Matrix metering is the most advanced of the metering options on a Nikon camera, be it a DSLR or a ML camera. It divides the scene into multiple zones and evaluates the light intensity and contrast in each zone. The system considers the brightness and contrast levels in each zone to evaluate the overall exposure. Subject recognition may also be used to determine the most important zones as well as the zone that has the focus point. The system has developed over the years and hence the system is not static but had improved from one model to the next.
Nikon Matrix Metering can work with non-CPU lenses, but with some limitations. Non-CPU lenses do not transmit lens information (e.g., focal length, maximum aperture) to the camera, which can impact the metering system’s accuracy. Therefore the Nikon camera – when shooting with a non-CPU lens – will typically default to center-weighted or spot metering mode, instead of Matrix metering.
Danish photographer Ole Christiansen, born 1955, has created portraits of more and less famous people for 40 years. In this book a number of black and white portrait photographs are presented, along with a few images of street / architecture. However, the bulk of the book is portraits.
Ole Christiansen presents a mixture of Danish and international celebrities. Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, David Byrne and Yoko Ono are examples and shows that he apparently has a name internationally. But also people that are “world famous in Denmark” are portraits, such as Lars von Trier and former Danish prime minister Poul Schlüter.
Former Danish prime minister Poul Schlüter.
Ole Christiansen often uses hard light, which is normally not what you would use for (flattering) photography. But Ole’s project seems take the approach that the character of the person is key rather than beauty or a wrinkle free look.
Leonard Cohen, Obviously. Closed eyes.
You can find a few double exposures amongst the images in this book, and Ole does not shy away from using props such as mirrors, a record or a piece of paper. Or the subjects hand (see the front page with Iggy Pop).
However, for me, the most stunning images are the “simple” ones using a single hard light source to draw out and amplify the personality of the subject photographed. Even though his ability to put vivid focus on the eyes of the subject is stellar, you’ll also find images where the subject has eyes closed or is viewed in profile, i.e. not looking into the lens.
Hard light right, more classic portrait left.
If you like portraits and B&W images, this books comes highly recommended. There are also a number of street / architecture images, but for me the important work here is the portraits. There is no text other than a small introduction to Ole Christiansen on the cover page – this is a book with only images. Just the way I like it.
Many find shooting in manual exposure mode a bit intimidating, maybe because you run the risk of getting images that are either over- or under exposed. However, a digital camera gives you the option to immediately see the result of your work a few seconds after you have hit the shutter, so the feedback loop is fast and there is every opportunity to learn from the feedback and adjust the exposure. In addition, if you shoot in RAW format, even wrong exposure by several stops can be fixed in post. So the digital age has certainly made photography in manual exposure mode less risky than back in the film days, when you got the feedback in the darkroom!
This blog is based on the Canon EOS 5D mk III, but I am sure it is applicable to most versions of the Canon 5D.
In this short guide I will take you though the parameters you need to control in order to manage the exposure of the images. If you like to learn from a video instead, there is a link in the bottom of this post to a youtube video that takes you though the same topics as this post.
Mode dial
Remember to push the centre button on the mode selector when changing between modes. Here “M” for manual is chosen as it is aligned with the white dot on the camera body.
The first step is to get the Canon EOS 5D in manual exposure mode: top left on your camera the mode selector button is located. Press the centre button down and at the same time turn the mode selector so the letter “M” for manual is flush with the little white dot on the camera. Then you have set the camera in manual mode.
The Q-button is just to the right of the rear LCD, sitting over the large command wheel.
If you press the “Q” button just right to the rear LCD, the screen that appears will top left show an “M” if you have successfully put the camera in manual mode. Press the “Q” button again to turn off the rear LCD.
The large M top left on the rear LCD shows the camera is in manual exposure mode. You control both the aperture and the shutter speed.
Shutter speed
Just behind the shutter release button, there is a command wheel you can turn left and right. When you turn the wheel, the shutter speed changes by each “click” of the wheel – you can see the values changing in the small LCD top right on the camera.
Here the top LCD is shown. The shutter speed is 1/6th of a second, the aperture is at f/32 and the ISO is set to 100.
The shutter speed is shown top left in the small LCD as a reciprocal value, so if the value 100 is displayed, it means 1/100th of a second. Again, if you push the “Q” button, the shutter speed will be shown top left in the rear LCD, just right of the “M” mentioned before. Press the “Q” button again to turn off the rear LCD.
Aperture
You control the aperture by turning the big command wheel just right of the rear LCD (it has a “set” button in the centre). Again, the selected aperture can be viewed in the top LCD just to the right of the shutter speed, and just like with the shutter speed, you can also see the aperture on the rear LCD if you press the “Q” button just above the bug command wheel.
The large M top left here on the rear LCD shows the camera is in manual exposure mode. The cursor is over the f/32 and as the blue bar in the bottom of the LCD shows, this is the chosen aperture.
The widest aperture you can select, i.e. the smallest F-stop number, is determined by the lens. I am often shooting with a 90 mm Canon tilt-shift lens TS-E and it has a maximum aperture of f/2.8. At the other end I can close the aperture down to f/32. So I can select between 2.8, 3.2, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.6, 6.3, 7.1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 29 and 32. Quite a number of options!
Be careful not to close the aperture down too much, you will let in very little light and also diffraction starts to set in when beyond f/16 approx. Shooting wide open lets in lots of light, but the price you pay is that the depth of field gets very shallow, so unless you want to isolate the subject with a blurred background, a middle-of-the-road aperture of say f/5.6 or f/8 may be a better choice.
ISO
ISO is not the sensitivity of the sensor, but a factor that is applied to the amount of light the sensor has registered during the exposure. So turning up the ISO will amplify both the light and the noise the sensor has registered – that is why shooting with very high ISO numbers gives grainy images with washed out colours. The camera is simply amplifying both the signal and the noise and the closer the two are to each other (i.e. the less light) the more the noise will dominate relative to the signal. So be sure not to go too high with the ISO, unless you like grain for artistic reasons.
The ISO button is the second from the right, sitting just above the top LCD.
Just on top of the top LCD there are 4 buttons. The rightmost turns on the light in the LCD, and just to the left of that button is the ISO button. If you press it once, most of the values in the LCD will disappear and only the ISO value will be shown to the left just above the metering scale. You can see that it says “ISO” just to the left of the ISO setting.
You can now change the ISO value by turning the same command wheel as you use for setting the shutter speed. ISO ranges from 100 up to at least 25.600, but I would advise you never to use so high values. I try to stay at 1600 as my highest value.
With the joystick top right, you can move the cursor around. Here the cursor has been positioned over the ISO field and the blue bar in the bottom shows that ISO is highlighted. If you hit the “set” button in the centre of the large command wheel, you will get into a menu where all ISO options are displayed for selection.
If you turn the command wheel all the way to the left (i.e. down to 100 and then one more), then an “A” will appear and this indicates that the camera will now select the ISO value automatically. Using the built in light meter and the aperture and shutter speed selected by you, the camera will now set the ISO so that the image is correctly exposed. Be mindful that if you stress the camera with either very little ambient light or brutally closed down aperture / fast shutter speed, the only thing the camera can do is to turn up the ISO to a very large value. So keep an eye on the ISO settings also if you have the auto-ISO turned on.
Adding it all up
Now you know how to set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO and you are in full control of how these values are set. There is help to be found in the fact that the metering system of the camera continues to work and tell you if the 3 parameters you have chosen add up to a technically correct exposed image.
Keep an eye on the scale bottom left on the top LCD; the scale can also be found in the bottom of the viewfinder. If the little dot on the scale is to the left of the middle, your image is under exposed and to the right the opposite. If you are more than 3 stops over- or under exposed, the camera will show this with a little arrow pointing out of the scale in the relevant direction.
All the best with shooting in manual exposure mode!
