Manual Mode

[BEE2]

Hi,  I am enrolled in a photography course and for homework this week we are to take some photos using the manual mode. The settings required are as follows:

Shutter speed 1/125

ISO 200 for outdoors and ISO 800 for indoors

I am to adjust the aperture so that the meter is balanced or 0.

I can't seem to be able to set my aperture so that the meter reads 0.

Looking forward to any helpful hints anyone would like to offer.  

Bee

[BEE2]

I should have mentioned my camera is a Canon EOS Rebel T6 and it was just delivered today so maybe I didn't set my settings correct?

Bee

[kvbarkley]

You need to press down the Av button on the back to adust the Aperture.

[Waddizzle]

---

@kvbarkley wrote:

You need to press down the Av button on the back to adust the Aperture.

---

... and then turn the Main Dial, followed by pressing <SET> when you have dialed your desired aperture value.

[ScottyP]

Hi,

how is it not balancing at zero?  Is it both above zero and below zero, and you are having trouble getting it just right?  If so it just takes some fiddling. Make sure you are focusing on something uniformly bright and not something with bright things and dark things. I would use evaluative metering so the camera is looking at the whole scene not spot metering where it is

metering just for what is in the very center at the moment.

If it is staying just one or the other - always overexposed or always underexposed

- then either you are making some error in settings or you are in a place too dark for the lens to give you a correct exposure.  

Settings.  

Be sure you are remembering that higher f/numbers give less light, not more light. 

Make sure you don't have any exposure compensation dialed in. That could throw you off. 

If you still have issues maybe reset all settings to default in the MENU tabs.  It is a brand new camera but maybe someone was playing with settings before you got it. 

Ambient lighting. 

If your problem is you are getting underexposures indoors at ISO 800 then you probably are in too dimly lit a location for your kit lens.  Your biggest aperture is f/3.5 to f/5.6 on a kit lens, which can be very limiting indoors. I often have to shoot at higher than ISO 800 indoors, even using a brighter f/2.8 lens or even a super bright f/1.4 prime.  Bend the rules a bit and find a very bright indoor location and you should be ok. 

[BEE2]

Hi Scott;

I took your advice on focusing on something uniformly bright and it worked.  I think it may have been too dark where I was attempting to photo. 

I have another question, my flash doesn't "automatically" pop up when needed.  Can you provide advice on what I should have my settings on?

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

---

@BEE2 wrote:

Hi Scott;

I took your advice on focusing on something uniformly bright and it worked.  I think it may have been too dark where I was attempting to photo. 

I have another question, my flash doesn't "automatically" pop up when needed.  Can you provide advice on what I should have my settings on?

---

What camera mode are you using?  Try using the Green [A] shooting mode.

The built-in flash will only automatically pop up, as needed, when you are using certain the Basic shooting modes.  You can always manually activate the flash by pressing the lightning button on the top of the camera, or by selecting the lightning icon in the Quick Setting screen.

[BEE2]

Hi Waddzle, your advice worked.  thank you for your reply.