Tidbits - Nikon D5000 - Set Auto-Exposure Lock To Toggle (Vs. Button Hold)

A little how-to on how to set the Auto-Exposure Lock (or AE-L) button on your Nikon D5000 from having to hold it down to toggle, or pressing the button once and having it lock.

Auto-Exposure Lock is one of the features I was very interested in since the first day I got my Nikon D5000, but I just recently figured out how to switch it to toggle. Needless to say it's made my life much easier--it's a feature that's very easy to actually set up, but a little tricky to figure out where on your camera to do so.

When Auto-Exposure Lock is NOT on, and your subject is going to be under relatively the same lighting conditions throughout the length of that clip, you may notice jittery lighting conditions in your video which can look unprofessional (and frankly kind of annoying). The AE-L button fixes this though! By default, you must hold the AE-L button when you've reached your desired exposure and it will lock it, thereby eliminating the jittery lighting you may be experiencing. However, if you are taking a self-portrait video, or...you just don't feel like holding down the button for five minutes, setting AE-L to toggle will allow you to set up your shot, and then simply press the button once and your exposure will remain locked. A quick and easy way to make your videos a little bit more professional.

Thanks!

For more, follow me on Twitter @zachmb
http://twitter.com/zachmb

P.S. The song is called Somebody Gets A Star by Albert Hammond, Jr.

UPDATE: Graphic design, web design, photography, videography, and cooking are all my strong suits. Spelling, however, is not. Please excuse the beginning.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• tidbits
• tutorial
• zachmb
• nikon
• d5000
• dslr
• camera
• video
• auto
• exposure
• lock
• ae-l
• button
• toggle
• vs
• hold

[pipoquercia]

Excellent information, I did´t know how to do that, thanks!

[zacharybeschler]

Np! Thanks for your support!

[ohdf]

THAAAANNNNNNNNKKKKKSSSSS!!!!!!­

[zacharybeschler]

No problem! Glad I could help :)

[Weegie247]

when you were talking the camera, did you record the audio seperately?

[annyon]

Thanks so much! I was sick of the exposure flickering problem with my vids but this should solve it now. (:

[fancyfilmfrenzy]

Thank you so much, this is what I've been looking for!!!

[SwayNV]

Hey... That's really cool! Thanks for teaching me =)

[Kyzaaah]

please help!

how do i make my video auto-focus during a video, like, if i moved, it would follow me. and how do i make it HD on youtube? i've used it in my videos, and they are all pixelated and weird.

[WoWproductions21]

I was wondering what that button was for haha thanks.

[holyonfire]

*tears of joy* Thank you!! Thank you so much!

[javicente2010]

thanks so much for the tip! GREAT help!!

[Akileze]

@zacharybeschler Good stuff mate some the menu nomenclature is not all that intuitive. Cheers for showing how to set this up.

I do have a simple (I hope) question. When does the 'latch' or 'hold' (Nikon's term) release? Is it when you stop recording a vid or perhaps after you snap a pic if you're taking stills?

Many thanks!

[IvaNavia]

very informative thanks!