Overexposure
 

Hi all,
Whilst putting my new Nikon d300 through its paces I am getting a lot of over exposed shots even in prog auto mode. Can anyone suggest a remedy? Here is an example taken on a sunny day of a shaded footpath. I am new to digital photography and I would appreciate all possible help.

I am not a Nikon man so don't know that camera but I would start by very carefully checking all the settings on the camera, especially the exposure compensation. It's so easy to have a wrong setting, I have just accidentally taken shot in bright sunlight with ISO 1600 set which did not do a lot of good for the exposure either combined with the shutter speed and aperture set!

Sam, I too have the D300. It is perfect until I set it to program mode, then it overexposes by 1 or 2 stops. I know the user manual backwards, so it is not me making a mistake.

Now I know about it I don't use Program mode, or if I have to I'll dial in compensation. It is annoying though - I would normally return my camera but as the rest is working fine I'll wait for an update and see if that fixes it.

Attached is an example taken in Program mode: Even though this is (was) a Raw file the waterfall is too badly blown out to recover.

Derek, with the dynamic range of tones in this picture, I'd say you're expecting miracles if you want detail in the dark bits and no blow out on the bright bits, regardless of the camera/mode being used.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep an eye on exposure compensation Mike.
I will try to keep away from program auto too for now thanks Derek, Have you heard of any other d300 users with the same problem?

Learn how your camera meters in different modes too. The camera will try to render the scene with midtones as much as possible, so if the scene is dark, the camera will overexpose the 'proper ' value to lighten it to a mid-tone; similarly, if it is a light scene, the camera will underexpose it to render it as a mid-tone. The camera user needs to interpret the meter reading in the light (sorry, bad pun) of what the desired result is, ie which bit of the scene the user thinks should be a mid-tone.

assuming the D300 has some common ground with D80, if you use it manual centre exposure, by waving it around a frame, you get an idea of correct exposure for the important bits. Having then taken one, look at the replay and rotate the knob until you get to a mode that shows 'highlights'; if a significant area is flashing, stop down and retake. Shoot RAW and you can sort out any underexposure, globally or locally, in Capture NX (see thread in Digital Dargroom)

This is one of the key techniques to grasp on landscape photography as the problem of huge range of exposure is so common. Others might recommend HDR, but will leave that to them.

A common technique is to expose for the highlights and accept that the shadows will be deep. I agree with Chris about shooting RAW - it can be a life-saver. You could try setting the aperture to say f16 to get depth of field, try a shot then then set exposure compensation to -1 and see what happens.

As an aside, I quite like the shot as it is - looks a bit abstract - the softness of the image and coloues make it attractive.

To be fair the only time my camera goes into Program mode is if I forget to change it. I'm well aware that I'm asking a lot of the camera's metering in the picture above, which is why I prefer to select my own settings and relevant compensation needed. I don't usually miss a shot altogether.

The shot was taken in RAW and no way can I get back the blown highlights. On this particular occasion I was not chimping (looking at my shots) because I was pre-ocupied with showing Caroline how to use her camera (I know - I should learn mine first! ;) ) and didn't realise it was in program mode until the next location - my bad. Oh well, lesson learned...

Oh and Sam, there has been some discussion of this on Photo.net. I honestly think that the D300 is very poor in Program mode, as shot's taken in normal light with no definite highlights are still underexposed too often for my (and apparently a number of others) liking.

As Lello has posted that he is getting a D300 as well, I thought I should download the manual and try to understand whats happening.

May request posting of some duff exposures with camera settings info after I have had a read.

Don

Why not set up a little test with the camera on a tripod pointing at a frame filling evenly lit grey card (or similar) to take account of different metering patterns and shoot it in each of the exposure modes and see what happens. One or two stops discrepancy would certainly show up. At least you would know if there is a problem with programme mode then.

A trawl around the net with regard to this was fairly inconclusive. Some posting the problem but no answers, so I used my D2X which has the same matrix metering system to confirm my thoughts.

The camera was faced with a scene that had areas of various intensities of light falling around the various A/F points, not too dissimilar in placement to the D200. Darkest was black and lightest white.

Camera on a tripod set to MATRIX metering and PROGRAM mode. By toggling the active A/F point and watching the calculated exposure it was quite obvious that although the camera is metering the whole scene, prominance is given to the subject covered by the active A/F point.

I have done a quick and dirty job of roughly overlaying A/F points from D200 and D300 on an image. Due to the density of the D300 focus points quite a number of different points could have been used to achieve focus, but depending on the selection, a range of different exposures would have resulted.

This only applies to MATRIX metering. I did not try focus lock and recompose, but suspect that would probably have given yet another result.

I do not have a D300 so cannot perform a similar check but I hope this helps.

Attatched image is an overlay of the D300 and D200 A/F points on a scene.

Don

I will try and do a controlled test shoot this weekend, if I have time. Whatever, I'll get some images up shortly. ;)

Hi all, Have you tried the optional D2X Picture controls for the D300?
Links here for Europe:

The first one gives an explanation and instructions on use:

http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/c...i=&p_topview=1

This second one is the download and installation instructions:


ftp://i7UoE6V68rS:[email protected]_Mac.html


Choose one then set for program.... I use D2X Mode III.

Crickey Andy. I see you have now added a D300 to your collection.

Don

Yes, I'm sorry to say, I fell to the temptation - but being a priest - I can always forgive myself!! - even if the wife can't!
Strangely, I find I still use all four, I tend to choose a couple of bodies and a lens each - specifically for where I'm going and what I intend to shoot.

Andy,

Sounds like you are well placed to see if D2X modes affect Matrix metering results, as I see your link says " set Picture Control Brightness to -1.".

Don

Interesting comment of relavance on this blog. Scroll down to Cusom setting B6 http://nikonglass.blogspot.com/2008/...ting-menu.html

Don

PS : Chris may find comments on the 80-400 interesting in the December 2007 blog.

Very interesting Don, thanks for that link - a lot of food for thought and a few things to try out - thanks again.

Interesting what it says about not really overexposing but rather just bright. Several reviews I have read say the D300 overexposes by about 2/3 stop. Who is right? Many manufacturers have if anything erred on the side of slightly underexposing arguing that blown highlights can not be recovered but detail in underexposed areas, within reason, can be. Over to D300 users.

Mike,
Agree to being a bit puzzled on this one.

I have not read the D300 reviews, but as exposure can be adjusted in custom menu 6 for each metering pattern by up to +1/-1EV in 1/6th EV increments, then I cannot see it as a significant problem. A bit like fine tuning A/F for specific lenses if needed on these latest range of cameras.

Don

Mike/Don - It is a puzzle - only a structured test will sort it and it may well produce slightly different results for each individual camera/photographer. There is a lot of blog comment about D300 overexposure and it will be interesting to see if Nikon respond with another firmware upgrade. In the meantime I'll try some test shots if I have time.

I am now the proud owner of a D300, Bought it at the airport on the way out to the Maldives and had it delivered on the day after we returned (Tuesday 25th) It came with an 8GB ScanDisk Extreme III, Have not been out with it yet, but hope to try it out on Saturday (going into London to see a show) So I will hopefully post some shots after the weekend.

spot meter on lower left foreground use exposure lock and take 5 shots plus or minus 1/2 stop put together in photoshop and merge to hd

u must use a tripod

this will blend all shots and give best highlights ans shadows