Q3 Exposure Preview in Auto Settings

[Annmarkphoto]

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Question for the Q3 pros --

I've found best use for my Q3 on busy days to be manually setting shutter and aperture and leaving ISO on auto, with exposure compensation at 0 or -1. I move around a ton when I'm shooting (weddings) from indoor to outdoor and focus updating settings on my main cameras with the Leica capturing quick wide candids. I've run into an issue while using ISO auto settings - if I'm indoor shooting I'll have shutter around 1/125 or 1/250 to let more light in and keep ISO low (I do have it capped to 6400 in settings). But then if I move outside and forget to update my shutter speed, of course the photo is blown out. The opposite is true shooting outside at 1/2000 and moving indoors - ISO can't compensate for those bad settings. But in camera while I'm shooting, the images look great. Of course, in playback, they do not.

My issue is that I can't tell the photo will be blown out in preview - while shooting, everything looks well exposed. So sometimes I move outside with aperture at 2.0 and shutter at 1/250, and with ISO Auto shooting at 100, I still have a totally clipped image. 

Is there a way to update settings to where if the auto ISO will not expose an image properly, I can know? I've experimented with. PAS and PASM settings, which I hadn't been familiar with before, but from what I can see that hasn't solved the issue. Any ideas? Or should I just be shooting in manual? Adding 2 sec preview and slowing down? Help!

Many thanks in advance !

[zlatkob]

I shoot in Aperture priority mode, with a minimum shutter speed of 1/250th and auto ISO capped to 25,000. I only switch to Manual shutter speeds of 1/125th or slower when indoors in low light. If the indoor light is brighter, I stay in Aperture priority mode. For me, this solves the problem of forgetting to update the settings. The high ISO cap is because Lightroom's Denoise function is so good, but capping ISO at 6,400 or 12,500 is good too.

However, even with this method, there is still the potential problem of shooting at f/2 outside on a sunny day. The shutter speed won't go higher than 1/2000th. In that case I stop down as needed, at least to f/3.5 and 1/2000th (sunny day), or add a 3-stop ND filter via a magnetic adapter if I really want to shoot at f/1.7 or f/2.

I don't see any advantage to shooting in Manual mode all of the time. I am more likely to make mistakes that way. Adding a 2 second preview or slowing down would not be a good solution for me as it forces a disconnect from the next moment. Good luck!

Edited September 1 by zlatkob

[Annmarkphoto]

This makes sense - aperture priority with limits on shutter vs shooting with auto ISO... great point thanks!

[Alexander108]

I always use the histogram and zebra highlighting of overecposed areas. That works well for me. 

[Luke_Miller]

I think the problem with exposure preview is due to the autofocus system focusing off the live view image.  If the exposure settings will not produce an image sufficient for autofocus, the AF sustem will automatically adjust that image to get one on which it can focus.  So it darkens a too bright image and brightenes a too dark one.

Aperture priority should work for you. If you are in extended mode the Electronic Shutter should kick in if shutter speeds outdoors higher than 1/2000 are needed.

[zlatkob]

Good points, but electronic shutter is a hazard for wedding photography. Any movement can result in very warped subjects in photos.

[Annmarkphoto]

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I do have the camera set to mechanical only, a good thing to point out

[jaapv]

1 hour ago, zlatkob said:

Good points, but electronic shutter is a hazard for wedding photography. Any movement can result in very warped subjects in photos.

Not many hummingbirds getting wed...😜

[Luke_Miller]

2 hours ago, zlatkob said:

Good points, but electronic shutter is a hazard for wedding photography. Any movement can result in very warped subjects in photos.

I use electronic shutter all the time when shooting weddings without any problems.  With my SL bodies it is the only way to avoid the shutter shock image blur that can occur at shutter speeds between 1/60 and 1/250 with longer focal lengths. Now rolling shutter articfacts with electronic shutters is a real thing when shooting sports or other activities with subjects in rapid motion.  I've never had a subject move fast enough at a wedding to trigger it with my SL bodies.

Edited September 1 by Luke_Miller

[zlatkob]

I don't know the SL camera, but with the Q3 I got a few images with noticeable distortion of subjects in a portrait session. So I decided from then on to use the Q3 with mechanical shutter only.

The 60mp Sony sensor in the Q3 is known to have a slow electronic shutter scan time. Google suggests the scan time is something like 1/10th to 1/20th second, making it "unsuitable for fast-moving subjects". In my opinion, it is unsuitable for nearly all moving subjects as the distortion is unfixable once it occurs.

Electronic shutter is a hazard with most Sony cameras too, but sometimes it helps to have a silent shutter (e.g., church ceremony). With Sony I'll sometimes use electronic shutter, but only with non-moving or nearly non-moving subjects. Once people are walking down the aisle, I use mechanical shutter only.

[Spike415]

What happened to all the Q2 owners comments and questions?