AE lock and difficult light

[stevegaskin]

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So today I visited a National Trust property and wanted to take an indoor picture. Light was streaming in from a window such that the exposure meter (set to Aperture priority), stopped down thus making most of the image under exposed. I tried pointing the camera at the floor and holding the shutter release half-way expecting the meter to read for the lower light, but it didn’t. I thought the meter would re-calibrate and pressing the release would then lock the new reading; what was I doing wrong?

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[Stonewall Brigade]

So today I visited a National Trust property and wanted to take an indoor picture. Light was streaming in from a window such that the exposure meter (set to Aperture priority), stopped down thus making most of the image under exposed. I tried pointing the camera at the floor and holding the shutter release half-way expecting the meter to read for the lower light, but it didn’t. I thought the meter would re-calibrate and pressing the release would then lock the new reading; what was I doing wrong?

I feel the lighting condition you described would lead to both burnt out highlights and black shadow areas.  Just too much contrast to expect a camera or a light meter to fairly accommodate well.  What would I have done? I'd have chosen a different subject, perhaps gone at another time of day, maybe visited on an overcast day so that the window lighting was less bright, turned the camera off and then on again to refresh the menu in case something was hung up. We can't always expect every lighting condition to be ideal all the time, and that should help steer us to photos where good lighting exists, and not force a photo where lighting and high contrast just can be balanced well.

[scott kirkpatrick]

You might have pointed down while still having the windows in front of you.  Then the light on the floor would still be brighter than the details you are trying to bring up  Turn and face away from the light for your exposure reading...?

[hector_jorge]

So today I visited a National Trust property and wanted to take an indoor picture. Light was streaming in from a window such that the exposure meter (set to Aperture priority), stopped down thus making most of the image under exposed. I tried pointing the camera at the floor and holding the shutter release half-way expecting the meter to read for the lower light, but it didn’t. I thought the meter would re-calibrate and pressing the release would then lock the new reading; what was I doing wrong?

Perhaps you can use M mode and try with different aperture/shutter settings to gain details in the darker parts.

[stevegaskin]

I would thought that there should be an AE lock via the release button, every other digital camera I have owned has this feature

[ramarren]

I would thought that there should be an AE lock via the release button, every other digital camera I have owned has this feature

 

 

Look at "Metering Memory Lock" in the CL Instruction Manual, page 55 in the English only version PDF.

It's there; they just don't call it by the term "AE Lock" anywhere that I've found. But that's not your problem...

 

The camera was most likely set to use AutoISO and it hit the limits that were set in the AutoISO settings. When the ISO setting hits the Maximum ISO setting, and the shutter speed hits the Min. Shutter Speed setting, the camera will no longer adjust and you will obtain an underexposed image. 

 

When you encounter this situation, you can change the ISO to a fixed ISO setting that's higher than your AutoISO limit, but you have to watch that the exposure time it sets isn't so long that you'll get a blurry photo. You can also switch the camera to Manual exposure and make the adjustments needed to ISO, aperture, and shutter time that way. 

[jaapv]

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I feel the lighting condition you described would lead to both burnt out highlights and black shadow areas.  Just too much contrast to expect a camera or a light meter to fairly accommodate well.  What would I have done? I'd have chosen a different subject, perhaps gone at another time of day, maybe visited on an overcast day so that the window lighting was less bright, turned the camera off and then on again to refresh the menu in case something was hung up. We can't always expect every lighting condition to be ideal all the time, and that should help steer us to photos where good lighting exists, and not force a photo where lighting and high contrast just can be balanced well.

What I would have done? Exposure bracket, stack in Photoshop with layer masks and paint in the properly exposed areas.

[lct]

[...] The camera was most likely set to use AutoISO and it hit the limits that were set in the AutoISO settings. When the ISO setting hits the Maximum ISO setting, and the shutter speed hits the Min. Shutter Speed setting, the camera will no longer adjust and you will obtain an underexposed image. [...]

 

+1. 

[stevegaskin]

That’s it! The camera was set to auto iso which is why it wasn’t exposing correctly; thank you rammaren. This was my first and probably only visit so waiting for weather change or going back another day wasn’t an option; anyway, sometimes you want to capture that moment. I now know what decisions I have to make.

[ramarren]

Glad to help. 

 

It's been a bit of a bug of mine since the SL came out ... Most of my other cameras from the past have had an override option for such situations where the metering system will signal, "Hey, there's not enough light to meet your settings!" by flashing the display or something like that, but will then override the exposure time limit to get proper exposure for you automatically, even if it risks ruining the photo through camera shake.

 

Leica doesn't believe in that kind of thing, it seems. So I've gotten used to tapping the shutter release to the half press position for review (first on the SL and now on the CL) to see if the display darkens, and if it does I switch to a fixed ISO setting where it will extend the exposure time. I can usually get away with one or two stops additional exposure time, if I'm careful. Now that I know what to do, it's become second nature ...

[fotografr]

I was just yesterday in the exact situation you described. I was shooting a band in a tent with open sides and it was much brighter outside than inside. I pointed the camera at an area in front of the band until I got a more balanced exposure, then kept the shutter half pressed while recomposing. The image came out fine with enough exposure on the band. The background was bright, of course, but not horribly blown out.

 

Sometimes one doesn't have the option of coming back at another time, as someone suggested. In that case, you have to make the best of a tough situation.

[fotografr]

What I would have done? Exposure bracket, stack in Photoshop with layer masks and paint in the properly exposed areas.

That only works if you have a static subject and are using a tripod..

[jaapv]

You don't need a tripod if you export the stack as TIFFs and reimport in Photomerge. Photoshop will align automatically. It will take quite a bit of processing time, though.

[stevegaskin]

The problem with using a different part of the scene to obtain a better exposure and half-pressing to ‘lock’ the setting, is that it also locks the autofocus at that point which means that when you reframe, your framed part of the image could be out of focus. This is why a separate AE lock would be beneficial.

[ramarren]

The problem with using a different part of the scene to obtain a better exposure and half-pressing to ‘lock’ the setting, is that it also locks the autofocus at that point which means that when you reframe, your framed part of the image could be out of focus. This is why a separate AE lock would be beneficial.

 

 

Using AF lenses: You can either switch to manual exposure and lock the exposure where you want it, then let autofocus do the number for you on your actual subject. Or switch to manual focus, lock the focus where you want it, and use the half-press exposure lock to hold the exposure you want. You can also use the half press to lock in the exposure setting and, while holding the button for the lock, manually re-set the focus for your intended subject. 

 

Seems to me there are plenty of usable options, if not the exact one you want. 

[stevegaskin]

All those options are fine when you have time, but if you need to capture a ‘decisive moment’ then a simple button press to lock exposure makes more sense. Nikon cameras I’ve used previously had a separate AE button; ‘simples’.

[danielfrimley]

You can also use the half press to lock in the exposure setting and, while holding the button for the lock, manually re-set the focus for your intended subject.

 

If only this came with focus magnification rather than just peaking - I'm sure there's a technical reason why it can't that escapes me but I'd find that really handy to fine tune focus on AF lenses.

[ramarren]

All those options are fine when you have time, but if you need to capture a ‘decisive moment’ then a simple button press to lock exposure makes more sense. Nikon cameras I’ve used previously had a separate AE button; ‘simples’.

 

 

If the "decisive moment" is fleeting, I most usually forget to hit a separate AELock button, where I never forget to press the shutter release. Never mind that I've focused the camera for the chance opportunity before I even got to that point anyway.  

 

Since I choose to use all manual focus lenses, the shutter half-press is always just an AELock button anyway. AF slows me down.

 

But, of course, all the features of the CL were listed in the literature and instruction manual before you bought it. And if you really really had to have an AELock button, you should have bought some other camera that had one. 

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[davidrc]

Hand held meter…..set exposure manually, cannot be beaten.