A40 & Dark Pictures

[vh34]

First off hi to everyone, I'm new to the board and new to digital photography, with that said here is my problem. When I take pictures in a room they look great on the LCD screen but when I download them into the computer they look noticiby darker than what i would expect to see. This is especially bad with the auto setting, on the program setting I adjust the light compensation but still not really sure what I'm going to get when I download then to the computer (using usb cable). My operating system is Windows XP, I checked for software updates it appears to have the latest WIA drivers. Is there something I'm missing here, I'm sure there is. I just may need some indoor shooting advice for this camera. Thanks in advance and any help would be appreciated

[jgillard]

It sounds to me that you need to calibrate your monitors gamma. There are many ways to accomplish this such as using a third party utility like adobe gamma. Also, you can do a search on google for monitor gamma adjustment or something like that to accomplish the task manually.

[JohnMN]

I'm not an expert on lcd monitors but I think they are made to show the picture brighter than it actually is, so maybe this has something to do with it. On your indoor shots make sure you have enough lighting if you are using artificial lights (professionals use 500W, 1000W and even 3000W lights in the studios or on television). If you are using daylight, then make sure a window is behind you as it will really set the exposure off if you are trying to take a picture of someone in front of a window. Do you always make sure the flash fires in each of your pictures and that you haven't changed any of the settings such as shutter speed or the ISO film speed as these will make your pictures darker?

JohnMN

[Conk]

Vh34
I too have noticed this and have become use to it. I've adjusted accordingly. I make sure my screen seems a little brghter and like you said, 2-3 times. I find 2x works. I alsomake sure I take multiple photo's at multiple settings.
This does suck but wait til you shoot in bright sunlight. The lcd is even harder to see.

[beivied]

Hi

I have the same problem as well, but I find that very often the effect is better without flashlight, because the flashlight only illuminates the first thing that the light reaches. Everything behind it is dark. This problem occurs more in indoor photography. If you can, try to adjust the overall lighting instead of using the flashlight, if your background is a little far away from the foreground.

[abitbent]

Of all things i hate the most about this digital camera is crappy indoor pix that use the flash. I get way better quality with my old 35mm analog than i do with this digital. From what i'm hearing though, it's not Canon specific. Just seems to be one of the limitations with these mid rage digital cameras. Still, i find it hard to believe that with all the FM (f'ing magic) that goes on with the 1's and 0's, the auto mode can't compensate for the limitation of the camera's flash.
My next digital camera will be a larger model, perhaps with a hotshoe for a better flash.

bent

[beivied]

About flash mode ... personally I have used Sony's DSC-p71 but changed to Canon A40 due to lack of underwater housing for the former. That model's flash is pretty all right, for both outdoor and indoor.