Let's talk exposure

[DVC Jen]

That is strange. Do you have any examples online? Anyway, it looks like you have a way to resolve the issues hopefully!

I will see if I can go back into my raw files and quickly convert one to jpg (without doing anything else to it) and post it later when I have some time.

 

[bostran1]

Excellent. Hopefully someone can figure out what is going on.

 

[handicap18]

what software are you using. I've noticed similar results with my Nikon, however it only happens when I don't use one of Nikon's RAW coverters. I've used 4 or 5 different non-Nikon programs and ALL of them have done something automatically to the converted JPEG image. Lightroom is the next best, but it still darkens the image enough that I notice, but no way near as bad as some other programs. I'm guessing it has something to do with the setup of the curves, but I know nothing about that.

So unless I need to really change white balance or add or delete some exposure compensation I use the free included Nikon RAW converter. Eventually I'll bite the bullet and purchase Nikon's Capture NX which is a full fledged RAW converter/Post processing program. For now Lightroom does a really good job on the editing I need to do.

Just my thoughts.

 

[DVC Jen]

I use Zoom Browser - it came with my Canon Camera. Then if I want do to anything more than what the raw software does I use Photoshop Elements 5.

 

[Master Mason]

I only use light room for my conversions, and don't notice it being dark or having to up compensation on either the XT or the 40D...

Could there be a setting in Zoom Browser that is causing it to darken it some? I have never really used zoom browser, so I don't even know where to look to see...

 

[DueyDooDah]

Jen, I used to have the same problem, although mine was b bit different. I too have a 30D and any app except the Canon software would darken my pics also. It turned out mine was related the my monitor's color profile. Once I remove the Samsung color profile from my Windows Vista setup, all software apps looked the same (Zoom, Digitial Photo Pro, Lightroom, Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Elements 4. I now use the default Windows color profile.

 

[Nikel]

A perfectly centered hill for a histogram isn't always a correct exposure. It depends on the dynamic range of the picture.

 

[Anewman]

A perfectly centered hill for a histogram isn't always a correct exposure. It depends on the dynamic range of the picture.

100% correct...

And lets remember that the histogram reflects the in camera parameters, so you are looking at histogram for what a jpeg would look like if the camera had made all its adjustments which includes brightness and contrast.

If you zero out all of the parameters it would give you a histogram closer to a RAW file with baseline adjustments(all zeros) in lightroom, but it will still not be 100% accurate because even with zeroed out parameters the camera will still make some adjustments if/when processing jpegs.

 

[Groucho]

Are you using spot metering? On a purely anecdotal level, I can report that I used spot metering a lot of my Jan trip to WDW and I had a surprising number of noticeably underexposed photos, which I didn't really get before or after then - only when I was using spot metering, and certainly not all the photos, but it definitely happened. Try making sure that you're in center-weighted or overall metering mode and see if that makes a difference...

 

[AndrewWG]

Ok, what is the use of exposure compensation? I have never bothered to use it. I figure I can compensate my exposure by messing with either shutter speed, aperture, or ISO. Am I missing something here? What would be the use? What exactly does it do? Lighten or Darken the photo? At what cost to the overall image?

 

[Gdad]

Exposure compensation makes an adjustment to the exposure- a positive or negative factor from where the light meter would normally control the camera settings. For example- if you were in an aperature priority mode and stopped the camera down- it would just compensate for this by lowering your shutter speed and leaving the exposure unchanged. Whereas in the same mode adjusting the EV down would raise the shutter speed and darken the overall image by letting less light into the camera.

It has no effect on the overall image if used properly- just a tool to achieve the proper exposure in an image. It is usefull in situations where your camera may be prone to misreading the light meter- such as overexposing a wedding dress and loosing the details- blown hilights- etc.

 

[AndrewWG]

Thanks Gdad. That leads me back to one of my original questions then. Why is it really offered? Is it more of an amateur/lazy thing? Wouldn't one switch to manual mode to make these adjustments? Does it have any use in mnaual mode?

It just seems like something I could do without, although I must say that my exposures usually aren't anywhere near perfect. Maybe it is something I should mess with a bit more.

 

[Gdad]

It has no use in full manual mode. In Program Mode, Aperture or Shutter Priority it will force the exposure up or down. I think it is a very useful tool- I think it comes into play when you really understand your cameras tendencies- for instance- When I had my D70 I knew it tended to underexpose the image particularly when shooting at night. I would compensate for this by pushing (overexposing) by a +0.3 or a +0.7 and find I had much better results. For comparison- my D50 tended to overexpose slightly and had a habit of blowing highlights when shooting light colored objects (like my kids blonde hair) in full sun- so I would pull it back a bit. I suppose it is true you could meter each shot with your camera (or a light meter)- then switch to full auto- adjust aperture and shutter speed- and take your shot- but I don’t know why you would go thru all that for every shot. I rarely use full auto unless I am trying to do something really unusual- typically I am in A-Mode and sometimes S-Mode. But then again I am a complete amateur- so maybe someone else can chime in.

Bracketing is also a good way to really get to understand how your camera reads different types of shots. With bracketing you can set your camera to take a series of shots with a range or exposures- for instance- You can set it to take 5 shots with a 1/3 bracket- so it will shoot 0EV (No adjustment) +0.7EV +0.3EV -0.3EV and -0.7EV then you can evaluate the best exposure.

 

[AndrewWG]

Well, if you are amateur, then I am beginner! Your shots are awesome.

I see what you mean. I will give this a try from time to time. I don't (at this time) see it as very useful, but I know they put it on the cameras for some reason, so I think I have to give it a go. I also haven't really figured out any tendencies for my camera yet. I try doing so many things with it, that I generally forget what I did to make it work how I wanted it. Thank goodness for EXIF info. I don't know how they did it in the film days. I tried writing down all the info when I was shooting film, but then I had no idea which shot was which when I got them back.

I do need to try more bracketing. I am not even sure how it works on the 30D. It seems to be a custom function, but I haven't looked into it. Right now bracketing to me is manual mode, fixed aperture, up one shutter speed, down one shutter speed. I'm SURE there is an easier way.

So much to learn...

Thanks for your input though. I will try some different settings and see what I get.

Now onto my winter question....

 

[SharonLowe]

Also, remember that your camera's meter is designed to shoot for neutral grey so if you are shooting a wedding dress or snow, you likely want to compensate by overexposing by as much as +1EV. Since you are thinking about winter photography, exposure compensation will likely come into play.

Just to make a slight correction to Gdad's great advice. Even in manual, you will use exposure compensation - you can tell it manually to over or under expose the image. You just have leeway to use the shutter/aperture more creatively.

It is best to get the best exposure in camera because post processing can add unwanted things. For example, if an image is underexposed and you bump up the exposure when you process it, you will introduce more noise than you would have seen if you had exposed properly in camera.

 

[Gdad]

Okay- that is a good point. Compensation in manual mode- while not changing any camera settings- will change the metering and exposure values displayed in the control panel or viewfinder.

 

[boBQuincy]

I rarely use the "Manual" setting on the camera, it stays in the "Program" mode maybe 95% of the time. I feel the big push to use "Manual" is highly overrated but that's another story.

Exposure compensation is key to the "Program" mode, allowing it to take the place of "Manual" for most occasions. By using exposure compensation along with Program Shift almost any usable aperture/shutter combination is available.

I use exposure compensation to set a mood, such as -1 or so in a dark ride to make the images look like the actual scene looked. It also is used for evening scenes for the same reason. Exposure compensation is a quick way to adjust for when the histogram shows big spikes at either end.

Flash exposure compensation works in the same manner for built-in and external flash.

 

[Geoff_M]

I feel the big push to use "Manual" is highly overrated but that's another story.

I don't think it's a "push", but you can't get over the fact that TTL metering has known limitations. It works great around 80+% of the time, but not so the rest of the time. I do most of my shooting indoors under relatively "steady" lighting and mainly use manual.

 

[boBQuincy]

you can't get over the fact that TTL metering has known limitations

Indeed it does, in fact all metering has limitations, the biggest being that it wants to make our images middle gray.

Exposure compensation is the answer to this, where we look at a scene and decide if we actually want middle gray or if we want more or less exposure.

 

[jann1033]

andy since i think we are more on the same level than these pro "amateures"( hope that isn't an insult ) i have mine set to underexpose by one line...not enough to really make much difference except i have many fewer blown highlights than before,,,i can adjust to lighten slightly if i need to in the raw converter .