Newbie, Rebel under-exposure

[crh97]

I'm new to this forum. Also new rebel which I love. However, in the automatic mode---I'm getting pretty consistent under-exposures. What might I be doing wrong or is there maybe something wrong with the metering on my camera.

This is on outside and inside shots. Flash and without.

Thanks in advance.

[felix21685]

i dont claim to be an expert but try the P setting as well..and post some pictures so we can see :)

[tim]

How does the histogram look after you've taken the photo? Even? Clumpted to the left? If it's to the left then adjust your exposure compensation to move it more to the right. Also, post a picture or two for us to look at.

[crh97]

I have deleted all the bad shots. I'll take some more shots over the weekend and will post them.

The few I've looked at definitely have the histogram clumped to the left. Where is the exposure compensation. I cannot find it in the book or do you mean just on each particular shot?

[tim]

It depends on what camera you have - you haven't said. All Canon SLRs have exposure compensation, the difference is how you modify it. With the 20D in Av mode (and most modes) you turn the thumb wheel. With the 300D you hold down the Av button on the back (not the top) of the camera, and use the main dial. Basically what it does is tell the camera to leave the shutter open for a little more or a little less time than it thinks it should.

Also look up metering modes in your manual - you may or may not have them on your camera - 20D does, 300D doesn't. It tells the camera to expose for the whole image, the centre of the image, or a centre weighted piece of the image. That's useful when the outside of the picture is espeically bright or dark.

If you have reflective objects in the picture and you use a flash, that'll stuff things up, or even just one or two really bright objects.

[SSquared2000]

I'm noticing something similar with the XT/350D. I sometimes like a little underexposure as it brings out a bit of a richness to the colors, but I'm finding I need to use a few notches of exposure compensation on the XT in certain situations.

Were your shots taken with lots of white? In other words, when you are outside is it a cloudy day? When you are inside, is there a white wall? Depending on your metering mode (especially using Evaluative), the camera will attempt to compensate for all the white by knocking the exposure setting down. You need to compensate the exposure.

[tim]

The 20D/350D are a bit more conservative than the 10D/300D - it tries harder not to blow out highlights. If there's on bright thing in the picture it will often under-expose the whole pic. Shoot RAW and it's not a problem, and RawShooter Essentials (free) does a good job ballancing out the bright/dark areas - better than PS CS RAW IMHO.

[Mark_48]

Tim,

I found the download site for Rawshooter Essentials and the download says "trial". Haven't downloaded yet, is this a version with major features disabled or limited use?

Mark.....

[PhotosGuy]

Don't forget to calibrate your monitor first!
Monitor Calibration for Gamma - click thru "Monitor Gamma" link & adjust with Adobe Gamma.
http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/index.html

Here's a shot where the meter read the sky which was the brightest thing in the viewfinder. I should have zoomed in on an area of the car without a highlight reflecting to confuse the meter. Raw saved me & I was able to extract a useable pic.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=43761&highlight=sunliner

To avoid that problem, if there's no non-reflective white in the pic, & if you have the time, then you can take a shot of a white sheet of paper in it & adjust exposure so the Histogram looks right, then take the pic you want. The Manual mode works really well for that. ;-)

[Medic1]

Tim,

I found the download site for Rawshooter Essentials and the download says "trial". Haven't downloaded yet, is this a version with major features disabled or limited use?

Mark.....


The version I downloaded said trial, but right on the download site it said it is now free and it was the full and complete version.

Did you download the pixmantec or corel version? Mine is pixmantec

[crh97]

Don't laugh at me. It is the digital rebel eos. There is no model number on the box or the camera. The manual has instructions listed for the eos and the 300D. I assume this is an eos. I bought it at Best Buy and it is the 6.3 megapixel.

Don't misunderstand me, it takes great shots. However, I am sometimes dissapointed with the exposure. It may be that I don't understand the metering points.

I am a novice with a new toy.

[tim]

Tim,

I found the download site for Rawshooter Essentials and the download says "trial". Haven't downloaded yet, is this a version with major features disabled or limited use?

Mark.....

What medic says - it's not really a trial, it's free.

[PhotosGuy]

300D. I assume this is an eos. In the US it's supposed to be called a Digital Rebel. In Europe it's a 300D, but almost everyone calls it that.