Steve'sDigicams

brianlasky · Sep 11, 2003, 8:31 AM

Anybody tell me how to use histogram info usefully on a S602?

djb · Sep 11, 2003, 4:01 PM

i'm not exactly sure but, if the graph peaks in the middle it's supposed to indicate proper exposure, if peaks to the left it's underexposed, and to the right it's overexposed. again, i think. is that what you needed?

dennis

voxmagna · Sep 12, 2003, 9:21 AM

I use it a lot, wished it was bigger and able to be on when shooting!

First there is no perfect histogram of brightness distribution that matches to all scenes. A sunset, fireworks or night scene will show a lot of bars from black to mid brightness and the pic could be perfectly exposed and artistically speaking correct.

The most useful feature is to warn of white clipping (burned out whites), particularly if shooting manual flash. I set my 602 to shot preview mode, quickly check the histogram then hit OK to save if I'm happy.

Most scenes will have some white present. It's a matter of skill and judgement of the small display to see if there are a lot of values at the very high white end. If there are, reduce exposure by a stop. On the other hand, you might accept some burnout on background sky for good exposure of main subject. In which case, understand why you are getting large peaks at white, displayed on the histogram.

If you want average looking non-artistic type pics which look ok when printed, aim to see the histogram showing most values in the centre of the mid range with less at black and white and adjust exposure to suit. But this is not exact! Pictures of bridesmaids in white dresses will have a high average white level content. VOX

Sep 11, 2003, 8:31 AM	#1
brianlasky Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1	S602 info button Anybody tell me how to use histogram info usefully on a S602?

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Sep 11, 2003, 4:01 PM	#2
djb Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 2,289	i'm not exactly sure but, if the graph peaks in the middle it's supposed to indicate proper exposure, if peaks to the left it's underexposed, and to the right it's overexposed. again, i think. is that what you needed? dennis

Sep 12, 2003, 9:21 AM	#3
voxmagna Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,162	I use it a lot, wished it was bigger and able to be on when shooting! First there is no perfect histogram of brightness distribution that matches to all scenes. A sunset, fireworks or night scene will show a lot of bars from black to mid brightness and the pic could be perfectly exposed and artistically speaking correct. The most useful feature is to warn of white clipping (burned out whites), particularly if shooting manual flash. I set my 602 to shot preview mode, quickly check the histogram then hit OK to save if I'm happy. Most scenes will have some white present. It's a matter of skill and judgement of the small display to see if there are a lot of values at the very high white end. If there are, reduce exposure by a stop. On the other hand, you might accept some burnout on background sky for good exposure of main subject. In which case, understand why you are getting large peaks at white, displayed on the histogram. If you want average looking non-artistic type pics which look ok when printed, aim to see the histogram showing most values in the centre of the mid range with less at black and white and adjust exposure to suit. But this is not exact! Pictures of bridesmaids in white dresses will have a high average white level content. VOX