Worried about my 15-85

Can somebody explain what happened on these two photos?

f/8 @ 320...

nothing wrong with your lens, notice how the bright patch above the animal is exposed properly in the 1st photo. It looks like you metered the bright spot in the 1st photo which darkened the overall exposure and metered on the animal in the second which brightened the entire scene. That would be my guess.

Stone 13 wrote in post #15121235
nothing wrong with your lens, notice how the bright patch above the animal is exposed properly in the 1st photo. It looks like you metered the bright spot in the 1st photo which darkened the overall exposure and metered on the animal in the second which brightened the entire scene. That would be my guess.

Ah...maybe so. Thank you for the input. I have to do better. Once things start moving [pigs] it becomes more difficult since I have very little experience.

What was that bright spot doing there anyway. lol

This was at a zoo and I was having issues with the low light situations everywhere I went that day. That zoo sucks.

exif says you used pattern or evaluative metering so it doesn't quite explain everything. I would think the camera would have made a better guess considering the relatively small amount of brightness in the first image, either way it's not a problem with your lens.

Yes had evaluative metering. The second image is just so much better I'm still a little confused that the camera didn't figure this out a little better. I know I have to pay better attention to situations like this but jeeezzzzz.

You'll learn through experiences like these that the camera meter is not foolproof. That's why there are options for exposure compensation and you can review histogram of each shot on the LCD to see how they are turning out. It's just a matter of learning to take more control where the camera is falling short. There's no such thing as a camera that can perfectly expose every scenario without your input.

tkbslc wrote in post #15121288
You'll learn through experiences like these that the camera meter is not foolproof. That's why there are options for exposure compensation and you can review histogram of each shot on the LCD to see how they are turning out. It's just a matter of learning to take more control where the camera is falling short. There's no such thing as a camera that can perfectly expose every scenario without your input.

+1

Thank you.

Maybe this explains it better so people can critique.

Thanks.


f8 @320

f5.6 @160

Yeah, the camera metering does require some user "interface" at times, its not always going to know what we want.
I had this problem trying to shoot someone holding up their camera to take a picture of someone else. The image was completely underexposed because the camera metered the lit screen of the other camera. When I focused on the arm holding the camera and not the camera, I got a proper exposure for the entire scene. Lesson learned

I confess that I never have used P mode. I thought that in P mode, the camera selects the shutter speed and aperture. When I want to select the aperture, I'd use AV. When I want to select the shutter speed, I use TV.
Am I missing something here?

artyH wrote in post #15122396
I confess that I never have used P mode. I thought that in P mode, the camera selects the shutter speed and aperture. When I want to select the aperture, I'd use AV. When I want to select the shutter speed, I use TV.
Am I missing something here?

Yes. It picks both in P mode but if you turn the dial on the front of the T4i while in program you can change the shutter speed/f stop to your liking and the camera will adjust the other to proper exposure. You can just turn the dial one way or the other and watch the numbers change on the view finder. Handy. But as I found out you still have to pay attention to the subject...

Simple fix is to not use P mode!

It's rather useless after you learn to shoot in full manual, you'll go into AV and TV but never back into P mode.

Stone 13 wrote in post #15121235
nothing wrong with your lens, notice how the bright patch above the animal is exposed properly in the 1st photo. It looks like you metered the bright spot in the 1st photo which darkened the overall exposure and metered on the animal in the second which brightened the entire scene. That would be my guess.

This

The shutter speed in the second photo is twice as long, and your aperture is a stop wider letting in twice the light...

Sounds like evaluative metering just went a bit screwy on you, nothing wrong with the lens

I was more centered on that bright spot of light in the dark photo and understandably the camera screwed me. lol

I need to pay better attention when I have those kinds of situations.