emulate autoexposure hold button on older cameras (or ae in m-mode)

Started by moonlite, September 27, 2014, 04:00:24 PM

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moonlite

to skip history, goto tl;dr

hi! been photographing for over 10 years with back-button focus but now want that "release shutter immediately when focus is acheived" that is kinda also possible with bbf but a bit too tricky.

for the whole of this 10 years i have been trying out different ways of metering, applying exposure (p/av/tv/m) and focusing. i like m-mode the best (of course) because then i can have the camera in "AF/AF lock, no AE lock" -mode, but for shooting in quickly changing situations like weddings and parties, i have had to revert to "AE lock/AF" -mode, which is backbutton focus because the default "AF/AE lock" mode just does not suit me as i often want to pre-focus. this problem could be taken care of by constantly using the af/mf switch on my lens but i find this approach too clunky and i keep forgetting the switch in the wrong position. one workaround would be using matrix metering and just applying +-2ev of exposure correction where necessary, but i just love spot metering so much. it is useful for /most/ stuff but i want to be ready to do really crazy stuff (ie spot metering) as i always try to shoot unexpected points of view etc (really love shooting in to the light, backlit).

long story short, i have tried every possible combination of settings in all my cameras (5d, 1d, 350d, 500d), several times, and really tried to work with them, but they never went all the way.

but then i heard the newest canon cameras have an extra button for ae hold, and in my mind at least, this is the thing i´ve been looking for. i can´t afford to update my camera gear for a good while because i´m in the worst economic situation of my life but then i realized that magic lantern could be the solution albeit it would only work on my 500d. i have not yet found a solution in magic lantern so here´s what i´m requesting one of these:

tl;dr:

1. emulate the ae-hold button found in newer canon cameras.

2. a function to quickly (in one button-press) either locks up all exposure settings in p-mode or enables auto-exposure temporarely in m-mode

3. a button that, while pressed, temporarily disables af in exactly the same way as the af/mf switch on your lens (or "AF lock" -mode).

4. extra button to just shoot without AF




i hope you understand what i´m getting at and i hope it´s not too niche. i´m quite sure at least one of the reasons for the ae hold -function in the new canons has been implemented because other people have the same problem as me.


thank you
michael


Raven

Oh wow, I thought I was the only one who wishes Canon had somehow thought through their control concept. My wishlist is not the same as yours since the newer cameras offer at least some of the features you miss, but it's also about making their cameras (specifically 7D, 6D, 5D Mk. II) a more useful tool for advanced photographers.

1. Permanent AE-L: I'd like to measure an exposure value and keep it until I press the button again.
2. AE in M mode: While in M mode the otherwise useless AE-L button should enable exposure measurement.
3. Contrast measurement: When AE-L is active, the exposure compensation graph should display the contrast between AE-L and measured value, just as it does in M mode.
4. Spot measurement button: I need a button that quickly switches spot-measurement on and off. On the 7D the mostly useless M-Fn button would be ideal.
5. Keep values between programs: While switching exposure modes, the values measured before should be kept.
6. Somehow enable exposure compensation in M with auto-ISO on.

[edit:] I found the exposure shift in ML and love it. As it seems at least some magic regarding cam operation is actually possible. :)