Video: Why the histogram is your camera's secret weapon

While the rear LCD is an addition we couldn't live without in modern cameras, it does have some weaknesses - the major one being you can't rely on it for an accurate representation of your image's exposure. 

In this practical video, Jason Row Photography breaks down why the histogram is more reliable than your camera’s LCD, and explains how the histogram maps tonal range, from shadows on the left to highlights on the right, so you can see exactly what is happening in your image.

This is especially useful in high-contrast scenes, where the camera’s metering might mislead you and you risk losing important detail. 

Row also shows how to enable the histogram on your camera and which type to choose. Most cameras offer a luma histogram, which measures brightness, and an RGB histogram, which shows separate colour channels. For everyday shooting, the luma histogram is usually enough, but RGB helps manage and stop clipping in strong colours.

He compares the histogram to a bucket of light. If tones spill over the right edge, highlights are lost. If they spill over the left, shadow noise increases. This is one reason why reading the histogram protects your files better than any LCD preview.

Row also looks at JPEGs and RAW files to get a sense of how much info they retain. Watch the video above for more.