Comments on: 07 – metering techniques

By: Amy Eko

Amy Eko — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:15:43 +0000

Neil,

I am trying to wrap my brain around what takes priority when choosibg settings outside. I am doing a family portrait in the next couple of days,, but the weather has been severely overcast, so when I was taking some sample readings today (I believe the light conditions will be about the same) I was coming up with 1/250, f 8, iso 2000, I am using a d700 with the 24-120 f4 lens. I chose 1/250 because it is the max sync speed and also to help prevent camera shake, I chose f8 because I want to make sure all the faces are in focus. This left me with a rather high iso of 2000. Do I have my priorities straight? Would you perhaps drop shutter speed down so that the iso could come down a bit? I don’t really want to change the aperture much. Too mant times I have had the frustrating result of having one family members face out of focus because my f-stop was too small. Thanks.

By: Neil vN

Neil vN — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:32:32 +0000

Lulie … just see for yourself how a well-exposed image looks on the back of your camera’s screen when you’re indoors in dim light, compared to stepping out in bright sunlight.

While we often rely on the camera’s preview, and often *have* to rely on it, the camera’s preview isn’t necessarily the best way to make a judgement on the image’s exposure.

Neil vN

By: Lulie Tanett

Lulie Tanett — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:28:19 +0000

>> “- checking the image on the LCD, (although this isn’t an accurate assessment of exposure)”

Why wouldn’t this be the most accurate assessment of exposure? Is there really that big a difference between viewing it on a small LCD compared to a big computer monitor?

By: Tony Sale

Tony Sale — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:37:00 +0000

This is I think one of the most useful posts you have written (they are all good) but this is always a great starting point and one I often come back to. It’s the foundation on which everything else follows. Thank you

By: John Woods

John Woods — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:49:30 +0000

I read that the location of your focus point while composing affects your ETTL metering. I’ve tried to replicate this, just spent the last 15 minutes taking pictures of my fireplace, and my results are inconclusive. Does it make a difference to my ETTL metering whether I focus on the dark firepit or the light colored marble around it?

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 04:12:16 +0000

I used an external (as in not built-in) flash few weeks ago. With a few trial shots (the function was about to begin) I managed to get to a manual setting where i could adjust the shutter-speed and aperture by a stop or two to get variations in depth and exposure.

I am now a fan of manual exposure :)

By: Neil vN

Neil vN — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:48:59 +0000

chimping Neil vN

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:45:37 +0000

Neil

You keep referring to “Chimp” or “Chimping”. Can you please explain this term. My apologies if I have missed something.

Cheers

Brad

By: Neil vN

Neil vN — Sun, 15 May 2011 16:57:08 +0000

Roy .. your best option is to use a neutral density filter to get a shallow depth of field. Neil vN

By: Roy Barnes

Roy Barnes — Sun, 15 May 2011 11:36:20 +0000

Hi Neil
Quick question: I shoot with film (yeah – I’m one of those that lives in the past!)and these days I only have access to 400 speed film. Using the f/16 rule I’d need to shoot at 500/s @ f/16….4000/s @ f/4. Given that my camera has a synch speed of 125/s how can I – in setting my shutter/aperture manually – shoot at the synch speed AND retain a narrow depth of field? Or it simply that I have to resort to using high-speed flash?

cheers Neil