AE-L/AF-L question
I tried to use this button for low lighting. I'm not sure how this technique is used, but I thought that if you're trying to focus on something dark, I can half press my shutter and hold down the AE-L/AF-L button focused on a bright light and then take a picture of that dark subject. I'm not getting the result I wanted. I was taking a picture in a low light place and the only lighting source are spot lights in the ceiling. I tried to use the button on the spot light and then move over to the subject I wanted to shoot. Does this only work if the whole surrounding room have good lighting? Also, I'm a bit confused on the +/- compensation exposure near the shutter on my D80. I can't seem to get my exposures + or - if I change that exposure thing. Shed some light please!
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You have not indicated what camera body you are referring to, neither in your post or your online profile. That information will be helpful to folks desiring to answer your questions about your technique.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Oh, sorry, i shouldve made it clear with all that writing up there. its a nikon d80
-andrew
dbguy,
I guess one place to start with the auto exp & auto focus feature of your camera is to see what you have the settings set as in your menu. There are numerous, off the top of my head I think there are 10+/- settings for that particular button. See what you have it set as as you can set it to record the exposure only, autofocus only, both, etc. You might be able to answer your question after you check that.
On the exp. comp +/- button it allows you to either under / or over exposure your shots depending on what you dial in when you use that feature. So, you can overexpose an image let's say by +.3 or underexpose by -.5 as long as you turn that feature on by rotating the command dial when you press the +/1 button. Again, check your settings and see what you set the default setting as. I think it can be set to 1/3 increments, 1/2 increments, increments of 1, etc.
I hope this helps you some. Good luck!
http://johnthiele.smugmug.com
Nikon D80 w/MB-D80 vertical grip
Tokina 50-135 f/2.8
Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR
RPS Studio Rotating Flash Bracket
SB 600
What mode are you shooting in? Are you shooting in Auto or Programmed Mode?
If so, try aperture priority, shutter priority or manual. Something other than auto maybe. If your settings are only let's say 1/3 increments and you set the exp. comp. to under/over 1/3, the images will only be slightly under/over exposed.
Try setting your exp. comp. to over +2 or under -2 and see what type of images you get. They should be noticeably different than if exp. comp. was off. Otherwise, maybe there is a problem with the camera.
if you're familiar with the bracketing feature turn it on and take 3 shots bracketed to see what the normal, under, over images will look like. The histogram will show 3 different histograms.
One other thing, make sure your firmware for the camera is up to date to version 1.01. Nikon released an update last year.
On the AE/L feature, I personally don't use it much. I would rather spot meter a particular shot or lock in the exposure and autofocus by depressing the shutter halfway then recomposing the image. For me it's easier and faster and works all the time for me.
http://johnthiele.smugmug.com
Nikon D80 w/MB-D80 vertical grip
Tokina 50-135 f/2.8
Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR
RPS Studio Rotating Flash Bracket
SB 600
When i look through my view finder, i can see my meter going over exposed or under exposed, depending on how i set my exp comp. but when i shoot the shot, it doesnt affect the picture? do i have to set something in the menu setting?
my firmware is 1.10, i think its updated.
also for the AE-L/AF-L, do i have to set my meter to spot metering? im currently shooting in matrix metering
thank you so much for your help on this, ive been trying to figure it out
HOWEVER....exposure comp should be working no matter which mode you're in.......UNLESS of course you are mistaking flash exposure comp for exposure comp.....both on same spindle but different dials (upper or lower ) (on all the cam I owned).....on my KM7D the upper dial is exposure and the lower dial is flash expoure..designated by the little lightening bolt arrow pointing down.......
ALSO on all my cams...the AEL and AFL were 2 separate buttons....on my KM7D the afl was replaced by a AF/M so no lock for auto focus......but actually with a little practice I have lock it so to speak by pressing the af/m button that takes it into manual focus after allowing auto focus to grab what I want and then pressing the af/m button and moving camera body to do a slight recompose (not lens moving allowed and any re-zooming normally knock the focus out and you have to refocus).......
HTH
dbguy,
Art is correct on all of those points.
Check to see that you are not adjusting the flash compensation button which is similar to the exp. comp. button except it has the lightning bolt and +/- in it. That feature will reduce or raise the amount of flash output when you use the built-in flash; totally separate than the exp. comp. button but similar in selecting it.
On a side note, I believe you can also change which dial changes your exp. comp. whether you want the main command dial in front or the sub-command dial on the rear of the body. Check your menu settings their too.
Again, good luck and I hope we were able to help a bit.
http://johnthiele.smugmug.com
Nikon D80 w/MB-D80 vertical grip
Tokina 50-135 f/2.8
Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR
RPS Studio Rotating Flash Bracket
SB 600
Maybe I got the wrong idea of the exp. comp button. I know it works for aperture mode. when i changed the aperture mode, i noticed that the shutter speed is changed too.
So when I'm in manual mode, am i supposed to change my shutter speed when i change my exp comp?
In manual mode you are in control of it all........most people pick one or the other to change (shutter or aperture) after settling on a "correct" exposure.......I use manual mode a lot especially when flash is involved BUT I do all of my metering with a handheld meter that meters both ambient and flash (separately and together....by separately I mean it measures the flash output in doors where household lamps do not put off enuff light to be a viable source and by together I mean if your outdoors shooting in sunlight it measures both the ambient[sunlight] and the flash at the same time giving an aperture that will be a very good exposure for the subject).....in manual mode (on my KM7D), manual mode iso 1600....1/8sec f8....adjust exp comp to +2= no visible change in the viewfinder stats except on a small graph marked with -2.....1......0......1.........2+ , now the change that occurs is just the opposite that one might think....the exp comp dial showed +2 and the graph showed -2.....what this is telling me is that the meter says that with the f8 1/8sec is perfect exposure and the +2 is gonna be 2 stops over and I need to dial down 2stops (-2) for perfect exposure.....now listening to the shutter of both settings.....the +2 sounded a little longer than the '0" comp...so the correct setting was a bit faster.......
IN shutter priority the shutter speed moved as I moved the exp comp button.....
In Aperture priority the aperture changes while moving the comp button.......
Don't play with program mode usually but will for this.......in"P" mode it threw my cam to f2.8 and the exp com changed the shutter speed
this is all done with a KM7D so HTH
So when using the exp comp. I would have to change my shutter/aperture relative to the exp comp. right? Like if I look through the viewfinder and have my meter to "0" on the graph and then change the exp comp to +2, the graph will change to -2 correct? and then i would have to change the shutter or apeture to set it back to the "0" to change my exposure? or is the exp comp supposed to change the exposure even if i leave my shutter and aperture alone?
I hope I'm making sense
thank your help!
Put it this way:
If you're shooting and want to control the aperture ONLY shoot in Aperture Priority and the D80 will take care of the proper shutter speed to make a proper image.
If you're shooting and want to control the shutter speed ONLY shoot in Shutter Priority and the D80 will take care of the proper aperture to make a proper image.
If you want your images in EITHER Prioroty mode, i.e. aperture or shutter, to be either under or over exposed, use the exp. comp. button and dial in the amount of +/- exposure you want. The images will stay this way as long as the exp. comp. is ON.
In manual mode you will need to select the proper aperture and shutter speed for each shot in order to get a proper exposure. By changing the shutter speed or aperture in manual mode you will see in the viewfinder how your image will be exposed by watching the scale on the bottom, like Art indicated before.
http://johnthiele.smugmug.com
Nikon D80 w/MB-D80 vertical grip
Tokina 50-135 f/2.8
Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR
RPS Studio Rotating Flash Bracket
SB 600
No worries! It' just another tool in your toolbox to use. You don't need to use or learn everything.:D
http://johnthiele.smugmug.com
Nikon D80 w/MB-D80 vertical grip
Tokina 50-135 f/2.8
Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR
RPS Studio Rotating Flash Bracket
SB 600