Should flash compensation change exposure compensation on a Nikon D3200 in Aperture Priority?
Asked 1/12/2014
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On my Nikon D3200 in Aperture Priority mode, changing flash compensation sometimes appears to make the exposure compensation value change too. For example, I may have exposure compensation manually set to -2.0, then after adjusting flash compensation by only 0.3 EV, the exposure compensation reading seems to jump dramatically. Is this normal Nikon behavior, or should flash compensation and exposure compensation be independent settings?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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No. Exposure compensation (on a Nikon) affects both flash and ambient exposures. Flash exposure compensation affects the flash only (with the current exposure compensation value as a baseline for metering).
Your problem description indicates that the actual exposure compensation value is jumping, and not just that the exposure itself is off. (There can be a number of reasons why that might happen, the most likely of which is recomposing after metering.) The two controls are independent as far as setting the value goes, even if there is some interconnectedness as concerns the overall effect. If the EC number is changing, there's a problem.
Originally by user2719. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2719
12y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No. On a Nikon, exposure compensation and flash compensation are separate controls.
- Exposure compensation affects the overall metering target, including ambient exposure and, on Nikon systems, flash exposure as part of the baseline.
- Flash compensation adjusts the flash output only.
So while the final exposure result can be interconnected, changing flash compensation should not automatically change the actual exposure compensation setting value. If the EC number itself is jumping from something like -2.0 to +5.0 when you only change flash compensation slightly, that is not normal behavior.
One possible source of confusion is metering changing after recomposing, which can alter the camera’s suggested exposure, but that is different from the compensation setting itself changing. If the displayed EC value is truly changing on its own, that points to a problem rather than a standard feature.
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