[FHPhotographer]

I must be misreading, or misunderstanding, or just missing, but I thought when I shoot on M on the K20 (or any Pentax) and add +1 EV the image should be brighter than an image at 0 EV? Both these shots are f/3.5 @ 1/15, ISO 400, AWB and IS off.
The only difference is that the first has 0 EV compensation



and one second has EV +1,


The EV +1 looks very slightly brighter, but shouldn't there be more of a difference? What am I doing wrong,
Brian

Moved to DSLR forum, not a style or technique.

[creampuff]

Read page 101 of the K20D manual...

How can the image be brighter when in manual mode you determine the shutter speed and aperture parameters? The camera merely suggests what it considers is the appropriate exposure based on the proportion of light and dark values of the scene. Use of the exposure compensation (on the K20D only) merely affects the suggested meter reading but it still does not alter what you have manually set for the shutter speed and aperture values (unless you use the green button, whereby the camera will change the shutter speed and aperture combination to what is metered). Pretty basic stuff.

[Ash]

If you're on M mode, you've OVERRIDDEN any metering controls the camera has over your settings. You have total control of the settings and the camera doesn't alter them regardless of what EV you've set. So those two results above SHOULD be exactly the same.

If you want the camera to meter, you need to move over to any other mode (other than Bulb) and you'll find it responding to your EV setting.

[Ash]

Beat me to it creampuff...

[FHPhotographer]

Read page 101 of the K20D manual...

How can the image be brighter when in manual mode you determine the shutter speed and aperture parameters? The camera merely suggests what it considers is the appropriate exposure based on the proportion of light and dark values of the scene. Use of the exposure compensation (on the K20D only) merely affects the suggested meter reading but it still does not alter what you have manually set for the shutter speed and aperture values (unless you use the green button, whereby the camera will change the shutter speed and aperture combination to what is metered). Pretty basic stuff.

Thanks, but it's only basic if you know it. In fact, if you read p.101 in the Manual it says specifically that "EV compensation is not available when the exposure mode is set to (Green) or B (Bulb) mode." When you have a categorical serial list, anything not listed is generally accepted as excluded from that category. My mistake for assuming the manual would follow standard rules for construction. But again, thanks for helping me get through it,
Brian

[impact]

The manual could be wrong...

... or maybe the exposure compensation only affects the suggested exposure in M mode(ie with EV -1 the camera suggests slightly shorter exposure time), but it is still up to the user to follow or disregard the suggested settings. You will have to test that.

Edit: I should have probably read all previous posts before posting.

).

[Marc Sabatella]

Actually, I think the manual is correct, and EV compensation *does* work in M mode for the K20D (but not for most other models). But since it is manual mode, simply changing the EV compensation doesn't change your exposure right away - it changes the result of what the camera will suggest next time you press the Green button. If it changed the results of your exposure right away, it wouldn't be manual mode at all.

I don't have a K20D to test this, but that's the behavior I'd expect based on what the manual says, what others have reported, and a basic understanding of how exposure works.

[Ash]

That's right Marc.
Setting EV influences the metering set by the green button (according to how the green button is configured in M mode).
But just having the camera in M mode means the user sets everything, and EV does nothing in normal use in M mode (because that's what M mode is for).

[stevebrot]

I am puzzling over this one.

When I am in M mode on my K10D, the exposure compensation button does nothing. If you want to apply +1 EV, you just add 1 stop exposure manually. Easy enough, I would say for that camera.

After looking in the K20D manual, I have to agree with Marc's assessment. This would be nice feature to have on the K10D since I frequently use M mode.

Steve