| Author | Message | ||
     den Unregistered guest |
The following tip was found on a Canon EOS 300D [Rebel] site… the [ ] are my added clarifications. This should work for any camera that provides the user with manual control over AE, EC, and WB and has some form of the three auto-exposure modes: Center Weighted Average, Spot Point, and Zone [Evaluative Light Metering]. “...Easier proper exposure: For those who have trouble obtaining accurate exposure, a trick is to set EC [Exposure Compensation] = +2 [EV or f-stops], point the center AF [Auto Focus] point [while in Spot exposure mode] at the brightest highlight you'd like to preserve in the scene, and AE [Auto Exposure] lock (*) on this highlight. The camera will attempt to expose this point to 18% gray, but the EC=+2 will move this up two stops to 72%, which is close to the right edge of the histogram. So, you get an "exposed to the right" exposure with a half-stop margin above your selected highlight (in case you've made an error in identifying the brightest highlight or to prevent clipping of an individual color channel)…[Added Note: remember to set camera WB [White Balance] suitable for the scene lighting]…“ The above was applied with the results illustrated below using a Canon S45 set for large-superfine *.jpg resolution for two instances where the camera’s auto-exposure Zone mode did not provide the best overall initial exposure for the camera download *.jpg image. For the two cases illustrated, improved images were obtained that provide a better optimization starting point for an image editor such as PWP. The histograms are shown in RGB space to pickup any color channel clipping. In both instances of the improved exposures, there was very slight B channel shadow clipping, however the HSV and HSL histograms showed no clipping even when viewed in “log” scale.   For those like me, who are not using camera download images in RAW format to begin their optimization process, it is important to have the best exposure that the camera and user are able to achieve. Does anyone have experience with this technique as it does seem to work and apparently takes some of the guesswork out of setting a bracketing exposure range as the “decisive moment” expires? | ||
| Bob Ross New member Username: Bross Post Number: 14 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi Den, This is a common technique from shooting slide film and I think it is used in television lighting, too. It is a way to eliminate clipped highlights with the Coolpix 5000, but I haven't used it with my E-1. It may vary camera to camera and be effected by the dynamic range of the sensor. Bob | ||
| Kevin Elliott New member Username: Kevgermany Post Number: 4 Registered: 09-2004 |
There's an article on it, expose to the right, on luminous landscape. Main objective was to reduce noise, which is worse in the shadows on most digital cameras. Kev |
