[rustynail925]

Lets say you are in a garden taking pictures at M mode, everytime you take a picture do you have to wait for meter reading to 0 and take a pic ? also if your fiirst shot is (for example) Shutter 1/30, F5.6, iso 100 and the meter is 0. and then you are about to take a shot on another angle and the meter becomes -1. Do you have to adjust the exposure (shutter/aperture/iso) to make it a 0 reading? or you just leave it at -1?

[Marc Sabatella]

Read my previous most again. In "M" mode waiting accomplishes nothing - the whole idea of M mode is that the camera is waiting for *you* to change shutter speed or aperture. It's not going to change not matter how long you wait. It's just giving you information you can take into consideration when you decide whether or not to change the exposure. If after getting an exposure you like for one shot, the camera tells you the next is going to be underexposed, it's up to *you* - the person there, looking at the scene - to decide if that's because the light really is lower, or if it's just because you are shooting a darker colored flower. If the light stays the same, I leave the exposure the same.

[skoobie]

Marc is providing some great advice here (as usual).

I highly recommend starting with a good book on the subject; "Understanding Exposure" certainly helped me to think about the relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

It also helped me think about the camera as two separate entitities: a camera (for capturing the image) and a light meter (for providing some useful feedback on how I might want to adjust my settings to capture that image). The feedback in "M" mode is of the latter variety. Marc's feedback is pointing out that it requires some interpretation and judgment. For instance, pointing the camera at a darker subject-- in the same light-- may lead your K-m to advise you to use a larger aperture/increase sensitivity/etc to obtain the "correct" exposure. Doing so may result in unintended outcomes (e.g., a black sweater exposed as grey, and highlights blown out completely). You are a necessary component of judging what the "correct" exposure should be.

It sounds more complex than it is; you could simply start by taking pictures in Program mode and adjusting autoexposure up or down, checking the histogram, and looking for "blinkies" (over or underexposed areas highlighted dynamically) in the LCD until you get the balanced image you're looking for.

Back to the original topic: one thing I did not like about the K-m is its default settings for JPEG. I used a flatter ("cooler") custom balance; I felt the original JPG settings were overcooked. Keep in mind that this means the auto mode is unavailable (I couldn't select another JPG profile for that mode).

[Canada_Rockies]

Lets say you are in a garden taking pictures at M mode, everytime you take a picture do you have to wait for meter reading to 0 and take a pic ? also if your fiirst shot is (for example) Shutter 1/30, F5.6, iso 100 and the meter is 0. and then you are about to take a shot on another angle and the meter becomes -1. Do you have to adjust the exposure (shutter/aperture/iso) to make it a 0 reading? or you just leave it at -1?

I think Marc made the clearest explanation here. To amplify based on your question, If the light on the subject is the same and you are shooting in the same direction, do not change the exposure. The camera meter is not the smartest thing for exposure. If you turn 180 degrees and shoot into the light, you will need to change the exposure.

[rustynail925]

Thx for the insights guys.. Great help!