Hello!

When I put my K10D in automatic mode, the exposure is not calculated right.

For example: I take a picture inside a room with a small window. The room is quite dark but outside is bright sunlight. The exposure will be calculated for the bright window (which is relatively small) rather than the entirely dark room. So I get basically a completely black picture with a small properly exposed window where I can see the blue sky outside.

By the looks of it, the exposure will be calculated only for the highlights rather than the average of the entire picture.

Can someone tell me what I have to do, to change this?

Thanks,
Bernhard

[elliott]

Can you post an example image with EXIF?

[Adam]

Hello!

When I put my K10D in automatic mode, the exposure is not calculated right.

For example: I take a picture inside a room with a small window. The room is quite dark but outside is bright sunlight. The exposure will be calculated for the bright window (which is relatively small) rather than the entirely dark room. So I get basically a completely black picture with a small properly exposed window where I can see the blue sky outside.

By the looks of it, the exposure will be calculated only for the highlights rather than the average of the entire picture.

Can someone tell me what I have to do, to change this?

Thanks,
Bernhard

Put the camera in matrix metering mode rather than spot/center weighted mode. If this doesn't help much, you'll need to apply exposure compensation and/or shoot multiple exposures.

This is a picture I have taken in FULL AUTO mode. so any button which can be set to Auto was set to Auto.

h te te pe ://we.tl/XBwyGm3hIk

Thanks for your advice,
Bernhard

[stevebrot]

Auto? I own the K10D and there is no "Auto" meter mode as such.

As Adam noted above, your best bet for no-fuss correct exposure is to set the metering mode to matrix (as opposed to spot or center-averaged). Even that mode may result in over/underexposure of all or part of the frame with some subjects (strong back-lighting or mix of very bright/very dim elements in frame). In those cases you will need to apply exposure compensation or use the AE lock or perhaps manual metering.

As for the specifics for the subject for your original post (bright window, dim room with the intent to show detail in the room). Point the camera to the part of the room you want to be properly exposed being careful to exclude the window from the frame. Push the AE-L button, re-frame, and take the photo.

-- or --

Use spot metering and frame your subject in the center of the viewfinder. Push the AE-L button, re-frame, and take the photo.

In short:

• Meter the part of the frame that you want correctly exposed
• Force the camera to use those settings
• Be aware that your camera cannot reproduce both very bright and very dim with full detail in the same frame

If any of the above does not make sense, a little time with the camera manual might help.


Steve

Auto, well... call it "Green Mode" if you like. it is still an automatic, with a fancy name ...

Since you have the very same camera, is yours doing the same thing when taking a picture with such conditions in green mode? I believe my camera wasn't doing this until recently...

[stevebrot]

is yours doing the same thing when taking a picture with such conditions in green mode? I believe my camera wasn't doing this until recently...

I don't generally use green mode, but yes, it does exactly as you describe and has since it was new. Your eyes do something similar when someone shines a flashlight in your face in a dark room.


Steve

[Daedbird]

Play with the metering mode. like someone else said.....

The biggest thing with backlighting is a digital camera uses that to set up the white balance and sensitivity of the scene. It takes the whitest, brightest spot, and sets the levels from that point on.

Try using your popup flash as a fill....you can take down its power by hitting the Fn button and selecting flash

[zekewhipper]

1) Why are you using Green Mode? That is the worst thing you can do in pretty much every shooting situation, as the camera (like any "dumb" machine) will simply do what -It- wants to do.


2) As folks have expressed, there are a variety of things you can do to overcome your issue.


3) Bear in mind, that even if you can get a fairly balanced out exposure, the scene may still exceed the dynamic range that your camera can capture, so some things may never be exposed properly.


4) Does the image look better on the back LCD than when you view it on the computer? If so, you need to learn that the image exposure that you see on the back LCD is often times simply a lie (for reasons to lengthy to discuss here). Histograms are your best friend when it comes to getting the exposure the best you can. Learn to use and trust the histogram when it comes to exposure and not the image on the LCD.