Originally posted by Jool I did do some testing last fall comparing it to my K-5 and also to my sister's camera (not a Pentax, the "C" brand) and the other two cameras seemed to do better exposures than the K-3ii.
Let's get back to basics here. Go over to your sister's place and do a comparison with her Canon:
- Both cameras in Av mode
- Both cameras set to same ISO
- Both cameras set to same aperture
- If possible, both cameras in center-weighted meter mode
- If possible, both cameras with similar lens focal length/maximum aperture
- Use an evenly-lit exterior wall as a target (the less detail, the better)
- Manual focus...Defocus both lenses to minimum focus distance
- Half-press and record the metered shutter speed for both cameras
The two shutter speeds should be within 0.5 stop of each other. Alternatively, compare against a hand-held meter if you have one.
A more rigid diagnostic goes like this:
- Rule out bad metering by comparison to a known-good standard (use plain white or gray card target)
- Rule out bad aperture control by checking a known-good exposure reading against the image histogram at different aperture settings (again, use plain white or gray card target) and ISO with set shutter speed. The histogram should be centered.
- Similarly, rule out bad shutter control.
If meter and aperture and shutter check out, the issue is with some fine point of technique or configuration. FWIW, complaints about metering on Pentax dSLRs are usually that results are too dark.
Steve