D300 Exposure

[Malok]

I'm a very new Drebel owner. One of the things that is annoying me is that it seems to always be signicantly overexposing my shots. I am trusting the camera's internal light meter and although it tells me that my aperture and shutterspeed are balanced, it always seems to be about 1 to 1.5 stops overexposed. Is this a common problem or simple user error?

On my G3 I could set for spot meter, matrix, and center-weighted. This enabled me to almost always get the right exposure. What can I do with the Drebel to get better results?

Malok

[richard_a]

Hello Malok,

Exposure on the 300D can be tricky for those who are first learning to use the camera. Most people have complain about underexposure rather then overexposure though.

The rebel does have a histogram feature that can help you determine on the spot if a shot is overexposed. If so try adjusting exposure compensation. Also, the camera is sensitive to high contrast subjects. If your scene has a lot of dark areas with some bright areas the shot may become overexposed as the camera will want to brighten the dark areas (especially if the dark areas are part of the focus area). The only way to really learn how to expose properly for these areas is through experience and learning to read a scene and setting the camera to compensate for hard to meter areas.

In my general use of the 300D I will usually reduce exposure compensation in very bright sunlight and may increase exposure compensation on cloudy days or in shady areas.

[Motorsports Photo]

With both my D30 and 10D I have the same overexposure troubles. I have the compensation set 1/2 to 1 stop down to get my histogram to look OK.

I've also noticed the amount of compensation seems to be different on sunny and overcast days. Pay attention to that histogram to get the most good shots!

-Pete

[Whaler]

Malok

Go here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

Mike :D