Hard to tell for sure without reading the manual, but my guess is that that is NOT the correct use of the compensation dial. It seems you are describing a "matched needle" operation; where you can center the needle by changing either the aperature or the shutter speed? So, if the needle is centered, it will also be centered if you open the aperature one stop, and double the shutter speed (halve the exposure time)? PC's interpretation is correct. An example would be with a snowy landscape. Normal metering, (no compensation, centered needle), would make the snow turn out too gray (underexposed). You have to tell the camera that there is really a lot of bright white stuff in the frame, by giving it a little + compensation. Another example would be a black cat in a coal mine. Normal exposure would make the cat come out too gray (too light). You have to tell the camera that there is a lot of dark stuff in the frame by setting a little - compensation. [Damn! I hope I'm getting this in the right direction? Alpha?] If someone understands this correctly, (I think I got it right), this compensation is the real heart and soul of Ansel Adam's "Zone" System; where the exposure is adjusted to make gray in the scene turn out gray in the final result. For normal looking scenes, with balanced highlights, shadows, and midtones, you can usually forget about compensation and just center the needle. If the scene has really strange lighting you are always best in any case making several shots at different exposures. You could use the compensation know to easily do this. Biggest mistake is to set compensation and forget about it for the rest of the roll. [I've never done that! ;-) ] Again, I don't think I've told any falsehoods here, but is always best to check the manual. Sometimes these controls work a little differently with different manufacturers. In any case, hope you have fun with the new camera. I'll be looking forward to seeing some postings.