By far the best explination on a camera's light meter on RUclips ! Not trying a comedy routine like 99% of other photography tutorials on here. Just stright to the point excellent explanation. Well done sir !
THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH for showing how serious you are for your profession, dear sir. 🙏🙏🙏 Straight to the point, no unnecessary humoristic nonsense. You have no idea how much BS one has to get through to reach someone like you. A minute into the video, I knew, I had to subscribe to you.
As an utter noob to non-smartphone photography, who is just messing about with an old (and budget even then!!) DSLR, this was both fascinating and informative!!
Phil, this presentation hit the nail right on it's head. A topic that is widely ignored by many RUclips makers. I like it! Smart thinking. Why don't you make another one pointing at: what to trust and follow for a given picture? The meter or the histogram??? Thank you Ahmed Mohamed Fathie
You've done a great job on this video tutorial with straight to the point demonstrations. This is going to help a lot of photographers in their quest for proper exposure. I've never learned how to "understand my camera's light meter" though. I know how it works, but using matrix metering, I haven't learned how to assess an entire scene and predict what the meter is going to decide mid tone is. To make it worse, in the same light, if I move the camera just a small amount in many instances the exposure changes because maybe there is now a lighter or darker object in my frame. But the light fall in my scene hasn't changed. I grew up in the 60's with a camera in one hand and a light meter in the other. Using film, I got predictable and good exposures. When I switched to digital camera's, I tried and tried to get predictable exposures using matrix metering without success. I soon went back to the hand held light meters and no longer worry about exposure. That said, if one doesn't want to invest in or carry a light meter, using the spot meter in your camera along with a bit of know how of how the zone system works can be really helpful in many cases.
Had a little interruption as I moved from one side of the North American continent to the other. Looking forward to getting back in the groove now and producing more videos!
Thank you for this video. I’m a beginner and shoot in manual 98% of the time. Having the meter go against what my eyes see was very confusing especially when shooting photos of rivers, lakes etc.
If you over or underexposed when you took the photo, it was probably because you were adjusting settings while pointing your camera to the ground so you can see the screen at the back rather than at your subject while looking through the viewfinder to read the meter inside.
The camera will also use ISO (if it is set as auto ISO), along with shutter speed and aperture, to determine the ‘correct’ exposure in full- and semi-auto modes.
@@squaretops1 Yes, the camera will choose the Aperture speed to get the exposure the camera believes to be correct. Sometimes, the camera makes mistakes when setting the exposure (because all it can see is middle grey, it will try to average everything, which is not correct for all situations); the photographer's job is to reign in the algorithm and put their vision into a recorded photo.
Another problem is that what if the cameras display does not show the same brightness of the photo when you open it in the computer? You think that the photo is bright enough when viewed in the camera's display but it is actually underexposed or overexposed. Thank you so much for your videos it really helps us a lot.
In this case you should use histogram. But sometimes even the histogram does not show you the actual brightness of the photo as it uses JPG preview file, that camera creates in order to show you on camera display. And sometimes even this RAW-to-JPG conversion made in camera shifts the brigtness of the image a little bit and hisogram shows a little bit skewed information. But this is pretty much negligeble in most cases.
I've noticed this, too. I shoot in manual mode, and using the lcd screen I often darken the shadows to highlight certain things, then when I view them on the computer the shadows are lighter, so I have to edit and put the shadows back. Edit: I have to correct this, it may just be that the screen is hard to see outside. I just took some pictures of flowers and tried to get a dark background, using the screen, and I thought they were dark, but the same screen indoors shows the shadows/background lighter. So maybe it's the brightness outside?
@@L.Spencer you are, in fact, correct! it's actually because the bright lights outdoors affects your perception of brightness! now, here are things that you need to know 1. the LCD was NEVER meant to be your gauge for colour and exposure; it's only there to serve as an info panel, or, if you have one with a tilt or flip screen, you use it to frame in difficult angles 2. modern mirrorless systems actually calibrate the ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER and not the LCD. in other words, the CORRECT and accurate gauge is the EVF. and because of this... 3. the accuracy of the EVF is actually strongly influenced by how good the camera's EVF auto brightness is. fuji and sony are definitely on top of the game here, especially the fujifilm XH1 which a lot of people consider as the modern day gold standard 4. finally... you have both the brightness AND colour histograms to help you gauge them through graphs.
It seems logical to have the displayed meter in the camera to have the same look as that of a histogram and have the dials on the camera also turn in the same direction. If you want the meter display to move right you rotate one of the dials right. The result is increase in brightness.
Question! On my film camera- if i set it to A, and it suggests a different shutter speed, do I need to change it to what it suggests? Or will it do it itself
I purchased a 7100 and the built-in light meter simply disappeared, it's not working and display anything, no one indicator value... does anyone know what happened?
If you shoot lots and allow yourself to make exposure/histogram mistakes you will learn how your particular camera handles a variety of exposures. The bottom line is what is the quality of your image before processing. What are the highlights, the shadows, how is the lighting on the point of interest? In the end you learn the idiosyncrasies of each camera.
I have trouble with knowing what's over and under exposed. The groom's photo that was overexposed looked better to me, except the shirt is too bright. Well, after watching it again, maybe he does looks too light.
Hi Loraine, as with any art, it's partly a matter of individual taste. While there are certain objective criteria, such as whether highlights are "blown out" i.e. losing detail into pure white, in the end, all that matters is what looks good to your eye. You get to decide.
one thing that may have also affected your judgement is the fact that the background is white. notice how photoshop's background is grey? take a screenshot of the groom's picture, then use an app to add a black or grey background and see what happens.
“Comes in”….. so if the camera tell you it’s going to take the picture and result in a +1 Over exposure, the just set the exposure compensation to that same amount and take the picture.
You can get my full course "Understanding Your Camera" here: www.steeletraining.com/camera.htm
does this work while using a trigger and pro lights in the studio
By far the best explination on a camera's light meter on RUclips ! Not trying a comedy routine like 99% of other photography tutorials on here. Just stright to the point excellent explanation. Well done sir !
THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH for showing how serious you are for your profession, dear sir. 🙏🙏🙏 Straight to the point, no unnecessary humoristic nonsense. You have no idea how much BS one has to get through to reach someone like you. A minute into the video, I knew, I had to subscribe to you.
This is the ONLY video you need if you want to know some basic information about meter system!!!! So informative and accurate and fun!!!
😂
Been shooting for 20 years and still watch this from time to time! Excellent video!
Your channel has the best explanations for camera stuff that I've seen.
Your are finally back . Love your style
This is such a great tutorial! I still come back to brush up on it every now and then. Like I'm doing right now. Thanks a million!
Need more vids from this channel as it is always on point
you got me thinking i should buy the full series
He'll yea we do! Not a fan of Jared Polin 🙄! He's too full of hatred..... and I don't even shoot nikon....
Literally..with a light meter!
I love your videos. You explain everything in basic laymans terms English and its makes it so easy to understand.
As an utter noob to non-smartphone photography, who is just messing about with an old (and budget even then!!) DSLR, this was both fascinating and informative!!
Good to see you again! Your videos are great. I’ve learned so much.
Phil, this presentation hit the nail right on it's head. A topic that is widely ignored by many RUclips makers. I like it! Smart thinking.
Why don't you make another one pointing at: what to trust and follow for a given picture? The meter or the histogram??? Thank you Ahmed Mohamed Fathie
Histograms for Beginners - And how it can improve your photography
What a legend! He’s back!
best and most effective explanation of light metering in all the net. thank you!
GREAT INFO! Thanks for taking us back to basics with a straightforward approach to metering...
You've done a great job on this video tutorial with straight to the point demonstrations. This is going to help a lot of photographers in their quest for proper exposure. I've never learned how to "understand my camera's light meter" though. I know how it works, but using matrix metering, I haven't learned how to assess an entire scene and predict what the meter is going to decide mid tone is. To make it worse, in the same light, if I move the camera just a small amount in many instances the exposure changes because maybe there is now a lighter or darker object in my frame. But the light fall in my scene hasn't changed. I grew up in the 60's with a camera in one hand and a light meter in the other. Using film, I got predictable and good exposures. When I switched to digital camera's, I tried and tried to get predictable exposures using matrix metering without success. I soon went back to the hand held light meters and no longer worry about exposure. That said, if one doesn't want to invest in or carry a light meter, using the spot meter in your camera along with a bit of know how of how the zone system works can be really helpful in many cases.
Thanks for the video! Super interesting and easy to understand and a refreshing for me personally!
Excellent tutorial, just what I was looking for!
Wow i was just playing around with this concept earlier today, but yet again you feed more insight i can take away, thanks Phil
Many thanks, Phil, for this video.
GOD bless you.
He's Back !!!!!!
Yes he’s back
Had a little interruption as I moved from one side of the North American continent to the other. Looking forward to getting back in the groove now and producing more videos!
Hope you enjoy your new home! No need to rush videos. You do what ever you feel best and don’t feel the need to rush yourself!
Thank you for this video. I’m a beginner and shoot in manual 98% of the time. Having the meter go against what my eyes see was very confusing especially when shooting photos of rivers, lakes etc.
Best explaination ever
Thank you so much. Very easy to understand.
I have been following you since last 10+ years. Outside youtube.
Helpful video. Thanks!
Excellent basic explanation. I suggest you add one or more mirrorless cameras into the mix. Otherwise it risks looking dated.
Welcome back!
thank you sir. this helps a lot!
i love your explanation
Thank you! 😃
This explains why my photos were overexposed while the light meter was showing I was at the correct exposure.
I'm shocked that you don't have more views
This is why my black trousers appear grey when I take a photo with my iPhone. It was perplexing until now. Thank you for the explanation.
Welcome back
very informative ❤️
I wish I'd found you two years ago!
This was so helpful I was wondering why my pictures looked like it came out dull
If you over or underexposed when you took the photo, it was probably because you were adjusting settings while pointing your camera to the ground so you can see the screen at the back rather than at your subject while looking through the viewfinder to read the meter inside.
The camera will also use ISO (if it is set as auto ISO), along with shutter speed and aperture, to determine the ‘correct’ exposure in full- and semi-auto modes.
Can i pick any aperture i want in aperture priority and the camera will get the correct exposure
@@squaretops1 Yes, the camera will choose the Aperture speed to get the exposure the camera believes to be correct. Sometimes, the camera makes mistakes when setting the exposure (because all it can see is middle grey, it will try to average everything, which is not correct for all situations); the photographer's job is to reign in the algorithm and put their vision into a recorded photo.
@@diogomoreira7003 Dont you mean it will choose the correct iso and shutter if im picking the aperture in aperture priority?
@@squaretops1 In a nutshell, yes.
@@diogomoreira7003 Cheers mate
So good!! Thank you
Very informative video ❤
Thank you for the tips.
Light meter, I think of it as more of a balance scale and use as a guide. When the mark is in the middle your exposure is for the most part Balanced.
thank you! very helpfuL!
I genaraly ingore this metre thanks you remind this
great basics for a newb like me, SUBBED
Your doing a great job with these videos. Perfect explanation.
Another problem is that what if the cameras display does not show the same brightness of the photo when you open it in the computer? You think that the photo is bright enough when viewed in the camera's display but it is actually underexposed or overexposed.
Thank you so much for your videos it really helps us a lot.
In this case you should use histogram. But sometimes even the histogram does not show you the actual brightness of the photo as it uses JPG preview file, that camera creates in order to show you on camera display. And sometimes even this RAW-to-JPG conversion made in camera shifts the brigtness of the image a little bit and hisogram shows a little bit skewed information. But this is pretty much negligeble in most cases.
@@ilya.b That is very good idea. Thanks.
@@MrCat-rk9ir you are welcome!)
I've noticed this, too. I shoot in manual mode, and using the lcd screen I often darken the shadows to highlight certain things, then when I view them on the computer the shadows are lighter, so I have to edit and put the shadows back. Edit: I have to correct this, it may just be that the screen is hard to see outside. I just took some pictures of flowers and tried to get a dark background, using the screen, and I thought they were dark, but the same screen indoors shows the shadows/background lighter. So maybe it's the brightness outside?
@@L.Spencer you are, in fact, correct!
it's actually because the bright lights outdoors affects your perception of brightness!
now, here are things that you need to know
1. the LCD was NEVER meant to be your gauge for colour and exposure; it's only there to serve as an info panel, or, if you have one with a tilt or flip screen, you use it to frame in difficult angles
2. modern mirrorless systems actually calibrate the ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER and not the LCD. in other words, the CORRECT and accurate gauge is the EVF. and because of this...
3. the accuracy of the EVF is actually strongly influenced by how good the camera's EVF auto brightness is. fuji and sony are definitely on top of the game here, especially the fujifilm XH1 which a lot of people consider as the modern day gold standard
4. finally... you have both the brightness AND colour histograms to help you gauge them through graphs.
Is this true for film cameras as well?
It seems logical to have the displayed meter in the camera to have the same look as that of a histogram and have the dials on the camera also turn in the same direction. If you want the meter display to move right you rotate one of the dials right. The result is increase in brightness.
Question! On my film camera- if i set it to A, and it suggests a different shutter speed, do I need to change it to what it suggests? Or will it do it itself
Incredible
I purchased a 7100 and the built-in light meter simply disappeared, it's not working and display anything, no one indicator value... does anyone know what happened?
So how would you expose for the brides skin correctly?
😊
If you shoot lots and allow yourself to make exposure/histogram mistakes you will learn how your particular camera handles a variety of exposures. The bottom line is what is the quality of your image before processing. What are the highlights, the shadows, how is the lighting on the point of interest? In the end you learn the idiosyncrasies of each camera.
It's been a while.......👍🏽
I have trouble with knowing what's over and under exposed. The groom's photo that was overexposed looked better to me, except the shirt is too bright. Well, after watching it again, maybe he does looks too light.
Hi Loraine, as with any art, it's partly a matter of individual taste. While there are certain objective criteria, such as whether highlights are "blown out" i.e. losing detail into pure white, in the end, all that matters is what looks good to your eye. You get to decide.
@@steeletraining thank you!
one thing that may have also affected your judgement is the fact that the background is white.
notice how photoshop's background is grey?
take a screenshot of the groom's picture, then use an app to add a black or grey background and see what happens.
Your back?!
“Comes in”….. so if the camera tell you it’s going to take the picture and result in a +1 Over exposure, the just set the exposure compensation to that same amount and take the picture.