EXPODO Is an Intuitive Way to Control Camera Exposure
The Exposure Donut is a new way to understand manual exposure controls on a mirrorless camera. The Exposure Donut, or Expodo, is a software application developed by British engineer and photographer Tim Helweg-Larsen to make exposure on mirrorless cameras easier.
To summarize, Expodo shows essential exposure settings on a camera’s LCD. The four-color donut displays the aperture, ISO, shutter speed, and amount of light.
The Exposure Donut, still in the prototype stage, was recently displayed at the CP+ photo exhibition in Japan. Helweg-Larsen evaluated the prototype software with several Sony cameras, including the a7 II, a5100, and RX100V. In addition, he has obtained funding from the UK government, and his invention is protected by a patent. A beta version of the app for iPhone users is accessible through Apple TestFlight, allowing people to try the Exposure Donut user interface and see how it functions on iPhone.
Time, or shutter speed, is shown in the red portion. It is time the shutter is left open to let light into the camera. Yellow is the color of light. The blue color stands for ISO sensitivity. Last, green denotes the lens’s aperture or the size of the aperture diaphragm opening. The f-stop decreases as the openness increases.
The donut’s sections, or arcs, each have their cells. If the sum of the cells equals 24, the image has been exposed properly. If the number of figures is fewer than 24, the scene is underexposed (too dark). The image is overexposed if there are over 24. (too bright).
The arcs provide more than just exposure data. All other things being equal, the blur in the final image will increase with arc length. Because the shutter speed is slower for longer red (time) arcs, there will be greater motion blur. The backdrop will be more blurred if the green arc (aperture) is longer because a longer arc means the aperture is larger and the depth of field is shallower. The longer the blue portion, the higher the camera’s ISO, increasing grain blur and reducing sharpness throughout the image.
Helweg-Larsen expects the Exposure Donut will aid in the growth of the camera industry. Many photographers solely use cell phones since they automatically manage exposure. Although some smartphone camera applications provide manual control over settings, utilizing one of these controls isn’t quite the same as using a dedicated interchangeable lens camera for the first time. This is the logical next step for customers who enjoy taking smartphone pictures.
Although they provide photographers with much more freedom, interchangeable lens cameras don’t provide many visual cues or tips on using manual exposure controls like shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to get the desired results. Without taking away the user’s control, Exposure Donut aims to make learning about the elements of exposure simpler and more intuitive.
More info on Expodo’s website.
