Photo Answers
Andrew James
Andrew is a highly-experienced writer and photographer – if you have a problem, he is here to help.
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Q I’ve bought a new Canon EOS 4000D and I’m just getting to grips with f/stops. Should I set my f/stop increments to third- or half-stops?
Shirley Hope
A I always suggest third-stop increments, because it gives you much finer control over exposure when you employ exposure compensation. That might not sound very much, Shirley, but there could be occasions when adding a half-stop plus or minus exposure compensation is too much, so thirds seems to be a much more refined approach.
Cameras are typically set to thirds by default, so if yours is, just leave it as it is. The exposure level increments apply to aperture and shutter speed, so if you are working in Aperture Priority and use exposure compensation, the shutter speed will change by a
