HELP: G9 available light underexposing in P mode

Hi,

I was trying out my G9 last night for available light use.

My old SD550 on set on manual at ISO 50 in dim light would open the aperture to full and the shutter as long as it could so thatt in low room light you would get a well exposed picture... and if on a tripod.. a sharp one.

I tried this last night with the G9 set to "P" mode and ISO set to 80 with auto ISO shift turned OFF.

All of the available light shots taken this way with the G9 were underexposed.. very dark.

What am I doing wrong?

Also... where is the "Night shot" long exposure mode accssed?

please post a sample. hard to tell otherwise.

J

I don't have one handy... but it's underexposed by ablt 4 stops. Very dark.

Camera was in P mose with ISO licked at 80. obviously didn't get enough light. My SD550 has no problemunder the same conditions.

What settings should P mode have engaged?

If the camera was fooled into setting the exposure on what it saw in a very bright part of the picture, then that part would be properly exposed and the rest of the image would be greatly underexposed.

That is part of the problem with automatic modes, especially matrix style metering modes where the camera is looking up in its little brain to see what pattern it is seeing applies to what exposure set up.

Need an example. otherwise impossible to tell.

I'd suspect that it is not the camera goofing up the exposure but the user error.

J.

if you made the camera stay on ISO 80 and the other options weren't capable of giving you enough light, you will have underexposure. This will happen with any camera if the variables given are not enough (or too much) for proper exposure. ISO 80, even on the slowest shutter speeds is very often not enough to give you a good exposure in low light circumstances.

Believe me... I am a user prone to error... I will check my metering pattern tonight... but I can not believe that if my settings are correct that my SD550 will outshine my G9 in the same ambiant light.

Am I correct in thinking that the G9 in P, A or T modes allows the user to place the center metering spot on the subject and use a 1/2 press of the shutter release to freeze the focus distance and meter value, then re-compose and complere the release to take the photo?

you SD550 uses a much broader weighting for exposure than does the G9. You might want to look at see what metering mode the G9 was in, but again, a posted image with EXIF data intact will probably tell the story.

J

P Mode limits you to a 1 second exposure. The reason your photos are dark is because you aren't opening the shutter long enough. You are going to need a tripod or stable mount to shoot these shots. I also suggest you move your ISO to 100 or 400 as there is no remote release option for the G9 and you are going to get some "shake" when you push and release the button.


SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM (it's not the camera or that your other camera is better/worse)

You will need to shoot M Mode (or AV mode) and set you aperture at 35mm to f2.8 (else it will increase f5.8 as you zoom out). Then you can use the back wheel to set the shutter speed to longer than 1 second. You can also change the aperture in M Mode by hitting the +/- button on the back. This button allows the switch between Shutter and Aperture functions with the wheel. Adjust the shutter speed to give you the proper exposure (little scale thingy to the right of the display needs to be "0" for the proper metered exposure)

btw...the manual is your friend...

hassiman wrote in post #4328307
Am I correct in thinking that the G9 in P, A or T modes allows the user to place the center metering spot on the subject and use a 1/2 press of the shutter release to freeze the focus distance and meter value, then re-compose and complere the release to take the photo?

I don't have a G9 but on a G6 and most Canons, a half-press of the shutter button locks the FOCUS, but not the exposure. The exposure is locked with the "*" (Asterisk) button.