Another GH2 Question.....Exposure

[Tim Akin]

Ok, in "m" mode (in exposure mode in the menu) you have control of aperture and shutter.

When in "s" mode you have control of shutter and exposure ( I guess its exposure, the little meter that goes from -3 to +3 or somthing like that)

What happens to exposure setting when in "m" mode?

Thanks
Tim

[Kevin McRoberts]

S is Shutter priority... meaning the camera will leave your shutter speed unchanged and auto-adjust aperture to achieve the desired exposure level you set - say, +1 overexposed, -1 underexposed, etc.

M is full manual, which means the camera will not touch aperture or shutter speed and could frankly care less what your desired exposure level is - it'll just do what you tell it.

[Tim Akin]

Thanks Kevin. I'll try to explain my question better.

The exposure meter that you raise or lower when in "s" mode.....what happens to that when in "m" mode? Why can you no longer control it (whatever "it" is)?

[Justin Molush]

Your asking the wrong question here...

The exposure control in that s setting is the method which the camera judges and bases other settings off of. You set the target exposure, you set the shutter speed, and the camera then changes the ISO and aperture to match the target exposure. Its a target for the camera to shoot for.

When you are in manual... you are releasing all automatic controls so the exposure meter is irrelevant... its full manual and the camera controls nothing.

[Tim Akin]

Ok.. I think I get it now. I'm a little hard headed.

Justin you said something I didn't know. In "s" mode the camera will change the iso too, even though you have it set to say 400 and it says "iso 400" in the LCD?

[Kevin McRoberts]

It will only change the ISO if you set it to "auto ISO." Pegging it down to an ISO prevents it from changing.

[Patrick Janka]

When the camera is using AutoISO it will label it as such. It won't show you what ISO it's using.

[Tim Akin]

Ok..... that's good. I can see using "s" mode when mounted on the Merlin.......if it's not constantly changing the aperture.

[Patrick Janka]

It will change the aperture, especially if you're outdoors going from sunny to shady areas. However, if you're using a 3rd party lens with a physical aperture ring, it won't change it.

[Nick Gordon]

Originally Posted by Tim Akin

Thanks Kevin. I'll try to explain my question better.

The exposure meter that you raise or lower when in "s" mode.....what happens to that when in "m" mode? Why can you no longer control it (whatever "it" is)?

"It" is an indicator of exposure compensation - that is by how much the exposure has been adjusted over (+) or under (-) the exposure automatically calculated by the camera.

In "s", you set the shutter speed, and the camera calculates the exposure needed, and sets an aperture that will give the right exposure. You can use Exposure compensation to adjust up or down if you think that the camera might have got it wrong (which it does, sometimes). In "a", you set the aperture and the camera adjust shutter to fit. In "p", the camera sets both shutter and aperture.

In "m", you are setting shutter, aperture and ISO yourself, so there's no camera-calculated exposure to compensate for. Hence, you don't see the exposure compensation indicator.

[Jeff Harper]

Tim, as has been recommended to me, is to try S mode indoors, and manual outdoors. If you are in a time crunch and under the gun, and are new with the camera, and cannot miss a shot, just put it in P mode and let her fly.

P mode with auto ISO will pretty much never fail. Drawback, especially in a bright outdoor setting the camer will end up using a higher shutter speed than is good, but you will get your shot, period.

I've shot a bunch of weddings using several cameras in P mode, and the footage is quite good, particularly in church. For an outdoor wedding I shot in P mode I got everything, which is more important than anything, and the images overall were acceptable, at the least. But using proper shutter speed, etc they would have come out better where there was movement involved. For wide shots from the rear it almost doesn't matter much.

Now that I'm more comfortable and not quite so freaked out all the time running four of these at a time, (still very stressful) I run S mode indoors and manual outdoors, but STILL run P mode in a pinch. It is easy during a wedding to freak out with them. Stories of videographers missing shots because they are fiddling with settings are rampant, and you look like an idiot at the same time.

Oh, and if you're going to shoot outdoors, have a ND filter handy. You can get by without it, but you really should have one. Again for run and gun, like when they come out of the church if you don't have time to throw it on, forget it, just run in P mode and get the shot.

Don't fall into the trap of trying to achieve perfection with these cameras when starting out. Use the proper/best practice of Shutter or manual mode for indoors, full manual outdoors when you CAN, but when you're under pressure and don't have time to make adjustments, especially at first, just use P mode with auto ISO. You can get through an entire day with it if need be.

[Tim Akin]

Thanks Jeff, very valuable info!

Our next wedding is not until the first of Oct, so I will have a little more time to get to know the GH2. My plan is to hire a second shooter to run the FX and I will be on the GH2, so if i screw up bad I'll have a backup.

Be sure to let us know on that new lens how it does in low light compared to the 20mm.

[Jeff Harper]

Hey Tim, I can tell you the diff between F/1.7 isn't much, as we all know, and this lens is so sharp I have absolutely no concerns. Faster is always better, of course, but at 12mm, F/2.0 on the GH2 is still very fast. I've been using a F/2.8 zoom to great effect, and so this lens will be a walk in the park for sure.

I received a Olympus 12-60mm F/2.8 -4.0 today and around the house it is phenomenal, I love it. I shot some quick exterior shots of a church I needed and the lens seems as sharp as the 12mm F/2.0. Olympus really makes great lenses. I'm sold on them.

[Tim Akin]

So do you think you will still find a need for the pancake?

[Jeff Harper]

Absolutely, I need both. The12mm will be too wide on some occasions, and the 20mm not wide enough. With my new 12mm-60mm I have a primary lens that covers both ranges and more, which is what I needed most. I already had (have) a Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 (great lens) but it wasn't wide enough for much of the time.

Tim, you can buya gh1 for $400, slap the 20mm on it and put it in the back at leave it alone for a wide shot from the rear of church, or as a unattended b cam for reception. Put it up high on a tripd, focus it on the dance floor and close the lcd screen to save battery power and hit record and let it go for almost 1.5 hours uninterrupted. That's what I do. Worth it's weight in gold. Then get another lens for your GH2 and you'll have three great cams on the cheap, you'll have every important angle covered. Just a thought.