How is exposure compensation even needed?

I knew there was something I wanted to check! So I was messing around with exposure compensation over the weekend and realized: what's the purpose of this? When I'm shooting in RAW and in manual mode, there is next to no need for having this? I'm just not getting the purpose of this when you have all the adjustability you need from RAW and manual mode already?

Thoughts?

Well it is needed when you are using program modes or Auto WB I suppose when the camera is missing the white mark. I mostly agree with you in that I shoot manual and learned a longtime ago when my camera screws the pooch on the whites. I know we may get flamed for our views, so let the flames begin.

Exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance, and it is not an option in manual mode. It is very useful in P, Av, or Tv mode.

It's true you can make some exposure correction in post if you shoot RAW, but it's better to get exposure right when you take the picture.

mattmoran wrote: Exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance, and it is not an option in manual mode. It is very useful in P, Av, or Tv mode.

It's true you can make some exposure correction in post if you shoot RAW, but it's better to get exposure right when you take the picture.

Actually yes it does when it comes to exposing white itself, you use EC to compensate for it either showing too gray or blowing out. To get true whites in programmed modes you need the EC so it is partially a WB compensation.

Exposure compensation affects the image globally, not locally. What can it usefully do in, say, Aperture Priority mode, that simply spot metering the area of interest and changing to Manual mode to shoot wouldn't equally, or better accomplish? It seems mostly useful when trying to avoid Manual mode at all costs...

John Landolfi wrote: Exposure compensation affects the image globally, not locally. What can it usefully do in, say, Aperture Priority mode, that simply spot metering the area of interest and changing to Manual mode to shoot wouldn't equally, or better accomplish? It seems mostly useful when trying to avoid Manual mode at all costs...

I've found it useful when shooting in Av (or Tv or P) mode in snow or at the beach (where there is a lot of white sand) to use exposure compensation to tell the camera to "overexpose" by a stop or so to prevent the camera from underexposing the images. In theory I would do the opposite on a black sand beach, but the occasion doesn't arise that much

And if someone wants to explain how exposure compensation ties into white balance, I'm willing to be convinced. But for now I'm sticking with my original statement: exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance.

Number 7 wrote: I'm just not getting the purpose of this when you have all the adjustability you need from RAW and manual mode already?

Changing exposure in raw processing is not the same as setting it in camera.

Exposure comp is for the auto modes. It allows you to adjust what tone the meter is going for.

mattmoran wrote: But for now I'm sticking with my original statement: exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance.

EV compensation can be problematic when the aperture or shutter are already at the end of their range. I tried shooting with my lens already set wide open, dialed in +1 for the EV comp, and nuthin happened, as my lens could not open another stop. My expectation was that the camera's programming would have enuf smarts to adjust the shutter or Auto ISO by 1 stop, but that didn't happen.

Kelly

Joves wrote:

mattmoran wrote: Exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance, and it is not an option in manual mode. It is very useful in P, Av, or Tv mode.

It's true you can make some exposure correction in post if you shoot RAW, but it's better to get exposure right when you take the picture.

Actually yes it does when it comes to exposing white itself, you use EC to compensate for it either showing too gray or blowing out. To get true whites in programmed modes you need the EC so it is partially a WB compensation.

This is so wrong on many levels I'm not going to touch it.

Scotty wrote:

Joves wrote:

mattmoran wrote: Exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance, and it is not an option in manual mode. It is very useful in P, Av, or Tv mode.

It's true you can make some exposure correction in post if you shoot RAW, but it's better to get exposure right when you take the picture.

Actually yes it does when it comes to exposing white itself, you use EC to compensate for it either showing too gray or blowing out. To get true whites in programmed modes you need the EC so it is partially a WB compensation.

This is so wrong on many levels I'm not going to touch it.

he's just confusing white balance with white levels.

Whatever exposure mode the dial on the camera is set to, if the photographer is using a light meter they should assess the scene/subject tonality, and understand that centering the meter will result in an exposure setting that averages the metered tonality to middle gray tone. Centering the meter all the time in M is no different than operating on auto. Adjusting exposure comp to change exposure settings for a desired subject tone in P/Av/Tv/auto modes is pretty much the same as setting exposure manually.

mattmoran wrote: Exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance, and it is not an option in manual mode. It is very useful in P, Av, or Tv mode.

It's true you can make some exposure correction in post if you shoot RAW, but it's better to get exposure right when you take the picture.

True, but I think the OP was questioning the purpose of exposure compensation in manual mode when all you need to do is adjust the shutter or aperture value to impact the same as exposure compensation. Technically doing this would be the same as exposure compensation feature built into camera.

Frost Photography wrote:

mattmoran wrote: Exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance, and it is not an option in manual mode. It is very useful in P, Av, or Tv mode.

It's true you can make some exposure correction in post if you shoot RAW, but it's better to get exposure right when you take the picture.

True, but I think the OP was questioning the purpose of exposure compensation in manual mode when all you need to do is adjust the shutter or aperture value to impact the same as exposure compensation. Technically doing this would be the same as exposure compensation feature built into camera.

The difficulty with doing that in Manual mode instead of using EV compensation is that the correction will be good for only 1 scene / setup. If the light changes you have to go through the Manual mode offset drill all over again. With EV compensation in one of the PAS modes the auto metering tracks light changes and continues to apply the same EV offset.

Kelly

KCook wrote:

Frost Photography wrote:

mattmoran wrote: Exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance, and it is not an option in manual mode. It is very useful in P, Av, or Tv mode.

It's true you can make some exposure correction in post if you shoot RAW, but it's better to get exposure right when you take the picture.

True, but I think the OP was questioning the purpose of exposure compensation in manual mode when all you need to do is adjust the shutter or aperture value to impact the same as exposure compensation. Technically doing this would be the same as exposure compensation feature built into camera.

The difficulty with doing that in Manual mode instead of using EV compensation is that the correction will be good for only 1 scene / setup. If the light changes you have to go through the Manual mode offset drill all over again. With EV compensation in one of the PAS modes the auto metering tracks light changes and continues to apply the same EV offset.

Kelly

If the light changes, why would the same EV offset be appropriate?

John Landolfi wrote:

KCook wrote:

Frost Photography wrote:

mattmoran wrote: Exposure compensation has nothing to do with white balance, and it is not an option in manual mode. It is very useful in P, Av, or Tv mode.

It's true you can make some exposure correction in post if you shoot RAW, but it's better to get exposure right when you take the picture.

True, but I think the OP was questioning the purpose of exposure compensation in manual mode when all you need to do is adjust the shutter or aperture value to impact the same as exposure compensation. Technically doing this would be the same as exposure compensation feature built into camera.

The difficulty with doing that in Manual mode instead of using EV compensation is that the correction will be good for only 1 scene / setup. If the light changes you have to go through the Manual mode offset drill all over again. With EV compensation in one of the PAS modes the auto metering tracks light changes and continues to apply the same EV offset.

Kelly

If the light changes, why would the same EV offset be appropriate?

When the EV offset was needed for the subject, not the lighting. A beach example has already been given. So if a cloud comes along, putting the beach in its shadow, it's still a beach, the EV offset is still needed.

Kelly