Canon 7D — Auto Lighting Optimizer Not Working
My Auto Lighting Optimizer Doesn't Seem to Work
I was “playing” around, and decided to try the Auto Lighting Optimizer on my Canon 7D. Guess what? It doesn't work! Turned the auto lighting optimizer on and off, nothing. Restarted the camera, and still nothing.
Is it a camera problem or an operator problem? Turn out that the problem is RTFM1 meaning an operator problem.
On page 75 of the manual, Canon mentions that the Auto Lighting Optimizer works with JPEGs. The Auto Lighting Optimizer doesn't do anything in RAW, it only adds a flag that the software must interpret and process accordingly.
I use Lightroom, and Lightroom doesn't do anything, that I have noticed, with it.
What does the lighting optimizer for JPEGs do? It makes the image lighter by increasing:
- The brightness
- The contrast
- The noise in the shadows2
If you have the Auto Lighting Optimizer enabled and try to under expose with exposure compensation or flash exposure compensation, the under exposure will be ignored.
Do not confuse the Auto Lighting Optimizer with the Highlight Tone Priority.
1 Read The “Fucking” Manual or in a more polite way: Read The Fine Manual ↑
2 Side effect of changing the curve control. I have tried it with a couple of JPEG and it's not as bad as it sounds. ↑
My Auto Lighting Optimizer Doesn't Seem to Work
I was “playing” around, and decided to try the Auto Lighting Optimizer on my Canon 7D. Guess what? It doesn't work! Turned the auto lighting optimizer on and off, nothing. Restarted the camera, and still nothing.
Is it a camera problem or an operator problem? Turn out that the problem is RTFM1 meaning an operator problem.
On page 75 of the manual, Canon mentions that the Auto Lighting Optimizer works with JPEGs. The Auto Lighting Optimizer doesn't do anything in RAW, it only adds a flag that the software must interpret and process accordingly.
I use Lightroom, and Lightroom doesn't do anything, that I have noticed, with it.
What does the lighting optimizer for JPEGs do? It makes the image lighter by increasing:
- The brightness
- The contrast
- The noise in the shadows2
If you have the Auto Lighting Optimizer enabled and try to under expose with exposure compensation or flash exposure compensation, the under exposure will be ignored.
Do not confuse the Auto Lighting Optimizer with the Highlight Tone Priority.
1 Read The “Fucking” Manual or in a more polite way: Read The Fine Manual ↑
2 Side effect of changing the curve control. I have tried it with a couple of JPEG and it's not as bad as it sounds. ↑
