Nikon D3100 over-exposure problem

jekaj · #1 08-21-2011, 04:49 PM

Hi,

Since 6 months I have a Nikon D3100 and we're still not friends. Overall, when I read about this camera it get lots of praise. My camera keeps over-exposing, whether I use shutter or aperture priority, whether I use matrix metering or spot metering. I have the kit lens 18-55 (non VR).

Anyone else experiencing the same problem? Anyone know how to handle it? I usually have exposure compensation set to -0.3, but it is not consistent.

I shoot a lot of pictures of people and end up with highlights blown out and it is quite frustrating.

Any ideas?

Jekaj

BOHEMIANTINKER · #2 08-22-2011, 01:16 AM

That would be frustrating-Are you shooting in Raw so that if the images are over blown you can adjust them post processing? I would set the camera back to 0.0 and then maybe go in and see if your White Balance is set to Auto which is usually sufficent for most situations when shooting raw.

jekaj · #3 08-23-2011, 04:46 AM

Thanks for your reply,

White balance is set to Auto, however I am currently shooting jpeg since I have failed to install any software that handles RAW on my old computer.

jekaj

MarcS · #4 09-25-2011, 02:40 PM

You don't mention using center-weighted metering mode -- have you tried that? Do you have a hand-held light meter? Try getting an incident meter reading of a non-contrasty scene (no bright sunlit areas along with black shadows) and see if it agrees with your cameras meter reading. It should be within a half stop of agreement as long as it's not a really contrasty scene with problem lighting.

cerity · #5 10-30-2011, 06:35 PM

Wildly varying exposures on Nikons is a common issue. It is not a camera fault but more of a learning curve. Is use D700 and D300. Both exhibit the same characteristics with regards exposure and I wll try to explain how the technology works and how to master technique.

First, it is not incorrect to dial in +/- EV compensation. Quite often I will use -1.0 EV if I want to be creative. That said, the exposure issue revolves around the three exposure modes, and the metering principle.

Metering principle:-
the meter measures "reflected" light and assumes the subject is grey. The exposure is calculated by the camera to make grey appear as grey. If it is not grey it not know to compensate. If the subject is black or white, the exposure will be over or underexposed respectively.

Metering modes.
SPOT METERING - it is critical where you put the focus point on the subject. Try to be consistant with focus spot on a mid tone (skin?). If you focus on a white shirt or black dress then exposure with be at least +/- one stop out.
CENTER WEIGHTED. This is the same as spot but with a larger sample area - the same advice should be heeded. Set the area in custom settings to the largest diameter or to "average"
MATRIX METERING - this is the easiest to use technique-wise as it uses an algorithm to deduce exposure from the whole image using colours, and luminosity. In theory this should give the least exposure error.

The histogram is the only way to confirm if the exposure is correct. Check the histogram regularly.

Try this test. Take a photo of your PC monitor (whilst on) with it half in the frame and half out of frame. Take two shots without moving the camera. For the first shot place the focus point on the monitor. Then for the second shot move the focus point away from the monitor then take the picture. Check the two images after and even though you did not move the camera the two shots will be hughly different exposures.

tommie · #6 04-14-2012, 11:55 AM

Thank you cerity!

BOHEMIANTINKER · #7 04-15-2012, 01:12 AM

I've also been having this problem in my last few batches & have discovered that by going into the custom menu & turning off "AUTO ISO" it has quit shooting my ISO out -Definitely fixed my issue & maybe yours too?

Bobar57 · #8 04-22-2012, 07:33 PM

I have no problems at all with mine,but as advised above I have my ISO set to Auto.

Bob

mek42 · #9 04-25-2012, 02:59 AM

I've a different model Nikon dSLR and though I'm a fairly new phtographer, am now using manual for everything. I use the camera metering as a starting point and chimp off the histograms from there.

(Chimping was a new word for me and means to shoot, look at histograms (if you can, look at each color channel in addition to overall) and adjust exposure settings, repeating until the histogram is where you want it.)

RawTherapee is a free software that can read RAWs if you are interested.

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