Exposure setting in manual 60D

[Smashley]

I recently recieved a 60D and was trying to shoot in manual the other day. However, when I press half way down on the shutter button, my exposure automatically jumps down to -3. When I take the photo it obviously is way under exposed and black. But if I pop up the flash, it will take the photo at the normal exposure. Is there a setting that I need to change somewhere?

Thanks.

[ScottyP]

Hi,

You may not be fully familiar with what "Manual" means on a dslr.
In M mode the camera is not helping you achieve a correct exposure. You must manipulate the 3 variables of the exposure triangle to get the right amount (not too much or too little) of light onto the sensor to record an image properly.

The 3 variables are time (shutter speed), opening size (aperture/f-number) and sensitivity (ISO). Google for the "exposure triangle" and learn how to do this. In your case with an under exposure you need to slow down the shutter and/or widen the aperture or increase ISO.

The reason it works when you use flash is because the flash is set to ETTL mode and it is therefore doing its best to compensate for the bad under exposure.

Don't start out in manual. Start in Tv or Av once you have learned the triangle. There are free tutorial videos by the hundreds, and even ones specifically for the 60d

Good luck!

[Skirball]

+1 to everything that Scotty said, except that I'll add:  I recommend playing around in manual a little bit, even if it's over your head for now.  Shoot an inanimate object, indoors in good light.  It's not going anywhere, and digital photos are free.  It's a good learning experience, one that a lot of people never do because they get so comfortable in auto.   Turn your camera back to Av when you shoot something 'serious' until you master manual, but I think it's great to play around with and learn the triangle, depth of field, and shutter speed limits for handholding.

[Smashley]

Thank you to the both of you. I really like shooting in Av but never felt comfortable enough to venture out to manual. With all of your suggestions, I will give them all a try. 

[hsbn]

On DSLR you have basically 3 modes: fully automatic (you don't have to set anything, the camera will do it for you), semi-automatic (you set a certian vaule, the camera figure out the rest), and fully manual (the camera will use whatever you set it to).

Thus, when you're using Manual mode and set everything so that the photo underexpose, it will come out underexpose and the camera will not do anything to change it.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Smashley wrote:
I recently recieved a 60D and was trying to shoot in manual the other day. However, when I press half way down on the shutter button, my exposure automatically jumps down to -3. When I take the photo it obviously is way under exposed and black. But if I pop up the flash, it will take the photo at the normal exposure. Is there a setting that I need to change somewhere?

Thanks.

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It sounds as though you have your exposure compensation set to -3 stops. Flash uses a separate exposure compensation setting, which would explain why your flash exposures are normal.

[Skirball]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@Smashley wrote:
I recently recieved a 60D and was trying to shoot in manual the other day. However, when I press half way down on the shutter button, my exposure automatically jumps down to -3. When I take the photo it obviously is way under exposed and black. But if I pop up the flash, it will take the photo at the normal exposure. Is there a setting that I need to change somewhere?

Thanks.

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It sounds as though you have your exposure compensation set to -3 stops. Flash uses a separate exposure compensation setting, which would explain why your flash exposures are normal.

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There isn't an exposure compensation in manual.  The meter just tells you where the exposure will be as a visual reference for shooting in manual.  If it's anywhere below 3 stops it just blinks at the -3 eV hash mark.