Does Manual mode on Nikon D90 indicate the correct exposure in the viewfinder?

<p>Hello experts!</p>

<p> I hope this question does not come across a silly, considering the fact that I have been using my camera for a few months now. But I have a nikon D90 which I picked up recently and just picked up the "Understanding Exposure" book of Bryan PEterson.</p>

<p> I was just going through is book and he encourages everyone to shoot in Manual to get correct exposures. Now, generally for Flash photography I always shoot Manual, but for landscapes, natural light, outdoors, I generally shoot P/A/T modes. More because of lack of confidence, whether what I select is right or could a P mode give me a much better exposure etc etc...</p>

<p>" But while reading his book, he says that set your camera to M. Select an aperture of lets say 5.6 and then rotate the shutter until the viewfinder indicates a correct exposure"<br>

My question is on the Nikon D90,</p>

<p> In manual mode, does the camera give you a indication of what is the correct exposure like it does in P? If yes, what icon or indication is visible. I just tried it out on my camera, and a green dot is visible on the left bottom, but thats just a indication when the metering is done and focus is set and we can take the photograph.</p>

<p> Am I wrong in my understanding? I though manual mode of completely manual so the camera will not indicate anything, we have to do everything ourselves. But if the camera does indicate a correct shutter/aperture while rotating the dial then that would defincately be helpful, because then accordingly we can play around with the settings to get a little more creative!</p>

<p>Thanks,<br>

Sunil</p>

<p>It's in the user's guide but a quick description is that you have a bar that goes + and - on the right side of the viewfinder. It indicates what the exposure meter in the camera thinks is the correct exposure. + is overexposed, - under exposed and 0 is what it thinks is best.</p>

<p>So while you can set the aperture, shutter speed and iso in manual mode you still have the in camera exposure meter telling you what it thinks. The metering also have different modes of operation - center weighted, spot meter and matrix. The modes will affect what the meter thinks. Spot metering is the mode that gives you most control but requires the most work.</p>

<p>When doing this make sure you have disabled auto iso as the camera otherwise will change the exposure automatically via iso even if you are in manual mode. Also make sure that you don't have entered any exposure compensation as this will bias the in camera metering.</p>

<p>Using flash is a different matter as you can have the camera's exposure in manual but the flash in one of the automatic modes. If you which to experiment with full control even here you should set the flash to manual mode as well.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>The knowledge of how much + or - EV you have to set is more important than the way you do it: manual or with the +/-EV compenstation.</p>

<p>sunil, you won't "get it" until you go out there and experiment. you won't break your camera, and you don't have to share the results with anyone else. it takes practice to read the meter and the scene, and then adjust the exposure as needed to achieve the shot you wish to capture.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

<p>Pete, I tried that, read the manual and it worked! Thanks again! :)</p>