I'm having a very hard time with the exposure with the Canon 20D. With the Sony I used to shoot with the histogram displayed so my shots were perfectly exposed straight away, no need to shoot the same scene a hundred timse before I got it right! But with the SLR, man!!! I have to shoot things many times before I got the exposure right! So frustrating!! Any tips on that? ;) Thx in advance gang! :)

Pascale...one thing I do because I am a beginner is set it to auto first...check out what exposures it reads, then go into manual mode and adjust to my liking there.You know if you want a bit longer exposure then perhaps instead of 1/250 you can go 1/125 or what you want. Easy to re adjust the white balance too.I have no problem taking 3 or four shots at different settings, then next time I know what worked. If you have a hard time remembering...like me...then you could always write down a few typical settings you use. Great thing about digital is the data you get afterwards. You can also set your LCD to display the histogram right after you shoot.

Doug, I shoot in Aperture priority mode and, of course, the histogram shows after I shot an image!! My question is: How do I know how to get it right straight away?? Without having to shoot the same thing 3 or 4 times!!

i use the 350d... i don't know if 20d do the same... pressing half the shooting button the exposure level appears on my little lcd and inside the viewfinder... so i know if must i increase or decrease some values...

Pascale: I'm using Aperture Priority with my S3 in most cases (f.i. portraits); essential is the metering area: spot or average etc.; if you are not sure use auto bracketing (giving 3 shots) or use RAW files (giving some +/- 2 f-stops extra); it's most rare for me to use the histograms...

Pascale, you could also use the exposure memory here - kinda zoom to the part you want to have exposed correctly check the settings with half pressing the shooting button then press the * button (exposure memory) change back to the crop you want to have and go... (i hope you know what i mean now - don't know the correct eglish wordings here) but you have to be a bit fast as the exposure memory just resides for 20 seconds or something like that... otherwise just do the same thing and remember the values shown when checking the right lighting... my five cent

Maggie: Same on the 20D! But to see the exposure level doesn't tell u how much u should compensate!! I'm not sure I've been very clear in my questioning here since no ones seems to understand what I mean! O_O When shooting with the histogram displayed (like I could do with the Sony), I could see straight away, before I actually pressed the shutter speed, if my exposure was right!! (no blown out highlights!). But with the SLR, u can only see the histogram AFTER u made the shot and most of the time, exposure compensation is needed meaning u have to shoot the same thing again!! Now, how can I know BEFORE I press the shutter by how many stops I should compensate my exposure??? But maybe what I'm asking here is simply impossible to do?? What about hand held light meters??

maybe i've understand correctly... i think that the camera measure the exposure just with half press of shutter... i think that this operation is necessary to calculate the light... between reflex and your eye there's nothing... between a compact camera and your eyes there's a software that can calculate or change the exposure... sometime the exposure works better with my old olympus c740 than my new eos350d... :) so hard write all this in english :(((

ahhh - i guess i see, dear Pascale... :) well - that's "logical"... you're working with an SLR - that means no light get's to the chip unless you have pressed the button and took the pic... that's why there's just an histogram AFTER you made the shot. your "little" cam has not shutter like the SLR and is exposed while you're aiming and so you can watch the histogram while aiming... but that's impossible with an SLR... and SLR knows the pic only AFTER exposure and can give you the histogram... is that what you wanted to know?

Yes indeed!!! Thx Christian! :) So I have my answer: it's impossible!! Unless I use a hand held light meter?? Yes?? O_o Thx May for helping too! ;)

well - if there's a light meter which gives you the histogram... apart from that it is like this: impossible you have to choose one of the option above... unfortunately... ^_^

Which I already do of course but since I essentially shoot candid shots.....! It's such a pain! I've always got my shots in the end but it's so frustrating to have to shoot it 4 times instead of having it spot on the first time!! :( Oh well, gonna have to get use to this I'm afraid!! Anyway, thx for ur help guys! :)

Pascale, this is one reason why if we buy a DSLR, we're gonna buy Sony again. to my knowledge, Sony makes the only DSLR cam that gives you a preview BEFORE you press the shutter. i've gotten used to using my histogram and love that feature. i also have found both Sonys easy to use. anyway, sorry for your frustrations, but i'm sure you'll get used to it after you practice with your cam a bit more!

Well, if you are doing candids, shoot a couple test shots similar conditions beforhand so you can get an idea of the proper exposure and then just stop up or down if the compo is darker or lighter. Better yet, you could go back to your old Sony and send me that pain in the butt 20D. I'd be happy to suffer with it. ;oP

I'm a bit late - but I've spent the last 12 hours at work, sooo... here goes: In situations when I believe the camera won't give me the exposure I want in aperture priority or shutter priority - I change metering mode to partial (not evaluating nor center weighed evaluating) - this gives the "narrowest field of view" metering the 20D is capable of. (A graphic representation of the area that is used in metering in this mode can be found in the user manual). Point to a part of your intended compo that should end up as the famed 18% gray (or medium toned blue, green, yellow,...whatever) - since the 20D have no true spot metering mode you may have to zoom in on you subject to get at a narrow field of "medium gray" - do an exposure reading, switch to manual mode and dial in the values you have just measured - surprisingly often you will get what you are after (some time to "learn" what is fitting to use as medium gray might be required). I suppose this sounds like a lot more work than your old camera... but once you get in the habit of doing this, it doesn't take long at all.... If you often shoot subjects with intended medium tones that are in too small areas to be measured by the inbuilt meter I can see no alternative but to get a handheld meter. Then you will get true spot metering with an angle of view somewhere near 1 degree (you might in fact find it easier and faster to use a handheld meter no matter if it's strictly necessary or not). Apart from the practical details I would strongly recommend that you buy a good book on exposure (for all I know you might allready know a LOT about it - if you do, disregard this suggestion:) Something like "The Perfect Exposure" by Jim Zuckerman comes highly recommended by me - for whatever that's worth:)

LMAO@Kort!!! Yea right!! We saved for about 3 to 4 months to buy that cam!!! O_o Dreaming is allowed though! ;) LOL!
Sheila, now this is a fantastic feature indeed if Sony does it!!! But nothing can compare to my Canon 20D, even with a histogram displayed BEFORE shooting!! No way!!
Erskogly, thx for all those cool advice but it might be difficult to do when I'm in the street shooting moving people at random!! When I do "normal" shots, like still life or "posing" people shooting, I don't have those probs. I have time to start with so I don't mind shooting it 2 to 3 times before I got it right but for candids, there's no time for all this! It has to be right straight away or the shot is missed!!
I do have a grey card btw which I never use! I didn't find it very useful so far except in very difficult lighting condition.
As for metering mode, I mainly shoot in partial metering mode! I rarely use evaluative metering and I use center weighed when the lighting conditions are "normal" (easy!).
I will definitely have a look at those handheld light meters though! It sounds pretty cool to me and maybe even more accurate? Definitely have to look into that!
Thx to u all for ur help guys! U rock!! Yep! :)

Message edited on: 09/29/2005 20:45

I can appreciate that speed is of the essence when you are doing candid shots - that's one of the reasons I think a handheld meter would be a good idea for you. They aren't inherently more accurate than the built-in meter, BUT - and this is important - a good one will give you true spot metering capabilities. You should be on the lookout for a Sekonic L-508 or L-608; they will provide you with spot metering - and they can make bot incident and reflected readings (rather than having two different meters for the two different modes of metering). When it comes to grey cards - they are almost totally useless, and I will actually claim that they are more useless the more difficult the conditions are!! Again - The Perfect Exposure (the book previously referred to) or something similar might be a very good idea! Some key points about exposing photos got clarified for me by reading this book - and I actually thought I knew quite a bit about exposure:) When I migrated from a 20 years old Canon film-based SLR to the 20D earlier this year - I started out with a lot of crappy exposures. I bought this book, and haven't looked back since. Ok - enough nagging about that damn book - you are of course more than welcome to do what you please:))

I assume the Ev scale is a good reference for determining desired exposure, but I must warn you; usually when I assume something I am incorrect. I am sure you will become a master of this cam...:-)

Ah thx Erskogly for the advice on the light meters!! I wrote down these 2 and will definitely look out for them at Jessops!!! What's the difference between the 2 though?? I will also have a look at that book!! ;) Erm...thx Jeff but...I already knew that!!! LOL!! ;)

I figured you already knew that...please forgive me for stating the obvious. It will probably happen again, but I do mean well. :-)

The difference is that the 608 is the new and "improved" model - but, since you asked, I checked out Sekonic's website - and it seems none of them are in production any more. The one to look out for now is called L-558R (if my short term memory serves me correctly....) Check it out at www.sekonic.com !

Attached Link: http://www.microglobe.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1014

LOL@Jeff!! I know u do dear! :)

I found the L508 on Ebay! Which one would u go for in the end??

I've never seen a 308 - but from what I can find it doesn't have spot metering capabilities (which would be one of the main reasons for using a hendheld meter over the in-built...) The 338 on the other hand do offer spot metering (higher price, but not nearly as high as the 508 or 608). If I had to choose between the 338 and the 508 I would choose the 508, but be warned - there's no rational reason for this! - it's just that I've tried the 508 and know that it does what I want from a light-meter.... I wouldn't advice you to rush off and get any of the models really - if you can find a shop that actually have them I suppose it would be a good idea to go there and try one out - just to get a feel for how this will work in practice. Will this work for you and your particular style of shooting? Will it take to long? Will you, after a while, get so annoyed with this nifty piece of electronics, that you place it in perpetual storage? I would also recommend that you try out the evaluative metering on your 20D - the partial metering isn't necessarily the best option in all situations. Let's say you are doing a candid shot, with the camera set to partial metering, and a guy with a white t-shirt walks into the middle of the picture when you press the trigger... If this one person fills some ten percent of the filmplane you will get a horribly underexposed picture, as the camera compensates to make the white t-shirt neutral gray... In this case you would most likely have gotten a correct result with evaluative metering.

Looked around some more and found out that the spot finder on the 358 (I know, I know - it said 338 in my previous post - should be 358!) is optional. In other words, make absolutely sure that what you buy have spot meter capabilities - preferably down to 1 degree!!

Thx for the advice dear!! I think I'll listen to u and go for the 508 then! It looks more complete to me too. I found it for an amazing 20 on Ebay!! So at that price....really!! Yes!! :)

I would recommend the Sekonic L-358 for your metering needs. Before you buy a meter try this little trick. Im manual mode... Find an area in composition that is near 18% gray and use the cameras settings. OR Find an area in composition that is black and adjust your exposure down 2 stops. (i.e. -2) OR Find an area in composition that is white and adjust your exposure up 2 stops. (i.e. +2) Reasoning in this technique is that ALL digital cameras see black and white and gray as 18%gray. So when you point at a black surface the camera sees gray - you compensate by lowering your exposure -2 stops to make the black actually black. Same with the white, the camera sees white as 18% gray so you compensate by upping the exposure +2 stops to make the white actually white. If at all possible use something close to 18% gray in your composition, makes life easier. But of course that takes a little time to train your eye to what is actually 18% gray. Try a little test...Take an image of a white sheet of paper. Then take a picture of a black piece of paper. They should be both grey as seen by the camera. There is a great book on this subject called - The Confused Photographer's Guide to Photographic Exposure and the Simplified Zone System By: Bahman Farzad Hope this helps, Thomas

Thx for ur input Thomas! I already know all this but thx anyway! ;)