Originally posted by eznewmedia ....The only problem I've noticed is the images indoors seem dark and almost muddy, compared with the images I've taken on other cheaper digital cameras on full auto setting.
I think Mark Sabatella's excellent answer may be right on target: This is more or less the way digital SLRs work. The Pentax K10D/K20D in particular tries to avoid clipping highlights. I tend to work with one-third of a stop ( EV +1/3) adjustment to the meter, as my default.
I would also agree with Robert Donovan's comment that you should be seeing the same result in any mode, for a given aperture, shutter speed + ISO. I mean, it's the same meter no matter what mode. I assume you mentioned Green and P in the subject title because these are the modes that you've been using.
I have a few suggestions.
First, it sounds like you need to get familiar with the +/- button. You didn't mention it in your post and I bet most of us reading your post were wondering if you tried adjusting the meter.
Second, try different metering modes. I used to favor center-weighted matrix metering, but lately I've been using full-matrix metering with good results. Spot metering I use only for special cases and I don't encounter many special cases. I would suggest switching to full matrix metering.
Third, when you review a shot in the monitor on the back of the camera, ignore the photo itself. There's just not enough detail there to assess the photo well. What is helpful is to turn on blinkies and/or the histogram and learn how to use them. To durn "blinkies" on, go to Menu > Playback > Playback Display and put an x in the Bright/Dark area box. I find this the single most useful part of a quick review of a photo. It tells me at a glance whether there IS either bright or dark clipping and - most important - WHAT'S GETTING CLIPPED. The histogram is usesful too as it tells you what's going on in the middle of the exposure range. But of the two, I find blinkies more useful while shooting.
Of course it's possible (theoretically) that the meter in your new camera is broken, but it's unlikely, and it doesn't sound like you're familiar enough with the camera to make that diagnosis.
Quote: .... I was unfamiliar with that particular setting and didn't want to be reading the manual in front of the client.
Yeah. That's why (as you know now) it's a really good idea to get very familiar with new equipment before taking it on a shoot. Sounds like you're new to digital SLRs generally. They
are different from shooting film. One of the best things about digital is that it's really easy to practice, practice, practice.
Quote: So, I am sure I am doing something wrong ... what is it? Is there not a more or less "full auto" mode that I can use while getting used to this camera, and if green is that setting, like the manual says, why do my images look so dark? Any assistance you can provide for a dumb video guy trying to get back into quality photography again would be much appreciated!
I urge you to abandon the idea of getting familiar with the camera in FULL AUTO mode and jump immediately to taking control, at least to some degree. M mode is really easy to use. Set a reasonable ISO for the scene (use ISO 400 if you aren't sure). Click the green button and shoot. Review the exposure, consider the aperture and shutter speed that the camera gave you when you hit the green button, and learn from that. Adjust as necessary. OR learn to use the K20D's hyperprogram (P) mode, which I think is fantastic. I used to shoot M almost exclusively but I use P more and more and I'm really liking it. One advantage of P is that you can switch into
effective aperture-priority or
effective shutter-priority mode simply by adjusting either the rear or front e-dial, and when you do that, the other setting will be adjusted by the camera automatically. For example, if the camera's default settings in P are f/5.6 @ 1/200th sec, and you decide that you'd like less depth of field, you can turn the rear (aperture) e-dial to f/2.8 and the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed to 1/800th sec.
You're of course more than welcome to use the camera any way you like. But I don't see how anybody learns anything shooting in green mode. The way to learn is to take control and do some practice shooting where you can afford to experiment, make mistakes, encounter problems and figure out how to solve them.
Quote: A follow up: I am noticing that as I use the zoom lens, when I have it full wide, the picture seems bright as the the screen ... and it is showing an F stop of F3.5. However, as I zoom in, it shows the F stop changing to F5.6, and the resulting image is dark ... just like I was encountering earlier today! So the zoom lens is controlling the F stop setting?? Why is that?
You're using a zoom lens with a variable aperture. It has a maximum f/3.5 aperture at 18mm, but when you zoom out to 55mm or whatever, the maximum aperture
gets smaller. The lens isn't exactly controlling your aperture setting in the camera. It's simply sending info to the camera saying, "Well, now that he's zoomed to 55mm, I can't go as wide as f/3.5 any more. Best I can do is f/5.6. Deal with it." And the camera deals with it by adjusting your settings. This is a basic fact of life with zoom lenses. There are zooms with
fixed maximum apertures but they cost more. When you're buying a lens, notice the info provided in the basic description of the lens:
18-55 f/3.5-5.6
16-45 f/4
The first lens has a variable max aperture; the second (which mentions just 1 aperture) has a fixed f/4 through its zoom range.
Hope this helps.
Will