Exposure Compensation changes the EV (Exposure Value) and is available in Program, Aperture & Shutter Priority and Manual. It is not available in Auto or the Scene Modes.

Exposure Compensation adjusts the reading by increments regardless of other settings. They are taken into account, but by adjusting Exposure Compensation it is possible to over or underexpose the final result by 1/3rd or 1/2 stop increments.

Some subjects, particularly those illuminated by light of high contrast, can sometimes fool the most sophisticated of exposure metering systems. Exposure Compensation can help to correct these problems, but is only successful by trial and error and by evaluating each shot where that is possible.

Where time is important, particularly when the shot cannot be repeated, try underexposing by up to 2/3rds stop and saving the image preferably as a RAW file. Underexposure will avoid blown-out highlights, difficult to recover in a computer, but where parts of the image are underexposed, they can be corrected in a RAW converter before being saved as a TIFF or JPEG file.

Underexposure by Exposure Compensation if used judiciously can also enrich colours without making them appear artificial.