The exposure compensation dial. What's it for, exactly? And who on earth uses this completely useless knob that's taking up precious space on top of so many camera bodies?
These were my questions as I stared at the range of Fujis and Sonys in the camera store the other day. In the 15 years that I've been shooting on an SLR and a DSLR, I've never used it, and can't imagine a situation where I would ever need it.
I'm not a manual purist but I always like to know exactly what my camera is doing. I base my exposure decisions first on the camera's recommended exposure, and then on the histogram once I've fired off a test shot (this will probably change if and when I shift to mirrorless as the in-view histogram and accurate EVF will reduce the amount of chimping). Given that I spend a lot of time shooting upwards and incorporating a lot of sky, I often have to ignore my camera's suggested exposure and let more light into my lens, trying to achieve detail in the shadows while retaining a slither of information from the highlights so that I can squeeze a bit of detail into the sky when editing. This often means shooting one or two stops above what my camera says is correct and, despite this, still creating an image that is slightly underexposed (with a histogram in which the mountains are mostly on the left) that gives me more flexibility in postproduction.
For those of you unfamiliar with exposure compensation, here's a quick explanation. Cameras detect the amount of light of any scene and make a judgment on what will make the best exposure. In fully automatic mode, this is used to decide the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, and even in manual mode, many cameras will give an indication of whether your settings will give an exposure that it regards as under, over, or perfectly exposed. However, despite the technological advances of the last couple of decades, cameras are still very easily confused by surprisingly simple things like snow, large amounts of sky, or darkness.
Snow and sky, two factors that are bound to confuse even the best of cameras.
The exposure compensation dial gives you the opportunity to adjust the camera's assumptions of what is the right amount of light. For example, shooting a snowy scene can mean that there's a lot of light entering the lens, and the camera's recommended exposure can often try to make a more balanced image, letting in less light than we might want, and making snow appear dull and gray rather than bright and white.
My approach might be to shoot a test shot in auto (often "P" on a camera's mode dial), check the histogram, switch to manual mode, and make adjustments from there. Alternatively, with the exposure compensation function, you can stay in auto mode but can tell the camera to allow more light in, often by increments of one-third of a stop. On a Nikon or a Canon, this is adjusted by holding a button marked "+/-" and turning one of the dials. On a Fuji or a Sony, this can be achieved slightly more efficiently by using the huge dedicated dial found on top of the camera.
This dial is a complete waste of space. For anyone learning photography and trying to get their head around the exposure triangle, exposure compensation is an unnecessary distraction, complicating an already complex set of variables and their confusing number systems.
The Fujifilm X-T2. That enormous dial on the far right is completely unnecessary.
When I'm photographing, I always want to make sure that my camera isn't creating a setting that's going to disrupt my intentions for a shot. For example, for my action photography, I want to be sure that my camera isn't choosing a shutter speed that's too low, an aperture that's too wide, or, occasionally, an ISO that's too grainy.
Furthermore, I know that the camera's recommended exposure is just a vague clue as to what the histogram is going to tell me, and it's through the histogram that I'm going to make a judgment on the correct exposure.
Shooting straight into the sun and coping with dark shadows — guaranteed to befuddle the hell out of any camera. In this situation, checking the histogram is absolutely essential.
Given how useless the exposure compensation function is, why do some manufacturers insist on having such a massive dial dedicated to it? Maybe I was missing some crucial trick that could improve my photography. Intrigued, I asked my Fstoppers colleagues if they ever used exposure compensation. The answers were quite surprising.
From my random, completely unscientific straw poll of 13 photographers, 6 said that they don't use it, with most of those never once using it during their time as photographers. "Exposure who?" asked Tihomir Lazarov, explaining that, other than exposing manually, he rarely uses any of the additional functionality of his camera beyond formatting a memory card. Nicole York agreed. The thought of a dedicated dial seemed as ludicrous to them as it was to me.
The remaining seven photographers had completely different thoughts. Wasim Ahmad, Alex Cooke, and Lee Morris use exposure compensation extensively. Ahmad finds that his camera's decision making often creates shots that are over-exposed, and Cooke likes to make sure that he's not blowing highlights when shooting baseball with his ISO set to auto. As Alex Armitage pointed out, it's always better to recover shadows in post-production than blow highlights when shooting, so in high contrast situations, he tweaks his exposure compensation to -1.
Suddenly this setting was beginning to make a little more sense, but a huge, dedicated dial still felt like overkill. And then this from Jason Vinson: "I use it so much I'd never consider a camera that didn't have a dedicated dial for it. If I'm not focusing, my thumb is on the dial." And as Morris observed, "With flash photography, it’s the quickest way to dial an exposure without going full manual."
So here's my second straw poll: our readers. Do you use it? And if you use it, do you need a giant dial dedicated to it, or is that knob a stylized hangover that's wasting precious space on an already crowded camera body? Please vote and, as usual, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
I love it, it's one of the reasons I chose Fuji mirror-less as my replacement to my Nikon SLR's. To have the ability to change the exposure with a single click on my X-T2 with either my aperture or shutter speed set for the image I am composing saves time when having to deal with fast changes in light (sunsets/sunrises).
Glad to read "still creating an image that is slightly underexposed (with a histogram in which the mountains are mostly on the left) that gives me more flexibility in postproduction."... The common doctrine is...on the right, a thing I can't understand...
Exposure compensation is just as useless as your camera's metering. That's about the long and short of it.
The article title is the issue and is rather misleading, as is some of the text. I know some photographers who still insist that applying the "Sunny 16 Rule" (and its variants) is all they ever use, others insist on ignoring all the technology they paid for and continue to shoot using manual settings 100% of the time (just like they did in the 1970s :D).
I shoot to the histogram too and generally I will shot either in aperture priority or shutter priority mode, unless I am working in the studio or shooting a pano, where I will be in full manual mode. I could flip over to manual mode in cases where I need to tweak my exposure, but exposure compensation is easy and my preferred route. I live in a place where I have to deal with snow, generally from December through March, so over-riding my camera's light meter is a must. I also do a fair bit of photography at night, as well as during golden hour and blue hour, two further scenarios where, depending on the position of the sun, I have to tweak the exposure. This is nothing new to me; my Leica R3 (from the late 1970s had exposure compensation).
To each his or her own, so whatever works for the individual photographer, so long as they get the image that they are meaning to.
I do have an issue with photographic authors who seem to use punchy headlines or seem to confuse their opinion with fact (even though this is clearly marked as an opinion piece). That bothers me about this article. Likewise, I also have an issue with someone who criticizes a specific component of a camera without looking at the other design decisions that went into how the camera controls are laid out and implemented. Design is all about managing many different trade-offs to come up with a solution that meets the end-user's needs. What other controls needed to be put on the top deck of the X-T2 that have been negated by putting a large exposure compensation control there? One could make a similar argument about the ISO setting control, when in fact to an experienced designer (me) the decision looks quite smart as it moves those features off the back of the camera body or even worse, buried in the menu settings.
I never used it before until I bought a mirrorless to make wildlife. I find it very comfortable to use ISO auto and compensate when necessary with the exposure compensation dial
I shoot in aperture priority mode almost 100% of the time. Having the dial on top of my XT-1 allows me to quickly make changes to shots that are either too bright or too dark. I use it all of the time.
Jesus Fstoppers, five years ago you guys had great articles, now every time I come to this site it is 70% clickbait nonsense.
Exposure compensation is just another tool that I use all the time to moderate what the camera is telling me.
https://rickmcevoyphotography.com/
I find it very useful while using infrared..
Thank you for this article. I’ve always held exposure compensation in low regard — a vestigal dial where f-stop and shutter speed are holy. Of course, those who use exposure compensation successfully should be praised for rising above my Neantherthalic thinking.
"Cameras detect the amount of light of any scene and make a judgment on what will make the best exposure. "
Actually the Camera's exposure meter captures...“Light meters are calibrated at the factory using ANSI standards. The standard has always been for a luminance value that is roughly equivalent to the reflectance of 12% gray.”
What you point your light meter at will read it as 12% grey, period. If you point it at a darker or lighter element, your exp will be wrong, ect. Most sidewalks or the palm of your hand will be roughly 12% grey. Read off them and you should get a pretty good exposure.
Bottom line, for me exposures don't need be "correct"
I use it. But i don't need a dial. I could use a rocker button that allowed you to adjust exposure left or right with my thumb.
If it exists, there is a reason for it the author of this article ignores completely and in the same time deliberately chooses telling others they are stupid. How can Admins allow publishing such a post? Won’t be reading an article of yours anymore!
Agreed, the big dial is not necessary, but the function is. It’s about micro-tuning. If you don’t need or use it, you don’t understand it or the possibilities of digital.
This brings this site to new low. If this was published to create controversy... then well done😐 Andy’s “program to manual” has got to be a joke, no one can be that dense.
It's very useful in all the auto exposure modes. Not useful with manual, of course.
It can be useful if you shoot manual for shutter and aperture but leave ISO in the auto mode as I do.
When I am shooting bicycle riders in high volume in one location I often go +.3 to +1 to lighten the riders face due to shadow of their helmet. I do this even in shutter or apertue mode because they are still program modes and it influences the auto ISO selection. Even in full manual shutter and aperture, my D500 will go outside the auto ISO range and I think it can use the + or - exposure setting to decide ISO.
Interesting to see how many of you use it. I shoot every day for a living and I live in manual mode, never touching exposure compensation. I just don't need it. With enough shooting you know what exposure settings you need before you even touch the camera.
I see how it can be useful for some people though.
LOL!!
I can only assume from this article that you have no idea what those "A" and "S" modes are - Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority are extremely useful modes favored by many photographers for various situations, and the EC dial is the only way to adjust exposure in those modes. A large dial is necessary if you wander into those modes as it's the only dial you'll be using. But I know that you know what those modes are - you've succeeded in writing a controversial article that will bring tons of traffic (read: ad revenue) to Fstoppers.
"Given how useless the exposure compensation function is, why do some manufacturers insist on having such a massive dial dedicated to it?"
Given based on what exactly? I had to read the ready the previous paragraphs again to see if missed some obvious reason why that would be the case, couldn't find it. But could the answer be just ahead on the post:
"From my random, completely unscientific straw poll of 13 photographers, 6 said that they don't use it, with most of those never once using it during their time as photographers."
Maybe that's why...
This post is rant, disguised as query to the users but written in a way that has more to do with click bait... That part I think you succeeded...
I shot manual for about 6 years (my camera was manual only), then I got a camera with Aperture Priority and Manual. From there in shot mostly Aperture Priority and use the Exp Comp dial all the time. If you KNOW what you are doing there is no difference. On my T2 and Pro2, lately I often put it in “C” mode and dial the compensation with the front dial. What is really cool is using the grip and changing exposure WHILE shooting vertically. Furthermore, if you shoot weddings and events, for the best effect, you will FREQUENTLY change aperture, and if you shoot Manually, that is TWO adjustments EVERY time you change aperture. With Aperture Priority you simply dial your aperture ring and keep shooting, making minor adjustments with the Exposure Compensation dial when needed. Much faster and more responsive, and the SAME RESULTS as if you had shot in Manual. The only time I normally use Manual is shooting Family Groups in the same location to ensure the same exposure.
Except when the lens is auto focus, I usually shoot full manual and have no need for this dial, although it takes up a lot of real estate on my Fuji X-T2 body.
I will love to see all those guys claiming they are 100% manual on a stressful job with light changing condition, like events and some weddings. Yes, its useless for landscape and planned shoot or studio, but its perfect for the one I mention in the beginning. You can also use fuji C position, where the front dial become the compensation. You meter, then adjust immediately.
This is the classic "I only shoot manual" mindset that is dangerous and off-putting for new photographers. They read it in a post like this and then say they're "all manual" to brag to their friends. Then they walk away from a trip with barely one usable image. Aperture and Shutter priority are there for a reason, cameras are getting smarter for a reason. Use them properly, use exposure compensation, hell use all Manual if you like. The fact is, exposure compensation is necessary if you're using any of the camera's built-in functions.
I am baffled by just how flawed and useless this post is...
You seen to have absolutly no idea how a camera and lightmetering works...
EC having a dedicated dialnmeans you van quickly adjust your exposure in Auto Aperturepriority and in Shutterspeedpriority. So its meant mainly for reportage where tou are working with chanching lightsituations and have to react quickly.
For all other types of photography where you want control and have time... Manual is the answer... (where the EC is complety not used) .
I know Fstoppers publishes without experssing an opion of the website... but in this case I would have thought twice about publishing this...
This ARTICLE is a complete waste of time...
Don't use it in the studio.
Use it constantly shooting musicians on stage--made much easier now that I'm using an EOS R, seeing through an EVF and having the lens ring set for exposure compensation.
Lot of harsh comments. I had no idea what exposure compensation was, but after reading this article I'm going to start using it in auto iso mode. As I found auto iso useful, but the Fuji xt3 kept blowing out highlights. So it sounds like this will deal with it. I usually shoot all manual, but I shoot in natural light mostly, where there's a lot of exposure changes between shooting into the sun and against.
Anyways, thanks for the article. I came to it thinking, "yeah, why would I ever use exposure compensation?" To "hey, I'm going to try out this exposure compensation thing."
"I've never used it, and can't imagine a situation where I would ever need it."
Wow.... you need to work on your photography and Originality if you cant even imagine a way to use it... and you probably shouldn't be writing an article about what it is then either...
Pentax ME Super in 1979 was my first 35mm camera and I have never once used Exposure Compensation. For me it's a completely useless feature. Today I shoot the incredible D850.