exposure compensation EOS 450D

[mondmagu]

Hi to all.
I'm new to this but here goes.I have an EOS 450D and recently I have been experimenting with the manual modes of the camera.When I am in the Manual mode if I look through the view finder the exposure compensation setting is at -2 stops.If I take a photo, the photo is very dark unless there is plenty of day light.From reading the manuel,I understand that I cannot change the setting of the exposure compensation in manuel mode,so my question is do I have a problem or am I doing something stupid?

[wavemachine]

In manual you control both the apperture and the shutter speed, if you change the shutter speed to a slower one you should see the exposure compnesation change.

What the exposure compensation reading is showing you is that the camera believes based on it's light meter reading that your picture is going to be underexposed which is why they are dark.

So the -2 you are seeing isn't actually exposure compensation.

Generaally I tend to use aperture priority or shutter priority depending on what I am doing, for example sports I would use shutter priority and portraits aperture priority, this mean I deal with the aperture or the shutter speed and the camera deals with the rest.

That is how I understand it, I am sure some one will correct me if I am wrong

[OldBoy]

You should still be able to dial in exposure compensation in manual mode. Check your manual for exposure compensation. If you have the camera on a tripod then take a picture with the focus point on the darkest part of the scene, then move the focus point to a lighter part of the scene and take another photo, then merge both photos in your editing software.

[chris-p]

Wavemachine is right. In manual mode you should be able to adjust the shutter speed or the aperture and see the -2 number change. Keep changing the shutter or aperture until the number reads 0.

[mondmagu]

Thanks for the response guys, I will head out today to try your suggestions.