Exposure Compensation

G

gvraj2005

New member
Recently bought a D 5100.Its Exposure compensation is working in 'P' and 'A' modes only. What could be the reason ? Is the Camera defective ?
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
Welcome to the site!

Just found this, maybe helpful? I believe the manual might also have this detail.

Nikon D5100 Camera Exposure - Full Review

Exposure Compensation. Exposure compensation on the Nikon D5100 is adjustable from -5 to +5 exposure equivalents (EV) in 1/3 or 1/2 EV step increments, and is controllable in Program, Aperture-priority, or Shutter-priority modes. Note that in Manual exposure mode, the EV button becomes a shift button that changes the function of the Command dial from controlling the shutter speed to changing the Aperture.
Click to expand...

Here is a thread from the site that might help also:
http://nikonites.com/d5100/10523-exposure-compensation-nikon-d5100.html
 
D

Dave_W

The Dude
gvraj2005 said:
Recently bought a D 5100.Its Exposure compensation is working in 'P' and 'A' modes only. What could be the reason ? Is the Camera defective ?
Click to expand...

Exposure compensation (EV) is a way you can increase or decrease the shutter speed while you're in modes other than "S" (shutter). So having EV in shutter mode would be a little redundant (or a lot redundant, I suppose) :D

And welcome to the board! Is this your first dSLR?
 
R

Rexer John

Senior Member
Dave_W said:
Exposure compensation (EV) is a way you can increase or decrease the shutter speed while you're in modes other than "S" (shutter). So having EV in shutter mode would be a little redundant (or a lot redundant, I suppose) :D
Click to expand...

Are you sure?
EV is Exposure Value. You can increase or decrease the value by up to plus or minus 5 stops in P,S or A modes.

If you are set to 1/100 in shutter priority, the aperture will set to get the correct exposure.
Set the EV higher or lower and the apperture will change to accept the new EV until the aperture reaches it's limit.
 
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D

Dave_W

The Dude
Yes, EV is unit of measurement of the exposure compensation function. It translates into longer or shorter shutter lengths. I'm not really sure what exposure comp does in "S" mode but in the end all you're doing is adjusting the shutter speeds. This is different from ISO compensation in which you're adjusting the ISO which is really just the sensitivity of the sensor.
 
R

Rexer John

Senior Member
Dave_W said:
I'm not really sure what exposure comp does in "S" mode but in the end all you're doing is adjusting the shutter speeds.
Click to expand...


In A mode, changing the EV alters the shutter speed.
In S mode, changing the EV alters the aperture.
In P mode both aperture and shutter speed can change.

It may not be very practical in S mode.
My point was EV compensation does work in shutter priority.
 
R

Rexer John

Senior Member
No problem Dave, I've just edited my earlier reply because I said it could be changed by plus or minus 2 stops, it's actually plus or minus 5.

In P mode the aperture will begin at widest by default but will start to close after the shutter speed has maxed out in bright conditions. So it does look like it's just adjusting the shutter speed until it reaches it's fastest speed.

I'm just a noob and bow to your greater knowledge, but us noobs do sometimes get it right , LOL.
 
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