Exposure "lock" advice

[bevdig]

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I use the S007 on the MANUAL autofocus setting in order to use the joystick button to set focus. That said, I am unsure of how to lock the exposure. I want a series of shots to have identical exposure even if the camera is in shutter priority and I am moving the frame about, in which case  the meter will give slight variations of exposure, which I do not want.

[djmay]

Set manual exposure 

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[davidmknoble]

It is possible you could set the joystick button to exposure lock, keep it pressed and press the shutter repeatedly after recomposing, but that is a lot of camera yoga to complete.

I prefer using the joystick press to perform the autofocus, leaving the camera in manual focus (which you already said you do).  Your choices are to use the auto mode and use the top shutter dial for EV compensation +/- or use manual mode.

Quite honestly, if the exposure is important for you to remain exactly the same, manual mode is the most efficient way to do this.  The whole purpose of an auto mode is to take into account slight variations of changing light.  This is true on the M system and film systems as well.

[BernardC]

Same here. Use manual exposure. If it's a contrasty scene and I've been shooting aperture-priority, I'll set the shutter speed and keep shooting without having to worry about exposure variations.

[bevdig]

Thanks all. It seems going over to manual mode is the answer to my question. I previously owned a Contax 645 and that camera had a clever "On" switch that you could push over all the way and that would lock whatever exposure the meter gave, in either S or A operation. Fast and easy and you didn't need to go into any menus.

[Pieter12]

I believe if you hold the shutter release button half-way, the exposure setting will lock until you fully press the button to make the exposure.

[epines]

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What Pieter12 said. Hold the shutter release half-way down while you're shooting. As long as you keep it half-pressed, the camera will hold the exposure, and you can keep shooting.

 

[John McMaster]

Far easier to use manual exposure.....

john

[bevdig]

Yes, as long as you hold the button down halfway the exposure stays put. The difficulty is that having taken one exposure it is almost impossible to know if you have released the shutter button halfway, or all the way, in which case the meter will reset to another exposure setting, depending on where the camera is pointed for subsequent shots. The Contax 645 solution is much more elegant: you just push the lever over and then the exposure locks and you can push the button over and over. That said, it is not the end of the world to put the camera on manual, center the exposure bars, and shoot off a string at that fixed exposure. You just have to remember to turn off the manual setting if you want an auto exposure operation.

[davidmknoble]

That’s actually a clever idea.  It’s almost like an auto-exposure lock lever.  Like flipping to manual for a few shots, pulling it back and then moving on to the next metering. It would be cool to have a custom button to do that, on the front of the camera that the left hand could hold while the right hand was pressing the shutter release.

I am sure I will never have the dexterity to keep the shutter half-pressed.  I am far too used to pressing and releasing, mostly to wind film.

Learn something every day!