto iso off and use ISO to compensate if you don't want to mess with shutter speed and aperture...


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## Tomasko (Nov 6, 2017)

Braineack said:


> jaomul said:
> 
> 
> > Braineack said:
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"Much better" will it be only when you see two images and can easily say which was taken by which camera. THEN we can talk about one being "much better" than the other. Please don't provoke meaningless flamewars if we can prevent it...


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## jaomul (Nov 6, 2017)

Fun is allowed on forums


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## Braineack (Nov 6, 2017)

Tomasko said:


> Braineack said:
> 
> 
> > yeah id be mad too if I was a canon shooter and my second's images were much better in terms of DR, color and bit depth
> ...



never!


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## Derrel (Nov 6, 2017)

k.udhay said:


> TCampbell said:
> 
> 
> > I still have (and use) my 5D III and also own a 5D IV.
> ...



Yeah: the question remains: Can the Canon 5 D Mark 3 shoot in *Manual exposure mode,* with AUTO ISO enabled, with Exposure Compensation used? Not in Av mode, as T. Campbell mentioned works, but in Manual exposure mode. Can the 5D-III do Manual exposure in AUTO ISO mode and allow the shooter use Exposure Compensation? The Canon guy in the video claims NO, it can not.


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## k.udhay (Nov 6, 2017)

Yeah.... I wish I could get answer for what I asked...


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## Tomasko (Nov 7, 2017)

I'm not sure what more you need.. The video claims it's not possible and I told you what to do in such case - use ISO instead. Exposure compensation would do exactly the same, so I'm not sure what's the big deal. Have your ISO on Auto and if it gets it wrong, dial it back/more a little to compensate, exactly like you'd do with the function you're asking about.
You should be familiar with this technique anyway. If the feature won't be available to you, what will you do? Don't rent the camera?


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## Braineack (Nov 7, 2017)

k.udhay said:


> Yeah.... I wish I could get answer for what I asked...



I can't imagine how exp. comp would be disabled in this mode.

Think about it, the camera must use the meter to pick an ISO.  All you've done is lock down two of three settings.  If Canon really disabled exp. comp, in M mode while using Auto ISO, it simply doesn't make sense.

but that still doesn't answer the question. 


all I can find from the internets:



> In Manual exposure mode, a pre-set shutter speed and lens aperture can be continually maintained, even if the light changes. This allows the photographer to have full control over stopping motion _and_ depth-of-field, while still allow the camera to react to any changes in light (this could be ideal in remote-controlled or intervalometer shooting). A very handy, yet underutilized, feature is the ability to apply AE Lock when working with Auto ISO in Manual mode. The viewfinder will show the difference between the locked value and the current metered value. It is important to know that the camera won't let you use the “ealxtended” ISO settings (equivalent to ISO 50, 51200 and 102400 on the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS 6D) in Auto ISO.



from manual:


> if Auto ISO is set, the ISO Speed setting Will Change to suite the Shutter Speed and aperture to obtain a standard exposure: Therefore, you may not obtain the desired exposure effect.



this suggests no exp. comp.


this article suggests no too:



> The EOS 5D Mark III camera and others  can limit the range of ISO settings that the camera can use for auto ISO. This would enable the EOS 5D Mark III to meet Jon’s needs.
> 
> But then Jon added another tweet with the notion of being able to use exposure compensation with Auto ISO in manual mode. Since using Auto ISO has in effect turned manual exposure in to an automatic exposure mode, therefore it makes sense to be able to bias the exposure with exposure compensation.* Unfortunately the EOS 5D Mark III does not allow this.* I think that a firmware update could certainly make it possible, but none has come from Canon.
> 
> ...




  silly Canon.


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## ronlane (Nov 7, 2017)

Derrel said:


> k.udhay said:
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> 
> > TCampbell said:
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I rented a 5D mk III this weekend as a second body. For football, I will use manual mode and auto ISO on my 7D mk II and then use EC, so I wanted to set up the 5DmkIII this way as well. What I found was it would do exposure bracketing but I could not find out how to be able to use EC. It wasn't the end of the world but it is something that I would really liked to have been able to use.


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## Braineack (Nov 7, 2017)

Tomasko said:


> Have your ISO on Auto and if it gets it wrong, dial it back/more a little to compensate, exactly like you'd do with the function you're asking about.



Here's the problem with this statement: You're telling him to dial it back.  *That's exactly what he wants to do* via exp. comp, so the ISO is adjusted by whatever stop.  What is he supposed to "dial back"? The shutter speed and aperture he doesn't want to give up.  Come on man...

To do what you're asking means the user would have to turn off auto ISO, then change the ISO manually to match the desired exposure, OR meter on something that changes the ISO to the desired level, then lock the EV.


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## Tomasko (Nov 7, 2017)

Braineack said:


> Tomasko said:
> 
> 
> > Have your ISO on Auto and if it gets it wrong, dial it back/more a little to compensate, exactly like you'd do with the function you're asking about.
> ...


Please, re-read what I wrote. That's exactly what I said. He's supposed to change ISO manually if Auto doesn't cut it. All I'm talking about is ISO, as exposure compensation in M works exactly like that - manipulating ISO... It doesn't matter if you change ISO or exposure compensation, it will do exactly the same thing = it doesn't matter if the camera supports exposure compensation in M or not.


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## Braineack (Nov 7, 2017)

might as well shoot in A mode, set a min shutter speed, and then use auto-iso and exp comp at that point.  

the whole exercise of auto-iso, is that it's auto, not manual.


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## k.udhay (Nov 8, 2017)

Braineack said:


> k.udhay said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah.... I wish I could get answer for what I asked...
> ...




Finally got the answer! 

I would try to go for Mark IV instead. My Nikon cropped sensor has auto ISO with EC and many a times it captures me the moments. So I would better go for Mark IV which has this option.

Thank you!


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## k.udhay (Nov 8, 2017)

ronlane said:


> Derrel said:
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> > k.udhay said:
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Thank you for clearing my doubt! Though it is not mandatory to have EC, it gives a comfort and adjusts ISO much faster than manual adjustment.


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