How to get the best raw exposure, part 2

Another thing with M mode with auto ISO is using EC. EC will not put more light on the sensor, as you’ve already chosen your shutter speed and aperture. Light on the sensor is already set.

BUT

If my zebras give me an indication that it’s safe to apply 1 stop of plus EV then I will, especially in ultra low light. That can literally mean reducing my auto ISO from 12,800 to 6400.

For my particular camera, according to photons to photos, that reduction from ISO 12800 to 6400 gives me 1.4 extra stops of DR to play with in post if needed.

Does this trump using base ISO? Not from an optimum raw expsosure point of view no. IF that is your primary objective. Does it mean I can continue using live view without looking at a black EVF? Yes ! Does it mean I can use a “set and forget” mode whilst understanding the trades offs? Yes!

So, M mode with Auto ISO and EC can be a reliable and fast way of shooting. It always comes down to priorities.

I’m not so sure anyone disagrees with your explanations, they are facts. I’m personally always on a mission to relate this stuff back to real world scenarios and alternatives. Like I said to you earlier, we tend to agree, but from opposite directions 😂

There seems to be at least one person here who disagrees violently with some of my assertions.

Looking at the size of the world population, only one dissenter means you’re doing fine 😀

I don't understand this. In M you control shutter and aperture. That leaves only the ISO for the camera to change if you change the EC value and they go in the same 'direction'

Here are some of my attempts at that:

blog.kasson.com/a7riii/a7riii-exposure-strategy-manual-settings/

www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65368460

It should be pretty easy to write something similar for using auto ISO.

But look what he's done to this thread. Anybody coming in cold at this point would be overwhelmed by the back and forth, and would be hard pressed to find the nuggets that would be useful.

Not really. Let’s say I’m doing street photography at night in M mode with auto ISO. I’ve decided I need 1/400th to stop the motion. I also want f5.6 for sufficient DOF. So I’ve set this. I’m using auto ISO for convenience. And so I don’t have to disable or override live view in my EVF. The camera has selected ISO12800. If my zebras tell me I can use EC to increase 1 stop it immediately halves the ISO to 6400. This buys me 1.4 stops of DR in post.

It’s especially intuitive for me because my camera has a dedicated EC dial by my right thumb.

At least and at last, in this place, you can disagree without being muzzled or silenced for doing so! 👍

Teething problems. I’m sure some pinned definitive posts will follow. I’ve been guilty of being vocal. Maybe too much. But my intentions are always in the right place. My pet thing is relating the science back to real world shooting scenarios and finding that balance.

There will always be those that just want an argument for the sake of it. That’s forums for you.

It takes at least two to have a "back and forth". In the real world; some can do it endlessly, some will tire of it eventually, and some will eventually give up if ignored long enough. It probably works similarly in the virtual world.

We have had two main back and forth-ers in this thread, and in the exposure threads that preceded it.

But there's the question of what is the proper response to statements that are objectively wrong. Should they be ignored, trusting the unsophisticated thread reader to understand that they're wrong? Or should they be countered?

whats annoying is everyone is to lazy and gutless to there own testing, im not here to do all the running around, if anyone wants to prove my findings incorrect then be my guest DO YOUR OWN TESTING is that so hard or life threatening ?

I've documented the results of my testing extensively over the years in more than 2500 blog posts.

The question on the in-camera histogram being derived from JPEG for the cameras you use(d) doesn't need any additional testing, it's a known fact. Incidentally, you proved it too.
You also proved that zebras are not perfect.
What else is there?

Buy a Sony FF camera . shot with m43 for years.

I was told off for correcting some “made up facts” in a brand specific forum on here. But the progress is I wasn’t sandboxed or banned for simply correctly some bare faced….. err “non-facts”

My view is that ideally real facts should be accepted for the reason that they are, well, facts! But then the debate is healthiest if it’s then about how, why, or IF to implement them.

Debate is healthy, but equally a scientific fact doesn’t mean that everyone should implement them, or that those that don’t are somehow stupid.

The tricky bit is how to filter the inevitable noise that achieves neither objective. I’m not in favour of censorship (moderation) so I hope things here will simply settle down once folk have got “I can say what I want” out of their system.

Anyway….. this is going off topic…. As you were!