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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Exposure Values (E.V.)
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Canon EOS-70D
Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
 06/18/2002 08:53:26 AM · #1
I am able to adjust my E.V. on my camera. It is defaulted at "0".
Unfortunately, I have played around with it and do not see any differences. What is this useful for, and under what conditions?
Anyone?....
Thanks.
Sony Alpha a6400
Sony E 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ OSS
 06/18/2002 09:05:50 AM · #2
It is useful when lighting conditions are either high or low... a lower EV value( -1, -2) will make an extremely bright situation a little more manageable for your camera... In a low light situation, a higher value (+1, +2) will brighten up your image some...
Nikon D1
 06/18/2002 11:03:15 AM · #3
Also, it's a way of compensating when your camera's exposure meter gets fooled by the tone of the subject.

The theory goes that all scenes average out to some value of grey (18% I think but I don't know what that means!). This is in terms of tone NOT colour. This figure was arrived at pretty carefully and is a reasonable average to use.

However, say you're shooting a scene with a high reflectance (e.g. a skier on snow). The scene will be a lot brighter than 18% gray but the camera won't know that and will underexpose making the snow look gray. Set your EV to (say) +1.6 and it will give it extra exposure and should get it about right. The +/- figures are arrived at by educated guesswork but digital speeds this process up!

For example in this shot I overexposed by 1 EV to bring out the details in the petals.
Canon EOS-70D
Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
 06/18/2002 01:13:52 PM · #4
Excellent! Thank you, to both of you!
I will note this in my camera bag, and practice it!
:-)

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