Under exposure

[imamartian]

Ok, so i kinda get the triangle of exposure.... aperture + shutter speed + ISO determines how much light i get and how i react to it....
But !..... every picture i take is too dark !!! unless i use a flash....

is it true that for ISO that 100 < 1600 < 12800? or might 3200 suit over 12800?


i kinda hoped i could adjust DoF and still get a good exposure at both ends !!!

 

[frankman]

What sort of settings are you using, and in what lighting?

Maybe the camera simulator at http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/ might help. If you're shooting outdoors then at 100iso an expose of 1/125th and f8/f11 should get you close.

 

[imamartian]

Thanks for the reply...

This time of the year, it's mostly (apart from last week) overcast, or indoors... i realise that. But if i try to take a photo, i always have it on aperture priority, and will whizz from one end to the other taking many pics.... and get from too dark to see, to almost ok... so i try to change the ISO (although i'd prefer to leave it on auto), and this makes minimal difference... so i put the flash on and get the sort of shot that looks like it's been taken with a disposab;le camera with flash !!

 

[imamartian]

What sort of settings are you using, and in what lighting?

Maybe the camera simulator at http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/ might help. If you're shooting outdoors then at 100iso an expose of 1/125th and f8/f11 should get you close.

Thank-you, love that link you sent, and that's what i'd expect.... but my camera aint playing !!! what am i doing wrong? It's a Canon 60D on Aperture priority.....

 

[frankman]

Have you tried taking the lens cap off

If you're using Aperture Priority I'd certainly expect a correct exposure with the lens wide open, even at 100 ISO. What about the other automatic modes, what results do they give?

As a starting point I'd recommend setting the camera back to default. It's possible you have exposure compensation set which is putting the metering out. There should be something in the menu to reset to default, or clear camera setting.

 

[imamartian]

thanks frankman, i'll try that.

only really use aperture priority, so not sure about other modes.... i'll experiement over the next few days.

Thanks again.

 

[imamartian]

Setting back to factory settings seemed to have helped. Not had a chance to test it fully, but certainly better than it was, so thanks again Frankman.

 

[frankman]

Good luck with it

 

[^woody^]

I think this is a better simulator http://learningdslr.com/2011/05/dslr-camera-simulator

If every picture is coming out dark, then you may be metering wrong or using inappropriate metering points - ie the camera is setting itself for a bright part of whatever you are photographing

Also remember that you can increase the F-stop by a few points and this will increase exposure

I don't know what gear you are using, but bare in mind that some lenses will only open up to a certain aperture at certain zoom lengths, and this my not be indicated on the display - so images will be under-exposed

 

[imamartian]

I think this is a better simulator http://learningdslr.com/2011/05/dslr-camera-simulator

If every picture is coming out dark, then you may be metering wrong or using inappropriate metering points - ie the camera is setting itself for a bright part of whatever you are photographing

Also remember that you can increase the F-stop by a few points and this will increase exposure

I don't know what gear you are using, but bare in mind that some lenses will only open up to a certain aperture at certain zoom lengths, and this my not be indicated on the display - so images will be under-exposed

Cheers for that Woody, and that simulator is just excellent.