EOS MIRRORLESS cameras enable you to
compensate the metered reading up to plus
or minus thee stops in 1/3-stop increments,
but an EOS DSLR enables you to comp up to
five stops. But the readout in the viewfinder
will only show up to +/- 2 or +/-3 stops. If you
want to set exposure comp beyond here
you’ll need to use the Quick Control screen
or dip into the Expo.comp/AEB menu (found
in the camera’s red Shooting menu).You can even go beyond a camera’s comp
range by activating Auto Exposure
Bracketing (AEB). This means that if you
apply the full amount of comp to the
standard exposure and then bracket the full
three stops, you can hit +/-6 or +/-8 stops of
compensation. Depending on which camera
you’re using, AEB and/or exposure
compensation may be automatically
deactivated when you switch the camera off.valuative metering
with exposure comp
can be a quick way of
working, but it takes time to
be able to judge when it’s
required and how much you
need. A shift in the way you’ve
framed a shot, or where you
focus, can make a big difference
to the exposure too – not always
in a good way. By switching to
Partial or Spot metering you can
take an exposure reading from amuch smaller part of the image,
and lock that setting in using
your camera’s Autoexposure
Lock button (look for the one
marked ‘*”).
Just try to remember all that
mid-tone malarky. If the subject
you take a meter reading from
is mid-tone, there’s no problem.
If it isn’t, try metering from a
mid-tone in the same light as
your subject before locking the
exposure. Most EOS bodieshave their spot meter fixed
at the centre AF point, so you
may need to recompose after
locking the exposure.
The indicator at the centre
of the exposure scale in the
viewfinder indicates the
metered mid-tone value. If the
spot meter is pointed at a
mid-tone, then no adjustment
is needed, but if you take a
reading from an area brighter
or darker than mid-tone, thenuse exposure comp to move
the indicator along – to the
right for bright subjects, to the
left for dark ones.E
The Canon Magazine 65
How to use the AEB menu for large-scale exposure adjustments
Taking a reading
Switch to Spot or Partial metering mode to target a specific area
School tip Bracketing for bigger compensation
TARGETED METERING
(^) + (^2) EV (^)
Metering^
highlights^
-^2 EV^
The camera will
render the
Spot-metered
area as a
mid-tone- use positive
exposure comp
to make it
brighter
Lock the meter reading in and
shoot, or apply a little minus
exposure comp first to ensure
the brightest areas aren’t ‘blown’Metering mid-tones
Metering^
shadows^
To avoid
spot-metered
dark areas
appearing grey- and bright
areas being
blown out – dial
in negative
exposure comp