User's Manual

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HISTOGRAM MODE – EXPOSURE
The histogram provides a graph that indicates the total number of pixels at each
brightness level, with brightnesses going from black on the left to white on the
right. It is a valuable tool for evaluating captures. A well-exposed shot usually has
a full range of levels, while under- and overexposed shots tend to show levels con-
centrated at the left or right part of the scale, respectively. The histogram is only
an indicator that should be interpreted – there are several situations in which a
‘bad’ histogram will match an exposure that could be perfect for the intended ef-
fect (and vice-versa). Look at the histogram examples and the explanations below:
EVEN EXPOSURE
A histogram display that is spread across the full range indicates a likely good ex-
posure. There may still be a few pixels at the extremes, indicating a few spectral
highlights and saturated shadows, but this is often normal in a good exposure.
UNDEREXPOSURE
A histogram display that is concentrated on the left with few pixels elsewhere indi-
cates a likely underexposure. Many details will be lost in the shadows.
OVEREXPOSURE
A histogram display that is concentrated on the right with few pixels elsewhere
indicates a likely overexposure. Many details will be lost in the highlights.
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BROWSING
In Browse mode use the front scroll
wheel (or left
or right arrows on
the navigator button) to browse cap-
tures in a folder. Zoom out to Folder
View if you want to select another
folder to browse.
Histogram and Full details Combined Histogram Histogram mode
Even exposure
Underexposure
Overexposure
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HISTOGRAM TYPES
There are three types of histogram representation available: Histogram and Full details, Combined histogram and Histogram
mode.
In Histogram and Full details mode,
you can read a list of camera set-
tings, plus see the histogram and, in
the background, a darkened preview
of the image. The setting details are
stored with the capture le, so you
can also refer to them in Phocus and
other applications.
In Combined Histogram mode, the
RBG channels are represented to
show individual distribution against
a luminosity histogram.
In Histogram mode, the individual
RBG channels are represented to
show a comparitive display.