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04-16-2009, 10:40 AM   #1
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EV compensation on M mode question

My Pentax came out darker in most pictures, So i shoot it with EV +1. But I have a question about using EV compensation in Manual Mode with manual lenses? Does EV compensation work in M mode? I tried, nothing happen. I was able to use it in AT and TV, but with manual lenses, can't control Aperture in AV or TV mode. Please advice me the best way to do it with Manual Lenses. Thanx

04-16-2009, 10:50 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by winglik Quote
My Pentax came out darker in most pictures, So i shoot it with EV +1. But I have a question about using EV compensation in Manual Mode with manual lenses? Does EV compensation work in M mode? I tried, nothing happen. I was able to use it in AT and TV, but with manual lenses, can't control Aperture in AV or TV mode. Please advice me the best way to do it with Manual Lenses. Thanx
Nope, manual is manual. I don't know the model of your DSLR, so here is how it works with the K10D and K20D. Set the depth of field preview to optical in the custom menus. Then when you want to meter, pull the on/off switch past the ON position to the weird circle to stop down the lens. If you have a 2 digit model (K10D, K20D) a scale will appear in the viewfinder, and you can simply set the exposure to the left (under) or right (over) to apply the EV compensation. With three digit models (K100Ds, K200D, etc.) the number of stops shows at the right end of the information strip with numbers. 0.0 is camera preferred exposure 1.3 is one and a third over, -1.3 is one and a third under.

If you prefer the green button method (I think it's AE-L on the 3 digit cameras) set the exposure using the green button, then change either the aperture or shutter speed to give you the compensation you want. Personally I find the dof preview method easier, but it is entirely possible that I do only because that's what I am used to from film cameras.
04-16-2009, 11:04 AM   #3
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Thanx fo the reply, i have a K20D and an ist DL, i mostly use Green Dot or AE-L method to measure the AV, and then step down the exposure by 1 manually. but i thought there would be an easier way to do it. hehe, lazy me i guess.
04-16-2009, 11:37 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by Canada_Rockies Quote
Nope, manual is manual. I don't know the model of your DSLR, so here is how it works with the K10D and K20D.
I'm not so sure about the K20D.

I agree the K10D EV compensation does not work in manual mode or with manual lenses (except M42 in Av mode) but the *istD EV compensation DOES work, and I think someone posted that on the K20D this feature has been restored.

04-16-2009, 01:31 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by winglik Quote
Thanx fo the reply, i have a K20D and an ist DL, i mostly use Green Dot or AE-L method to measure the AV, and then step down the exposure by 1 manually. but i thought there would be an easier way to do it. hehe, lazy me i guess.
The easier way would be to learn to meter off a subject that won't require you to need to adjust so often. Don't meter off a person standing with the sky behind them; that's guaranteed to underexpose the person in order to preserve the sky. Instead, meter off the ground in front of the person. And so on. If you meter correctly, you shouldn't need to be increasing exposure much if at all - I actually find myself having to *decrease* exposure more often than *increase* it.
04-16-2009, 01:49 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
The easier way would be to learn to meter off a subject that won't require you to need to adjust so often. Don't meter off a person standing with the sky behind them; that's guaranteed to underexpose the person in order to preserve the sky. Instead, meter off the ground in front of the person. And so on..
this is exactly how I metered for years, using the road as an 18% grey card, to set my exposure. tree trunks also work well.

concrete is about +1 stop so you need to consider this if the road is not ashpalt
04-16-2009, 02:59 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
The easier way would be to learn to meter off a subject that won't require you to need to adjust so often. Don't meter off a person standing with the sky behind them; that's guaranteed to underexpose the person in order to preserve the sky. Instead, meter off the ground in front of the person. And so on. If you meter correctly, you shouldn't need to be increasing exposure much if at all - I actually find myself having to *decrease* exposure more often than *increase* it.
Thanx for the advice. Let me try this method to meter next time.

04-18-2009, 05:25 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by Canada_Rockies Quote
Nope, manual is manual. I don't know the model of your DSLR, so here is how it works .....With three digit models (K100Ds, K200D, etc.) the number of stops shows at the right end of the information strip with numbers. 0.0 is camera preferred exposure 1.3 is one and a third over, -1.3 is one and a third under.

If you prefer the green button method (I think it's AE-L on the 3 digit cameras) set the exposure using the green button, then change either the aperture or shutter speed to give you the compensation you want. Personally I find the dof preview method easier, but it is entirely possible that I do only because that's what I am used to from film cameras.
In the K200D (unlike the K100D and like the K10D and K20D) it's the green button which sets exposure for manual lenses.

The DoF preview method is certainly more useful for situations where there is no time to take a picture with the green button and use it as reference to compensate for exposure in the next frame. It is also more useful than the green button where the shutter speed is the determining factor: eg. pictures of flying birds and aircraft. Pressing the green button might well give the correct exposure but the shutter speed may be far slower than required and there may be no time to make another adjustment; and guessing the the right aperture to get the shutter speed right will need a second punch to the green button to implement the new exposure. Using the DoF preview method exclusively , though marginally slower than the green button, may well give a better result straight away in such circumstances.
04-18-2009, 09:43 AM   #9
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to answer...k20d does allow EV compensation in M mode
04-18-2009, 09:59 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by -=JoN=- Quote
to answer...k20d does allow EV compensation in M mode
The original question was about EV compensation in manual mode with manual lenses. None of the Pentax DSLRS, to the best of my knowledge, allow EV compensation for this situation.
04-18-2009, 09:59 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by chhayanat Quote
In the K200D (unlike the K100D and like the K10D and K20D) it's the green button which sets exposure for manual lenses. <snip>
The green button works on the K10D and K20D to set the shutter speed in M with K/M/M42 lenses. I'm interpolating the K20D from the K10D because the controls are identical except for the extras on the K20D.
04-18-2009, 02:28 PM   #12
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I can not understand the usefulness of EV compensation in manual mode.
04-18-2009, 03:52 PM   #13
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Assuming we don't count the folks who don't realize that that all it does it adjust aperture or shutter speed and M mode lets them do that themselves, there *is* a possible use for compensation in M mode, and that would be to apply a global adjustment so that every time you hit the Green button, it doesn't set an exposure that yields a 0.0 meter reading, but rather +0.5 or whatever you had dialed in. That is, if you expect all pictures you take in a given situation to require the same adjustment after hitting the Green button, exposure compensation would save you the trouble of altering aperture or shutter speed after each press of the Green button.
04-18-2009, 05:11 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by chhayanat Quote
The original question was about EV compensation in manual mode with manual lenses. None of the Pentax DSLRS, to the best of my knowledge, allow EV compensation for this situation.
the *istD does,
04-18-2009, 05:13 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Vinfer Quote
I can not understand the usefulness of EV compensation in manual mode.
if you have a lens that consistently under or over exposes, and you want manual mode settings, but still the ability to meter with the green button, you want it to meter correctly, not to have to continually reset bu 1 to 1 1/2 stops for the correction.

it is quite useful.,

also, lets say you are deliberately wanting to under or over expose part of a scene, and you are metering from that part, why not be able to set the exposure compensation.
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