Beginner WHY AM I STILL FAILING WITH NO FLASH??? HELP !!

Anthony.Ralph said:
Would be interesting to hear how you get on with the monopod - please let us know... :)

Anthony.
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The monopod will help you to keep the camera steady but if the dog is moving like in the second of your pictures in post #8 you may still get motion blur.
 
The use of adding exposure is okay when not sunlit, normal man made light can usually cope with some extra exposure before you loose detail 1/2 - +1. Just not too much.
 
retrosi said:
The use of adding exposure is okay when not sunlit, normal man made light can usually cope with some extra exposure before you loose detail 1/2 - +1. Just not too much.
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Plus extra comp doesn't add noise compared to underexposed then brightening in processing, it looses detail.
However, the under exposure would have to be bad and usually caused by high iso.
 
Did you set it for tungsten or fluorescent light when shooting indoors?
 
Wee man said:
Did you set it for tungsten or fluorescent light when shooting indoors?
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Fluorescent's a waste of time from my experience as there's so many different colours i's VERY difficult to get the right one. My camera has 5 different fluorescents IIRC and that far from covers all of the different temps.
 
Exposure compensation won't help you in manual mode (in fact I think it will be disabled).

Edit: unless you are shooting with auto ISO I suppose, but then you aren't full manual.
 
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TimmyG said:
Exposure compensation won't help you in manual mode (in fact I think it will be disabled).
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Blimey which camera does that? :-(
Certainly mine doesn't, I think if a camera did that I wouldn't buy it.
 
Pretty sure my old Canon did, not sure about the current one as it has a dial for it (very posh) but when testing it doesn't seem to do anything (which I wasn't expecting it to). Annoyingly it won't change to flash exposure compensation when needed either :(
 
retrosi said:
Blimey which camera does that? :-(
Certainly mine doesn't, I think if a camera did that I wouldn't buy it.
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Pretty sure my camera has exp comp in manual, and with auto ISO. Why wouldn't you buy it, you're in control of it, just as you are with manual?
 
RichardTaylor said:
She is shooting RAW.
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I agree Richard but I haven't seen if the OA has stated to what level their editing is at and if they are okay with resetting the white balance.
Reason being if the Raw file has its original white balance set to x?
Then that is what will be shown on screen to begin with, until a person adjusts accordingly if needed of course.
At least that's what my camera does.
Another reason to shoot raw, as I sometimes forget to change the setting to the surrounding light at least it allows for adjusting wb.

A reason I try to set the white balance in Raw is I am a believer that unless the raw file writes each and every white balance setting for choosing in post editing.
(it probably does)
Why then does the screen show the image per the white balance that I have set.

Confusingly when I then click any other white balance option (pre-set from drop down option in LR) it switches to that.
Which suggests that there is likely to be all manner of info written to a raw file.

Meaning if we set a certain white balance in raw rather than just use auto does it 'flag' this as the preferred option but still write the other white balances in?
Something clever is going on, setting it to Raw & Auto white balance means as long as a person is okay with adjusting in the edit then good.
However, if a persons ability isn't there they will struggle to recognise <---(note to google, I am English) an off white balance issue.
 
retrosi said:
Blimey which camera does that? :-(
Certainly mine doesn't, I think if a camera did that I wouldn't buy it.
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With My Canon DSLRS in manual exposure mode you control everything. Exposure compensation only works in the creative "auto" modes like aperture or shutter priority, there you dial in what you think is needed.
In manual mode you use your own judgement of the scene to adjust the settings away from the metering system indicated exposure.
My Olympus E-M5Mark II works similarly
My Canon G11 (which has a separate exposere compensation dial) also works similarly - the exposre compensation dial doesbn't do anything when in manual exposure mode.

I believe Nikon camera work the same way (I have never used one)
See this from Nikon USA
https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9602/~/slr-exposure-compensation-in-manual-mode
 
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snerkler said:
Pretty sure my camera has exp comp in manual, and with auto ISO. Why wouldn't you buy it, you're in control of it, just as you are with manual?
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Perhaps I misread TimmyG's post, but as I read it he was saying his old camera disabled the exp comp in manual, which is why I wouldn't buy it.
Sorry snerkler but your comment doesn't make sense if the way I read is correct, I know that sounds rude but I am not meaning it to be.
 
Blimey I am reading things wrong, apologise to everyone.
Of course in manual you control everything which is why exp comp doesn't come in to play.
Sorry again, idiot me....

Only the other day I was explaining this to a fellow photographer & they struggled to get their head around this apparent lack of a feature.
It took a while for it to sink in that you're in control to set the exposure etc.

So double idiot I am...
 
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retrosi said:
Blimey I am reading things wrong, apologise to everyone.
Of course in manual you control everything which is why exp comp doesn't come in to play.
Sorry again, idiot me....

Only the other day I was explaining this to a fellow photographer & they struggled to get their head around this apparent lack of a feature.
It took a while for it to sink in that you're in control to set the exposure etc.

So double idiot I am...
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Yep, manual you set everything allowing you to manually set +/- ev. In manual but using auto ISO (my favoured 'manual' setting) you can set Exp Comp. But also on my camera you can permanently set exp comp to any mode in the menu system which is useful if you think your camera consistently under/over exposes.
 
Nothing you can do about the camera's limitations I'm afraid. Only thing you can do is use a higher shutter speed 1/125th or higher with servo for moving shots. Shoot raw and try to recover exposure a little, Also process with Canon DPP software its meant to reduce noise much better than LR. (this was the 1st thing I was told on a canon workshop).
 
What I would like to ask is does the 18-55 have image stabilisation on it.
 
Re the white balance -
I think what you are seeing on the back of the camera is a jpg representation (modified by the WB setting) of the RAW file.
I always shoot RAW with WB to Auto and adjust in LR if needed (rightly or wrongly)
I will run a couple of checks tomorrow (it is getting on a bit down here) to see what comes across to LR via the RAW file if I adjust the WB when shooting.
 
RichardTaylor said:
Re the white balance -
I think what you are seeing on the back of the camera is a jpg representation (modified by the WB setting) of the RAW file.
I always shoot RAW with WB to Auto and adjust in LR if needed (rightly or wrongly)
I will run a couple of checks tomorrow (it is getting on a bit down here) to see what comes across to LR via the RAW file if I adjust the WB when shooting.
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That's what happens.

There has to be *some* value set for white balance, even when shooting RAW. So whatever WB you have set on the camera - or whatever the camera chooses, if you use AWB - will be used to create the preview JPEG, and will be tacked on to the RAW file. When you open the RAW file for processing (in LR or whatever) the WB which was set on or by the camera is applied, but you can change it non-destructively.
 
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I always shoot in raw

Usually have spot metering, sometimes evaluative

Set white balance to "daylight" or "tungsten" etc whatever is fitting...

If it doesn't look right on screen I'll adjust the WB in LR
 
gothgirl said:
I always shoot in raw

Usually have spot metering, sometimes evaluative

Set white balance to "daylight" or "tungsten" etc whatever is fitting...

If it doesn't look right on screen I'll adjust the WB in LR
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I would advise using spot metering sparingly, not something I would choose very often.
 
What would you use ?
I've used evaluative metering too but not seen any visible difference in results
 
gothgirl said:
What would you use ?
I've used evaluative metering too but not seen any visible difference in results
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Depending on the camera evaluative/matrix or centre weighted (tbh the metering on my camera is so good/sophisticated that I can leave it on matrix for the vast majority of shots). Spot is for very specific areas/subjects. Of course modern high end cameras where spot metering follows the AF point means that spot may be used more, but stI'll not something I'd recommend for 'general' use.

But on saying all of this you should always use what works best for you.

This may be useful.
https://photographylife.com/understanding-metering-modes
 
:agree: you can get a decent light meter reading from the venue (if you don't have a light meter, there are loads of free light meter apps in the apple store, I assume android has the same if you don't have an iphone) taking into account your necessary shutter speed, work around the aperture & ISO.
Brings back horse show memories - such lovely, dimly lit dismal barns - no flash either :LOL:

Monopod should help immensely btw, looking forward to seeing what you come up with next time (y)
 
moomike said:
:agree: you can get a decent light meter reading from the venue (if you don't have a light meter, there are loads of free light meter apps in the apple store, I assume android has the same if you don't have an iphone) taking into account your necessary shutter speed, work around the aperture & ISO.
Brings back horse show memories - such lovely, dimly lit dismal barns - no flash either :LOL:

Monopod should help immensely btw, looking forward to seeing what you come up with next time (y)
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Are the apps reliable? But she doesn't have to have a light meter I guess, just take a shot according to the camera's meter, review on the screen/histogram and adjust exp comp accordingly.
 
snerkler said:
Are the apps reliable? But she doesn't have to have a light meter I guess, just take a shot according to the camera's meter, review on the screen/histogram and adjust exp comp accordingly.
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I've tested the light meter app reading against both the Sekonic L308s & my Minolta spot meter F & the results are surprisingly accurate. If I didn't need a spot meter or flash readings then I would have been quite happy sticking with the apps.
You are of course correct re. the shot/ histogram approach - both approaches are free so I guess it's all personal preference (y)
 
moomike said:
I've tested the light meter app reading against both the Sekonic L308s & my Minolta spot meter F & the results are surprisingly accurate. If I didn't need a spot meter or flash readings then I would have been quite happy sticking with the apps.
You are of course correct re. the shot/ histogram approach - both approaches are free so I guess it's all personal preference (y)
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Cool, might give it a go. Which app is it that you've tested?
 
moomike said:
Have two but the main one I used to use is called "pocket light meter" app symbol looks like a sekonic L758 or similar on a pale blue background (think it's by Nuwaste studios but can't be 100% sure as I've had it for a while)
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Thanks.
 
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