EOS R6 Mark II How to Use Exposure Compensation

[Prior83]

Hey,

I've recently bought the R6 Mark II and have been trying to work our how to use the exposure compensation. Everything I've ready says to use the dial on the back of camera. However, this alters my aperture. Can anyone help?

Mark

[kvbarkley]

What mode are you in?

It has to vary *something* to vary the exposure, what do you want it to vary?

[Tronhard]

Hi and welcome to the forum:

Exposure compensation is designed to overcome the situation where the sensor is metering a scene that has dynamic range issues: such as very white subjects, very dark subjects, or scenes with a lot of contrast.

The first thing to establish is what mode you are shooting in please.  It is best used in one of the creative modes: Av, Tv or M.   Since you seem to want to keep the aperture, then switch modes to Av - which allows you to define the aperture and the camera will adjust with the shutter speed and/or ISO (if that is set to Auto ISO).

The more detail you can provide as to what your settings are, and what types of images you are shooting, the more specific we can make our advice.

I have two video links for you: 
1st is a general tutorial on the R6II: 
Canon R6 Mark ii Tutorial Training Video - R6ii Users Guide Set Up - Made for Beginners (youtube.com...
2nd a short primer on exposure compensation:
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION DEMYSTIFIED! (youtube.com)

[Prior83]

Thanks for your message. I have been shooting in manual mode. I was watching a video on YouTube showing a photographer that, rather than altering the aperture, sutter speed or ISO just used exposure compensation. I'm not sure if I've misunderstood this or not as in the pasted u have always used one of the three options above to create the shot I've wanted. 

[stevet1]

Prior83,

Your exposure consists of three elements: your aperture, your shutter speed, and you ISO.

Any time you are "compensating", you are altering one or more of those three elements.

Depending on what shooting mode you are in: Av (aperture priority), Tv (shutter priority), or M *Manual), turning your main dial will alter or change the element you have prioritized.

In Av mode, it will change your aperture. In Tv mode, it will change your shutter speed.

If you have your ISO set to a certain level, you'd have to change that with a separate button. If you have ISO set to Auto, "compensating" nay change that as well in the Av or Tv modes

If you are in Manual and your ISO is set to Auto, turning the main dial to "compensate" will change your ISO

On my T8i camera, if I am in Manual, and the ISO is fixed at a certain number, the main dial will change the shutter speed, and the dial on the back will change the aperture.

Hope this helps.

Steve Thomas.

[Tronhard]

If you want to be more precise on your exposure, then be more precise with your metering.   The camera's metering system is set to Evaluative, which considers most of the viewing area and balances out the dynamic range across it.  That does not work for many situations, especially those involving large contrasts between subjects and their environments.

I personally avoid using the EC dial, it takes to long for the subjects I shoot and is, IMHO, somewhat clumsy.   I set my exposure to single centre point.   I also shoot single centre point Back Button Focus and animal/human eye tracking as required.  The focus is taken off the shutter and applied (it already is) to the AF-On button, and metering is applied via the * button.

My procedure is:

1. Place the centre metering point on an area of mid-reflectance and tap the * button to lock it.
2. Place the centre focus point on the subject's eye and tap (to lock) the AF-ON or hold to follow in servo mode -tracking follows in face/eye detect 
3. Recompose and use the shutter button to take the photo

It might sound complex but it is actually extremely fast and accurate.

This allows me to get shots very quickly and reliably in such challenging situations as:
EOS 5DsR, EF100-400II@321mm, f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO-400  The Thinker - R6, RF 200-800@800mm, f/9, 1/1000sec, ISO-500

EOS R5, RF200-800@800, f/9, 1/800sec, ISO-1000

[Prior83]

Thsbk you so much, that's extremely helpful and great advice. Great shots too👍🏼