Nailing Exposure Perfectly Every Time in Video and Photography

How to get PERFECT exposure every video and photography shot every time using 3 different methods- grey card ( gray card) color chart, histograms, camera exposure meter and colored paper. These are what I use to get proper exposure for camera lighting in my videos especially when using available light or constant LED lighting while vlogging both indoors and outdoors for vlogs and portrait photography or even product and cooking or food photography without doing any post processing or editing! Forget RAW. Get it right immediately when shooting jpegs.
Technically gray cards are 18% reflectivity on a logarithmic curve, but our eyes and histograms see it as half way (50% from left to right visually), not at 18% or 1/5 from the left. So when I say "50%" I simply mean perceptually on a histogram. I try to explain things that normal people can understand but nerds always get worked up when I do.
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[@highlandphotography6231]

Thanks for the video. You are absolutely correct. I'm a pro shooting for 37 years. When I was doing film photography even my lab tech told me "how do you get all your images within 1/2 stop on your exposures". That was with Kodak 160, 400 and 1000 Portra film. 'Cause I used a meter for some and flash equipment I knew would give me that. My photographs I delivered to my clients all looked the same. Exposure and color and density. Consistency throughout. My studio images too. When I went digital in 2005 I thought it would be different. Not so. Exposure was even more important. Your lesson today is dead on. Thanks for the very pertinent lesson.

[@gohuntingfishingtv]

Markus, I know you don’t need to do this channel, that’s why I appreciate you.

[@kulilipan4250]

Markus is leaving the world his wisdom and he will be immortalized 🔥

[@espinza]

This is gold. You’re a national treasure my dude. Three part when you say “spend a few minutes with this” is such an under statement.

[@dominicwroblewski5832]

Old geezer here who remembers the old Kodak 18% gray cards that were always consistent. FOr the last 3 years I have only used the in camera light meter on overcast days. For sunny days I went back to the old sunny 16 rule and have not looked back. It works. I have refined it to take into account the seasons. After the fall equinox, during the winter, and before the spring equinox it becomes the sunny 11 rule.as during that time the sun is further south on the horizon and therefore the light travels through more of the atmosphere. If you don't have a gray card there is always green grass which is close to 18% gray in the summer. When the grass is dormant in winter close down a stop and you are good. I always have my camera se to the sunny 16 / 11 rule, take a test shot anyway, and pat myself on the back for getting a good exposure.

[@MarkusPix]

Technically it's 18% reflectivity on a logarithmic curve, but our eyes and histograms see it as half way (50% from left to right visually), not at 18% or 1/5 from the left. So when I say "50%" I simply mean perceptually on a histogram. I try to explain things that normal people can understand but nerds always get worked up when I do.

[@lonceyswildcairns333]

Cheers so much to you both 😊❤

[@clintjohnson5914]

NERDS!!! GEEZERS!! UNITE!! I went looking for my Minolta spotmeter F last year.. closet archeology at it's finest. I found it with a couple of old scratched up Kodak 18% cards.. Wow--Waves of memories of old girlfriends holding the cards --squinting in the sun at Craters of the Moon , Idaho and all over the west. I have decided to go Panasonic Lumix for the most part because M4/3 to full frame they meter and color balance very close.. saves sooo much work.

[@canturgan]

I knew a wedding photographer who's technique was using 'P' mode. He didn't understand technical stuff but he had a good eye and amazingly, got results and earned a living.

[@dangilmore9724]

I still use old hand held light meters that give you the EV numbers so you can get every useful combination of aperture and shutter.

[@chrishollingsworth7110]

I was culling a family session while watching your exposure video. I feel guilty, I was outside in the shade but my lighting was cloud, then no cloud. I just dug out my gray card and tested my cameras like you said. I shamelessly spend too much time in post fixing my exposure. Honestly taking a few more seconds to get it right would save me a ton of time in the long run! Thanks Marcus again for dumbing exposure down and making me realize it's not complicated. :)

[@thissidetowardscreen4553]

Thanks Markus for the lesson! Great tip!

[@BrianTheCameraGuy]

Thank you Markus. These types of tips save so much time!!

[@danelsiarts_254]

Keep em coming

[@FrancisTing-iw8gq]

Huge 'Thank you!' for this.

[@JulesFox]

Thank you so much for all your creative inspiration and tutorials. We really appreciate it Markus.

[@1970fabby]

Thank you for sharing all your knowledge. I am new at this and did not understand , I will watch it again.

[@dennis1954]

Thank you Markus for the exposure tips.

[@gregelgie]

Great resource that I hope many will watch and use.

[@DRobertson725]

Awesome info Markus thanks for helping us out.

[@SNAPVegan]

Best advice EVER!

[@markattardo]

Great advice and how to!!

[@andypate3820]

Awesome info, thank you so much!

[@neilwheel]

Thank you Markus, this is fantastic advice! 👏👏👏👏👏

[@n8iws484]

I'm so used to my 35 mm film cameras, never thought about it with my digitals. I always thought my digitals were automatic and good enough. Now I can take the time and verify before. Thanks Markus.

[@LuisCruz-yg6rs]

This was a super useful piece of content

[@AudioVideo_IT]

Super easy and reliable tip, thanks!

[@user-pj1xx4yw4q]

Thank you Marcus! 😊

[@colin-4794]

Top man for practical info, thank you so much Markus 👌🌟

[@RealpeopleStudio]

You are great. Always to the point, simple and clear info that everyone can actually use. Thank you!

[@gc2161]

You've got to appreciate the craftmanship here.

[@TheChefBlog]

Excellent!!!! Thanks Markus!!

[@savemarinwood6678]

Excellent advice. Really helps me understand the concept.

[@thenosid951]

what I did on our lumix GH5 is that I set up a zebra at 75% and I expose that for the skin of my subject, given the subject is white. I might put a zebra at 50% for a black person. I also use the HLG color profil to get HDR but keep SDR compatibility. That way, I dont have to convert anything in post, I have my HDR video compatible with every screen.

[@user-hk7iy2vt5y]

Thank you for this information. I have similar settings for my GH5 as well. Very capable camera.

[@RealHomeRecording]

Palms. I have been using the palm trick for years. Whether it's my own or my subject's. No matter the race, the shade of palms (and feet bottoms for that matter) are usually perfect for IRE 70/75 (zebra stripes). Good times!

[@thenosid951]

@@RealHomeRecording I will use that if I have a more diverse cast.

[@mikeendsley8453]

This has helped me so much. I'm new to video and setting exposure has been something that I don't have a lot of confidence with. I'll be using this to learn and improve!

[@hingng9772]

oh! Thank you. I try

[@TheVideoSteve]

I always enjoy your videos. Very informative.

[@StarAccount-km1rt]

Big Big help! Thanks for sharing your knowledge Markus.

[@olafschermann1592]

Thank you for all these methods

[@nicedward7544]

I'm glad I started practicing correct exposure and WB in camera when I started. It helped a ton that I shot film before digital cameras existed lol. It makes everything so much easier once you get into the routine and it's just second nature. I hate messing with photos my wife takes sometimes.

[@SIBIRIAKoriginal]

7:00 No, Markus. A nerd would make an excel spreadsheet 😂

[@paristo]

Excel? That is for office rats... Nerds would use SC via command line, using ssh remotely connecting to the computer with their smartphone...

[@Marshallchandra]

Nah the paper is more authentic 😂

[@LeopoldoManuelRamirezMena]

... Organic home made pper is more authentic... 😂😂😂😂

[@Twobarpsi]

I love using pencil and paper. Never the phone.

[@StevenGrantCaron-Stills]

thanks for all your hard work making these videos. it is much appreciated. i agree 100% with most all of your philosophy for photography. right in the camera is where it is at.

[@davide36923]

Thank you so much Markus. You are the Man.

[@jamesryan8215]

Always great stuff. Since watching your stuff I have started doing a lot more testing with my equipment. It's interesting what you can learn

[@agentbey]

Markux you have exposed us to some fascinating knowledge.

[@BrendonCarr]

I loved this.

[@tedl1441]

Superb info. Thanks a million.

[@SuchetB]

This is amazing - thank you so much for this ☀️🎥⛩

[@dots560]

Thank you sir for these nifty tips.

[@ggarciacota]

Great video as always Markus. Thank you for your passion on sharing your knowledge and obsession with us . I love nerd stuff hehe. I’ll do this for now on and in testing my different lenses too.

[@mac19pm]

thank you good video. this was so helpful.

[@fraaz_k]

the new intro is pretty neat!

[@WorldMoneyWins]

Great job Markus. 🙂

[@BoReynolds]

This is awesome! Thank you buddy! My Canon R10 shows up on Wednesday.

[@Ahazzard39]

Thanks so much Mark!

[@ratan19841]

Learnt a lot Sir🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@tim10ac97]

Thanks Markus. Very informative and I struggle between my cameras to nail white balance.

[@juzzonmorris]

I never thought to check. Thank you so much👊🏿🔥🔥🔥

[@Leonx584]

Thank you Marcus 👍

[@the1andonly]

This is great advice. I think most of us eyeball it and end up fixing it later. Thanks for this.

[@GHOST-RADIO-NH]

I would love a full episode on lenses alone. Thanks for being a great human Markus.

[@hellopsp180]

Markus getting Scientific Amazing !!!

[@Janggut40]

Thank you markus

[@justbecause360]

Awesome! Thank you. I would love to see a video of your procedures prior to a shoot when you arrive at a location.

[@RicanStudio]

There are a few large issues not mentioned. Cameras map the image to rec 709, meaning if they capture say 14 stops of DR it’s remapped onto 10 stops. How that range of light and dark is remapped differs depending on the profile used. One profile might favor highlights, one shadows, etc. So on the same camera, the gray could land at a variety of values. Also, if you are always the subject of the shot, your skin tone is more important to assign a zebra value than the grey card. Also, the same subject, be it skin or a grey card,may have different exposure values depending on the mood of the scene, a dark dinner scene may not have the same value as an outdoor scene, and that’s appropriate.

[@RicanStudio]

The solution is to know for your camera in your profile in your scene where the card or skin etc should be on the histogram or other exposure tools… I don’t know that there is an easy solution to this beyond some general principles as expressed in something like the zone system, apart from that one hedges in different directions depending on the creative look and the scene or one uses a monitor to check in real time.

[@shanec4441]

I like all the nerdy stuff. I nerd out on it. :)

[@briandipierro8865]

Thanks for the tips in all these videos! I brought my camera to a live show thing last weekend and could only really trust my histogram, but I do want to get some grey cards eventually! Though it was more of a run and gun thing anyway.

[@vrvretro]

Hey Markus, this helps so much! My question might be a video for tips/gadgets and wrist positioning for holding any camera more steady for video, with something to grip, provided there's a screw mount port on the device. I've debated gimbals although those are mostly for phones, and a cage grip but those might be bigger than I want to hold if I'm not mounting a light. You always cut through the crap and get to the point. Thanks for all the videos.

[@onnie1968]

Thank you Markus wb and now exposure, as a newbie it really helps. Thanx for sharing.

[@robertschneider2189]

The other photo sites try to sell me things. What I like about your site is you help me to take better pictures and bypass a lot of post. Thank you.

[@RastaHenkie]

Thanks for this👍

[@3dtrip870]

Great video!

[@Deminimis2]

Thanks Markus. I have always wondered about this but did not have many cameras.

[@ManinaGarage]

Super wicked, You ROCK! 🤘😎

[@allanimalstaxi]

Hey great video Markus. I asked a few months ago to ddo a review on a Sony AX700 Handy. And you did a great on it and its more expensive Professional model. I just wanted to thank you for taking your time and money to do that review. I did learn a heck of a lot from it. But, I did not have the money at the time to buy the $2,500.00 camera, I went with this one. What amazes me is that you can zoom at out 250 times by changing the settings on the zoom on these cameras. I saw it on KZbin and had to have it, anyways, thanks again. Rich

[@keysersmoze]

Thanks Markus, this is a good technical tips video. I am saving it to my video production list. PS I bought your film on DVD. Haven't watched yet.

[@runnerone5358]

Great info Markus

[@StevenGrantCaron-Stills]

thats is kinda brilliant the zebra setting with the white balance card

[@Elvis_Pond5]

Great video 👌

[@kennethnielsen3864]

Thanks for sharing.

[@lonceyswildcairns333]

Cheers so much for not having your viewers look back and wish that we knew this from the beginning 😊❤

[@MileyonDisney]

Thanks!

[@cesarebonazza]

I have found best Results using Whibal G7 white balance card general use. For my raw file I use calibrite passport 2 Usually for all my still work with my canon cameras. I like your passion thank you.

[@ClearComplexity]

My photojournalism work has me in rural villages, forests, etc. instead of studio, so I've dialed in blinkies or false colors on my Olympus and Sigma gear along with just learning over time with spot metering what values I want for different skin tones in different lighting situations. Combining both I'm usually pretty quick to get a solid image, and if I have to go in later, I have both file types saved. Depending on the purpose of the image, I may want to do effectively what amounts to dodge/burn work with masks, in which case the raw file is the better start. Even then I don't myself using the jpeg I know I set everything right for to start with as the reference to quickly set the raw back to for contrast and other values.

[@DanielNorling2.0]

Yes I do.

[@michaelgriffin1179]

Awesome freakin video,It helps me out a lot !!

[@samphelps856]

Thank you

[@DanielCrist]

Wow, I had no idea that so many quality cameras could have such different interpretations as to what 50% grey is. Also that lengthy comparison study you did where you meticulously compiled all the data down on paper with all the different factors in different rows and stuff is definitely something I have done a lot of and will likely do a lot more of. I think it's probably a big part of what has made me successful in business, and for you, likely created lots of easy to recall days nets for photography. I can't help but record numbers and data and look for patterns and such. Anyway, thanks so much for sharing all the details, tips, and advice on a topic that we all need to focus on.

[@MuhammadMundir]

great

[@digitaldevigner4080]

I have been frustrated with gray cards and now I know it’s not just me. I have a few different ones and they are all over the map in terms of gray value. Not to mention now thanks to Markus we can see a comparison of just how much each camera interprets middle gray. Another killer video and concept. Make our own gray cards for our cameras. Wow! Just think how much money we could all save if we just listen to Markus.

[@samuelhodges3119]

I never heard about zebras. I need to research that and get a clear understanding of what they are and how to use that feature. I learned something about setting the right exposure. See I thought all gray cards were created equal. Guess not. Now I have to start testing and listing my cameras with the correct gray card exposure. Thanks, again Markus for the lesson. I'm going to start shooting in JPEG. I need to save space on my computer anyway.

[@EugenBrinzoiu]

Thank you ❤

[@koolhand12]

Thanks Markus...stellar! Can you do a video on packing your expensive gear for international airline travel that can't be carried on?

[@bullettin]

If it is expensive and you want it to get to the destination, that usually means carry it on or ship it. Checking expensive items under the plane is much more likely to see them disappear. You might consider renting larger items on location.

[@Jeremy_Akes]

For anyone using their grey white balance card target card for exposure (the first option with the target in the middle) - I found dead center of the histogram to be 2/3 a stop underexposed on my camera . So if you’re using a flash just take test shots until you get a shot with the histogram in the middle. Drag it in whatever you’re using for post processing to where it looks exposed right. For me it was adding 2/3 stop. So now I know I just need a picture with the middle of the histogram, then crank up my flash 2/3 a stop additional. So if 1/8 power is the middle of the histogram and I know that gives me 2/3 stop underexposure I would set to 1/8 and 2/3 to have the correct exposure. Found this to be easier than figuring out what 60 percent of the histogram is or whatever.

[@Jimmy_Cavallo]

I'm going to read this again more slowly to follow what you are saying

[@Jeremy_Akes]

@@Jimmy_Cavallo lol it makes sense to me but if I can be helpful just let me know.

[@jerran_duty]

lol you mean gear isn’t the only camera content that’s available??? I love this stuff

[@209lapko]

Brilliant ✌️

[@jimpurcell]

Most interesting

[@DoughboyGod]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@leunam3434]

Very educational. I no longer need my Minolta light meter.

[@ared18t]

Something I used to do with my camera was use spot meter on the brightest part of the location and the darkest part of the location. I aim for skies to be 1- 2 stops above and shadows to be no more than 2 and 1/2 stops below.

[@gregrok]

Its strongly depends of profile we use. Middle grey are in diffrent point for ex rec 709 vs slog3 gamma, so be aware what U use and measure. Not for camera but for camera with certain profile. BTW MarkusPix U are one and only :-) Cheers

[@MaiElizabeth]

For me, editing a photo is not a chore but something I love to do because I can learn new things. Not necessarily RAW photos. Even a JPEG photo, I love to edit them for fun and for exploring new things.

[@KankukanAiki]

As always a genius move... never imagined it.. cool... and let me say it.. how can your videos be so awesome with a 1080p while many with 4k are so bad? Incredible..

[@MarkusPix]

The RX100vii is super good at 1080 which is why its my fav camera. Also make sure you have good lighting

[@KankukanAiki]

@@MarkusPix Yes I am following you every year and I learned a lot from you. Still I do not have your abilities or performance. Again.. thank you for teaching us how to be a better KZbinrs!

[@bullettin]

@@KankukanAiki Good lighting is a great equalizer between grades of camera. Having enough light hitting the sensor makes a difference. Also, a higher resolution sensor typically means each photosite is smaller than a lower resolution sensor of the same overall size, so it might take a little more light to make something look good.

[@KankukanAiki]

You are right.. still it is awesome how he makes these videos. I have a good average channel with some good lightning but never at his level.. @@bullettin

[@Finite-Tuning]

I'm a bum, I rely on auto exposure especially outdoors where my scenes are dynamic. I trust the auto exposure from my G9, but auto focus is different story. The few times I do manually expose I've always tried to eliminate clipping/zebras. But I'll try your method next time. Cheers 🍻

[@Razor2048]

While raw has a great deal of flexibility, it is not a replacement for getting exposure right. The main benefit of raw is more flexibility to edit, though, there are exceptions (though not really common in the cinema industry since they specialize in controlling the lighting meticulously, but if you can't exercise significant control over the lighting, then a common tactic is to leverage the exposure latitude of the sensor and raw files, or at least Log video files. For example, I have worked on footage where while the file can be pushed 5 stops in post, the use of the on-sensor phase detect components meant that there would be banding with significant shadow recovery, and temporal noise reduction cannot remove that, only sample based noise reduction can, but that wreaks havoc on details. On the other hand, if the camera being used has 2.5 stops of highlight recovery, then you can expose to the right by 1.75 stops and then make corrections in post, and thus avoid lifting the shadows to a point where banding becomes visible. Overall, is done right, you can expand how many challenging situations that you can use the camera in.