Exposure compensation (EV)
Also known as: EV compensation, EV, exposure value adjustment
A setting that tells an automatic camera to make the image brighter or darker than it would choose, in steps of EV, without switching to full manual.
Updated
What it means
Auto Exposure aims for an average brightness. Scenes that are not average, such as bright snow, white sand, a sunset or a dark tunnel, trick it into the wrong result. Exposure compensation is a correction dial: plus values brighten, minus values darken, while the camera still handles the rest automatically.
Values are measured in EV, or exposure value. One stop, written as plus or minus 1.0, doubles or halves the light. Action cameras usually offer steps of 0.5 or 0.3 within a range of about two stops either way.
It is the quickest way to fix systematic exposure mistakes without learning manual settings.
How it works in practice
On snow, cameras tend to underexpose because they see a very bright scene and assume it should be gray. Plus 0.5 or plus 1.0 keeps snow white. With a bright sky behind the rider, the subject becomes a silhouette, and a positive value helps, though the sky may clip.
For sunsets, night city lights or scenes with a lot of sky, minus values protect color and highlights. Many riders set minus 0.5 by default to save highlights in sunny conditions, then lift shadows slightly in the edit.
Combine it with good metering choices, since the camera measures before applying the correction.
What to watch out for
Compensation stays set until you change it. A plus 1.0 setting from yesterday on the snow will overexpose today in the forest. Check the setting at the start of each session.
It does not stop the camera from changing exposure during a clip. If you need constant brightness while light changes, use exposure lock or manual settings instead.
Very strong negative compensation on small sensors pushes the camera to underexpose, which brings noise when you brighten the shadows later. Small steps usually work better than big ones, and a quick test clip on the actual slope or trail beats any rule of thumb.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip does not change exposure, so getting it right in the camera pays off. Upload your clips from the day, and the AI picks the best-looking moments for one highlight.