1D X Tips and Tricks

[Joel Eade]

I shoot manual almost all the time and I tend to adjust shutter speed and/or f-stop as a means of exposure compensation. The wheels are placed so that you can use your right thumb and index finger to adjust on-the-fly very quickly. I tend not to use auto ISO because I am frequently adding or subtracting 1 or more stops from the meter reading based on what I am shooting. With birds it is frequently adding 1-2 stops of light by adjusting shutter speed or f-stop or both. If I find the shutter speed is too slow then I increase the ISO (which also can be done with index finger and thumb while still looking through the viewfinder).

Since I have become used to fully manual and can adjust things quickly as it is now I don't know if I would use AE lock in manual mode. It seems like it would be a combination of both shutter and aperture priority modes, or a fully automatic mode once you set the exposure.

[Colin500]

Since I have become used to fully manual and can adjust things quickly as it is now I don't know if I would use AE lock in manual mode. It seems like it would be a combination of both shutter and aperture priority modes, or a fully automatic mode once you set the exposure.

"A combination of both shutter and aperture priority modes"?

I'm not quite sure whether you are just giving this feature a different formulation, or whether I didn't explain the feature well enough for it to be fully understood.

It's just a shortcut that, for every click of one wheel in one direction, automatically does a click of the other wheel in the other direction, so that you keep the same exposure...

[neuroanatomist]

It's just a shortcut that, for every click of one wheel in one direction, automatically does a click of the other wheel in the other direction, so that you keep the same exposure...

That sounds an awful lot like...P Mode. In P mode, rotating the main dial reciprocally adjusts shutter speed and aperture.

You could assign mode change to M.Fn, and restrict modes to just M and P, and that would get you there (as a 'bonus' you get EC with the quick dial in P).

[Colin500]

That sounds an awful lot like...P Mode. In P mode, rotating the main dial reciprocally adjusts shutter speed and aperture.

It does? Seems that I haven't used P-Mode in a while :-)

You could assign mode change to M.Fn, and restrict modes to just M and P, and that would get you there (as a 'bonus' you get EC with the quick dial in P).

I would still want the initial exposure to be selected manually, however when I switch from M to P the current exposure settings aren't copied, I'm back in automatic exposure land!

[peety3]

I would still want the initial exposure to be selected manually, however when I switch from M to P the current exposure settings aren't copied, I'm back in automatic exposure land!

Frankly, it's just too complicated for me. I think you need to decide if you want manual exposure or not. If you do, IT'S MANUAL. If not, IT'S (possibly SEMI-)AUTOMATIC. Of course AE is useless in M...unless you turn a wheel, the exposure is already locked.

How are you arriving at this initial manual exposure that you want to lock? Are you making a rough guess, then taking a shot, and reviewing it on the screen w/ histogram? Are you relying on the camera's meter and watching the triangle in the viewfinder? Honestly you might want to try P with exposure compensation, then spin the little wheel to adjust your aperture/shutter pair.

[neuroanatomist]

Honestly you might want to try P with exposure compensation, then spin the little wheel to adjust your aperture/shutter pair.

Good point, especially coupled with the 1-series capability to specify ranges (min/max) for shutter speed and aperture.

[Colin500]

How are you arriving at this initial manual exposure that you want to lock? Are you making a rough guess, then taking a shot, and reviewing it on the screen w/ histogram?

What I'm suggesting is not an automatic or semi-automatic exposure. I'm running around somewhere, shooting in M as usual. At some point I want to change the depth-of-field but the exposure I chose earlier and was shooting at was already correct. So when I change the aperture to change the dof I need to compensate by changing the exposure time. So I for every click of one wheel I need to click the other wheel, too. The EV-Lock, while engaged, would automatically perform this compensating change to the second wheel. No automatic exposure, it's still all M, it sounds like you are reading too much into this feature.

[peety3]

What I'm suggesting is not an automatic or semi-automatic exposure. I'm running around somewhere, shooting in M as usual. At some point I want to change the depth-of-field but the exposure I chose earlier and was shooting at was already correct. So when I change the aperture to change the dof I need to compensate by changing the exposure time. So I for every click of one wheel I need to click the other wheel, too. The EV-Lock, while engaged, would automatically perform this compensating change to the second wheel. No automatic exposure, it's still all M, it sounds like you are reading too much into this feature.

For the record, no, I'm not reading too much into this. I get it completely. I just don't understand the logic behind "give me full control of the camera, using the knobs at my disposal, across the three dimensions of the exposure triangle. Great, thanks. Now stop and give me a macro so I can turn one knob and not have to turn another knob, because I'm too lazy to do so myself after turning them just a moment ago." Further, I think it's a short-sighted assumption to think that the 327 1Dx customers who might want this would want the macro to only pair up aperture & shutter - some are going to want aperture & ISO as the mated pairing, and others are going to want shutter & ISO as the mated pairing. Now it's not so simple...