Bob Koure
1 min readMar 8, 2022

--

For anyone "chimping" to check exposure.

There is only an approximate relationship between the picture you see on the back of your camera and the exposure you just took. Turn on the RGB histograms and look at that panel. If any of the color graphs appears to be crawling up the right wall, you've overexposed something - and there's no fixing overexposures, so it's time to try again. On the other hand, if there's a gap between that rightmost wall and the top of your graphs, you've got some room (so long as you're shooting raw) to get more scene dynamic range into your exposure.

Also check composition. I leave my cameras rear panels in greyscale so I can judge that without the distraction of colors.

For both mirrorless and mirrored cameras, zoom in to check for blur. Easy enough to do on tripod beforehand, but if you shot handheld...

Nikon DSLR trivia: when you zoom in on the back panel, the RGB histograms will change to reflect just what's in view. Useful for seeing whether you've blown say, blue on that amazing iris. No idea what other cameras do this.

--

--

Bob Koure
Bob Koure

Written by Bob Koure

Retired software architect, statistical analyst, hotel mgr, bike racer, distance swimmer. Photographer. Amateur historian. Avid reader. Home cook. Never-FBer

Responses (1)