The White Paper - Setting Exposure

Chapter 6 - Setting Exposure

On more than one occasion, I've been asked "What settings did you use for this picture?". This question never fails to baffle me. Why do you want to know? Every picture is different. Every lighting condition is different.

That's why I don't recommend using "Scene" modes. Sports mode, for example. What sport? In what arena? At what time of day? In what season? What's the lighting? Where are you sitting? It's impossible to use exposure from one situation in another situation. Too many variables.

Note: The Sports mode on the H7 and H9, unfortunately, unusable. Sony, for some odd reason, set the default shutter speed to only 1/60th of a second, barely fast enough to shoot an athlete standing still, let alone running down a field. However, there are some great sports features built into the camera, such as Predictive Auto Focus and high-speed burst mode.

Why would you want to use someone else's settings or the built-in Scene modes or Auto, when the H-Series offers incredibly powerful, easy tools for customizing each and every picture individually? In AUTO mode, you're using about 10% of what your camera is capable of. Good for a quick snapshot (sometimes), but you'll never get a great picture out of it - except by accident.

Tools For Setting Exposure

EV - Automatic Modes

We've already discussed EV in an earlier section. In the H-Series semi-automatic modes (Shutter Priority, Aperture-Priority or Program), just change the EV (+ or -) to brighten or darken the scene in increments of EV units (+ or - .3, .7, 1, 1.3, 1.7, 2). The camera will readjust the other settings automatically to match your EV preference. Changing EV simply recalibrates your meter to calculate the shot darker or lighter.

Aperture and Shutter Speed - Manual Mode

In Manual Mode (and this is really easy!) just change shutter and/or aperture settings until the EV meter reads the way you want it to: 0 or -.3 or +.7, whatever! The EV display is a very effective light meter.

Tools For Determining If The Exposure Is Right

EV

We've discussed EV several times already, so I don't want to belabor the point. In Manual Mode, it will tell you if your shutter and aperture settings result in a good exposure or not - at least according to the engineers who designed the camera.

LCD and Viewfinder

One of the distinct advantages of a digicam over a DSLR is that you can see the image in the viewfinder or LCD before you shoot it. Take advantage of it! If the image looks too dark. It probably is. Lighten up the shot by changing the EV settings (or the aperture/shutter controls in Manual mode).

Both LCD displays (LCD and viewfinder) are less than fully accurate. They tend to wash the color out, and different external lighting conditions will change the way your image looks in the display.

To make matters worse, you can adjust the brightness of both displays in the Setup menu, making them even less likely to calibrate accurately to the resulting picture.

However, it might take a few days, but eventually, you'll be able to relate what you see in the viewfinder or LCD to what you see in a finished print. I recently did an afternoon shoot in the rain. I had to keep telling myself: "Don't worry, the pictures are not washed out like the display... Don't worry... Don't worry...". I was right, the pictures turned out just fine (see them here)

The displays are two of your best exposure tools.

Histogram

Another huge advantage over DSLRs is the Live Histogram. It is the most accurate metering system you have. Unlike the other metering systems, which read a region of your scene and deliver a single exposure value, the Histogram reads the entire image off the sensor and displays all of the exposure values in the image, not just one average value.

The histogram is completely independent of your metering modes. To turn on the histogram, click the display button to the lower-left of the 4-way button until it's visible.

Reading The Histogram

It is very simple to read this graph. The left side is dark, the right side is bright.
If the curves are bunched up to the left, your exposure is likely too dark

If the curves hit the right side of the histogram, you're overexposed, and you'll likely clip the highlights (the part of the histogram that goes past the right border). This is devoutly to be avoided..

What you want is a curve that goes as far to the right as possible, without going over the right-hand border.

Clipping

Just like recorded music, there are occasional values that are too large for the scale. These spikes are cut off when they exceed the limits of the range of the recording. This is called "clipping". In music, they result in unwanted pops and clicks and hiss. In photography, they result in blown highlights (white skies!) or hidden shadow detail (bushes with no leaves, heads with no hair detail).

When adjusting your exposure, you need to aim for a little space to the left and the right of the curve before hitting the sides of the histogram. The curves represent pixels. If pixels go beyond the right side, they are clipped, resulting in blown highlights. If they go too far to the left, you lose detail in shadows.

For a much more detailed description of histograms and how to read them, check out this article on Luminous Landscape.

My Recommendation For Perfect Exposure

Shoot in Manual mode. Check the histogram and the display. If you still have any question, check the EV meter to reassure yourself.

If you make sure the histogram is looking good, it's almost guaranteed that your picture will be properly exposed. And a properly exposed image is the foundation for any good shot.

Next: Chapter 7 - Contrast, Sharpness and Quality
Return to White Paper Introduction and Contents



	Chapter 6 - Setting Exposure

	On more than one occasion, I've been asked "What settings did you use for this picture?". This question never fails to baffle me. Why do you want to know? Every picture is different. Every lighting condition is different. That's why I don't recommend using "Scene" modes. Sports mode, for example. What sport? In what arena? At what time of day? In what season? What's the lighting? Where are you sitting? It's impossible to use exposure from one situation in another situation. Too many variables. Note: The Sports mode on the H7 and H9, unfortunately, unusable. Sony, for some odd reason, set the default shutter speed to only 1/60th of a second, barely fast enough to shoot an athlete standing still, let alone running down a field. However, there are some great sports features built into the camera, such as Predictive Auto Focus and high-speed burst mode. Why would you want to use someone else's settings or the built-in Scene modes or Auto, when the H-Series offers incredibly powerful, easy tools for customizing each and every picture individually? In AUTO mode, you're using about 10% of what your camera is capable of. Good for a quick snapshot (sometimes), but you'll never get a great picture out of it - except by accident. Tools For Setting Exposure EV - Automatic Modes We've already discussed EV in an earlier section. In the H-Series semi-automatic modes (Shutter Priority, Aperture-Priority or Program), just change the EV (+ or -) to brighten or darken the scene in increments of EV units (+ or - .3, .7, 1, 1.3, 1.7, 2). The camera will readjust the other settings automatically to match your EV preference. Changing EV simply recalibrates your meter to calculate the shot darker or lighter. Aperture and Shutter Speed - Manual Mode In Manual Mode (and this is really easy!) just change shutter and/or aperture settings until the EV meter reads the way you want it to: 0 or -.3 or +.7, whatever! The EV display is a very effective light meter. Tools For Determining If The Exposure Is Right EV We've discussed EV several times already, so I don't want to belabor the point. In Manual Mode, it will tell you if your shutter and aperture settings result in a good exposure or not - at least according to the engineers who designed the camera. LCD and Viewfinder One of the distinct advantages of a digicam over a DSLR is that you can see the image in the viewfinder or LCD before you shoot it. Take advantage of it! If the image looks too dark. It probably is. Lighten up the shot by changing the EV settings (or the aperture/shutter controls in Manual mode). Both LCD displays (LCD and viewfinder) are less than fully accurate. They tend to wash the color out, and different external lighting conditions will change the way your image looks in the display. To make matters worse, you can adjust the brightness of both displays in the Setup menu, making them even less likely to calibrate accurately to the resulting picture. However, it might take a few days, but eventually, you'll be able to relate what you see in the viewfinder or LCD to what you see in a finished print. I recently did an afternoon shoot in the rain. I had to keep telling myself: "Don't worry, the pictures are not washed out like the display... Don't worry... Don't worry...". I was right, the pictures turned out just fine (see them here) The displays are two of your best exposure tools. Histogram Another huge advantage over DSLRs is the Live Histogram. It is the most accurate metering system you have. Unlike the other metering systems, which read a region of your scene and deliver a single exposure value, the Histogram reads the entire image off the sensor and displays all of the exposure values in the image, not just one average value. The histogram is completely independent of your metering modes. To turn on the histogram, click the display button to the lower-left of the 4-way button until it's visible. Reading The Histogram It is very simple to read this graph. The left side is dark, the right side is bright. If the curves are bunched up to the left, your exposure is likely too dark If the curves hit the right side of the histogram, you're overexposed, and you'll likely clip the highlights (the part of the histogram that goes past the right border). This is devoutly to be avoided.. What you want is a curve that goes as far to the right as possible, without going over the right-hand border. Clipping Just like recorded music, there are occasional values that are too large for the scale. These spikes are cut off when they exceed the limits of the range of the recording. This is called "clipping". In music, they result in unwanted pops and clicks and hiss. In photography, they result in blown highlights (white skies!) or hidden shadow detail (bushes with no leaves, heads with no hair detail). When adjusting your exposure, you need to aim for a little space to the left and the right of the curve before hitting the sides of the histogram. The curves represent pixels. If pixels go beyond the right side, they are clipped, resulting in blown highlights. If they go too far to the left, you lose detail in shadows. For a much more detailed description of histograms and how to read them, check out this article on Luminous Landscape. My Recommendation For Perfect Exposure Shoot in Manual mode. Check the histogram and the display. If you still have any question, check the EV meter to reassure yourself. If you make sure the histogram is looking good, it's almost guaranteed that your picture will be properly exposed. And a properly exposed image is the foundation for any good shot. Next: Chapter 7 - Contrast, Sharpness and Quality Return to White Paper Introduction and Contents