Exposure in Manual Nikon D90

[webphoto]

Hi Guys,

This might sound like a stupid question, but here goes:

How do I get high ( bright ) exposure while working in Manual mode on a D90? in A, S modes I can use the EV settings, but they do not work/effect the photo results in manual mode? what do I need to do to get the photos 'over' exposed while keeping ISO settings down to 400 or lower and I need to work with a minimum aperture of 16. I don't have a tripod, so hand held is best at about 80/100 of a second. Its for product photography, so flash is a no no.

All help appreciated, many thanks

[RLucas]

Flash a no no in product photography? I thought it was almost essential? And a tripod, with some kind of softbox?

What kind of products are you shooting?

[dcclark]

You're right -- in Manual exposure mode, exposure compensation does nothing. That's because you're in Manual mode, whose purpose is to let you choose the settings yourself (not tweak them indirectly via EC).

So, either open up the aperture more, if you can (i.e. go to f/10 if you're at f/16), or lengthen the shutter speed (maybe go to 1/100 if you're at 1/200).

Also, be sure that Auto ISO is OFF -- Nikons have a bizarre "feature" of leaving Auto ISO on when you go to M mode. It may be fighting against whatever exposure tweaks you're making.

I also have no clue what you mean by "flash is a no-no" -- use a softbox or at least an external flash. Also, 80/100 second is NOT a reasonable shutter speed for handheld photos. I have hands of steel and I can't make those come out clean! Maybe you meant 1/80 or even 1/800 sec?

[Vagebond]

EV in aperture or shutter priority is nothing more than the camera adjusting the non-prioritised component and/or ISO value (if you have ISO on automatic) to get over- or under-exposure. So overexposing in manual is a question of getting the "right" exposure and adjusting from there.

In other words: If ISO 400, F 16 and 1/80 sec. get you a good (bright) picture in a priority mode with EV +1 (look at EXIF), those settings will get you the same photos in manual too. Those values in EXIF are the values after EV.

I don't know about Nikon, but the exposure meter in my Canon still works in manual mode, so you can see the exposure value in the viewfinder.

[luvpugs]

I'm getting confused.....I was at a baseball game over the weekend and was shooting in manual mode. Because it was a little darker in the stadium, when I was shooting, my pictures were turning out darker then I liked. My SS was already down low enough so, I left my SS, A and ISO alone and just moved my Exposure Compensation button to brighten my pictures (I went a few stop to the + side). This seemed to make my pictures lighter (or brighter, however you want to look at it). Am I totally off here? Sorry, I'm very new to this but I swear by moving my +/- button, this helped my pictures by making them lighter. I have a Nikon D90.

[Vagebond]

luvpugs

Just in case you don't get an answer from a Nikon user (Canon myself) just a theory:

In manual mode exposure compensation doesn't work, that's the theory. Are you sure that when you press the compensation button and then turn the wheel you aren't just adjusting aperture (or speed, again I'm not familiar with Nikon)? In manual you're looking at real metered results, so the meter will move to show the over/underexposure.

Just a theory. Check your manual. Better yet, a Nikon expert would be cool right now

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by Vagebond

luvpugs

Just in case you don't get an answer from a Nikon user (Canon myself) just a theory:

In manual mode exposure compensation doesn't work, that's the theory. Are you sure that when you press the compensation button and then turn the wheel you aren't just adjusting aperture (or speed, again I'm not familiar with Nikon)? In manual you're looking at real metered results, so the meter will move to show the over/underexposure.

Just a theory. Check your manual. Better yet, a Nikon expert would be cool right now

This is probably correct. I don't have a D90 myself, but I believe that when you try to change the exposure compensation (by pressing the +/- button and turning one of the command dials), the button press is just ignored and it acts as if you were turning the dial normally.

[RLucas]

On my D40 and D70, it works in manual, but not like you would think. When you dial in a positive compensation, lets say +.3ev, the meter reads +.3(aprox) more, but you still have to manually dial in the correct exposure, i.e. SS, aperture, or iso.

[Nicole]

Edit: Beaten to it by RLucas (I must be typing slow today )

Ok, I just pulled out the camera to check what it does / doesn't do.

When you're in manual mode on the D90, what the exposure compensation button does is change the meter reading (I'm not quite sure how to say it, but bear with me for a minute). So, if you set your camera to 1/800, f/8, ISO 200 and took a picture and the meter reading was at 0 (as in +...|...0...|...-), and then you use the exposure compensation button, it will not change any of your settings on your camera, but if you say change it to +5EV, what your meter will now read is that your shot is way underexposed. So although the settings haven't changed (it will still be at 1/800, f/8, ISO 200 for example), your camera is telling you that your settings will not get the extra EV value that you dialed in and now the bars will be lit up towards the under exposure end of the meter.

Now that I think about it, that's actually a pretty good way to make sure that if you think your camera often over / under exposes a shot, you don't have to make the guess when looking at the meter if you just put in the exposure compensation using that method. But that's not really relevant to the discussion.

As far as the original question, if your shots are under exposed (for your purposes), you need to add more light. I've found that the best way to get a white background is to light the background separately. I'm also not sure why you can't use flash, but ok. You still need more light than you're getting, so like was said earlier, that either means slower shutter speed (may need a tripod), higher ISO (potential for too much grain, may not be desirable), wider aperture (you said you need f/16 minimum), or more light from another source. If you can't use flash because the product is reflective, try lighting the background without lighting the object, and then you can work on learning about how to light reflective surfaces.

Best of luck!

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by RLucas

On my D40 and D70, it works in manual, but not like you would think. When you dial in a positive compensation, lets say +.3ev, the meter reads +.3(aprox) more, but you still have to manually dial in the correct exposure, i.e. SS, aperture, or iso.

Interesting... and I think misleading. On my D40x (which should operate exactly the same as a D40), the EC button doubles as the aperture adjustment button (you can see an aperture symbol printed just above it). In Manual mode, pressing the EC button and turning the command dial adjusts the aperture, not EC. Looking through the viewfinder, this is exactly what happens (the aperture changes, nothing else). Turning just the command dial changes the shutter speed.

I suspect that that's what happening on the D40 and D60, along with any other Nikons with only one command dial.