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idea: manual exposure simplified

27.Jan 2009 |

recently it occured to me.. most of the time i use pretty much the same way to expose manually. and special settings are very rare. seems like most of the photographers do the same. but still they use manual exposure while they just mimic the behaviour of program mode. mh, makes you think why.

well, manual exposure lets you control the amount of incoming light, while all the automatic modes react to reflected light. manual exposure is indifferent to black or white objects, automatic isnt.

and the idea?

one control – a wheel or up/down buttons – to set the manual exposure just like any automatic exposure would do.

include all exposure parameters: time, aperture and iso. one wheelclick or buttonpress is equivalent to a change of a third of a stop. let the camera choose the change of parameters. the photographer can concentrate on overall light levels. start with low iso, high shutter speed, small aperture. open up the aperture, then raise the time to a reasonable level, only then go up with the iso. with a simplified user interface like this, even small pocket cameras would be able to have a usable manual exposure mode.

of course.. fully equipped cameras should still have the regular manual exposure. but i wouldnt mind my SLRs to have this, too. after all it would let me think in exposure values and absolute light levels again.

so.. which camera manufacturer will be the first to incorporate this? and when?