It always seems that my D3100 underexposes an image. I usually shoot in manual or aperture priority mode using matrix for the exposure. If a center the meter when using manual mode, or allow the camera to pick a shutter speed in A mode, the histogram is almost always hugging the left side (but not clipping). Yes it is easy to fix in Lightroom or I can use the exposure compensation button but why is this happening?? It would be a lot easier if the exposure was closer to start with!! I understand that the meter is working on the assumption that everything is 18% grey, but I pretty much get this happening in 90% of my shots. Now, if this is a normal thing for the D3100, is it the same for the D7100 (my next camera very soon!!)
Why am I always underexposing with my D3100
- Thread starter Revet
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Matrix metering evaluates the whole scene and then decides the exposure. If there are a few areas where the brightness is high, then the scene will seem to be under exposed.
If you want the area of interest to be correctly exposed, use "Center Weighed" metering. That will expose the centre (area of interest) perfectly. Some areas may be blown, but they are normally outside the area of interest. For example when I shoot flowers, the metering is on flowers. If there is a bit of sky in the frame it is over exposed.
If you want the area of interest to be correctly exposed, use "Center Weighed" metering. That will expose the centre (area of interest) perfectly. Some areas may be blown, but they are normally outside the area of interest. For example when I shoot flowers, the metering is on flowers. If there is a bit of sky in the frame it is over exposed.
Browncoat
Senior Member
I'm not familiar with the D3100. However, I do know that a lot of camera models have a tendency to either under or overexpose. A quick search revealed that this is the case with the D3100. The issue is the camera, not you.
It's good that you know that your meter wants to make everything 18% grey. It's also good that you're comfortable enough to shoot outside of the auto modes. Now...what are you going to do about it? You have to compensate for this yourself.
Remember the exposure triangle: shutter speed, aperture, ISO. This is an exposure problem, and how those relate to lighting:
You need to let MORE light into all of your photos, and you can't make an adjustment to one of these without affecting the others. How much are you tweaking in Lightroom? Are you going up a full stop on exposure? Things to consider:
Aperture is often the easiest to adjust, depending on what you're shooting. You want to stay in the lens "sweet spot" for sharp pictures, so determine that if opening up is going to adversely affect sharpness.
ISO is also easy. If you're in normal daylight and shooting underexposed @ ISO 200, going to ISO 400 isn't going to add visible noise. Problem solved. But this isn't going to work for low light situations where jacking up ISO will bring a lot of noise into your shots.
Shutter speed can be tricky, and should be a last resort adjustment.
Good luck!
It's good that you know that your meter wants to make everything 18% grey. It's also good that you're comfortable enough to shoot outside of the auto modes. Now...what are you going to do about it? You have to compensate for this yourself.
Remember the exposure triangle: shutter speed, aperture, ISO. This is an exposure problem, and how those relate to lighting:
Shutter speed controls the duration of light.
Aperture controls the amount of light.
ISO controls sensitivity to light.
Aperture controls the amount of light.
ISO controls sensitivity to light.
You need to let MORE light into all of your photos, and you can't make an adjustment to one of these without affecting the others. How much are you tweaking in Lightroom? Are you going up a full stop on exposure? Things to consider:
Aperture is often the easiest to adjust, depending on what you're shooting. You want to stay in the lens "sweet spot" for sharp pictures, so determine that if opening up is going to adversely affect sharpness.
ISO is also easy. If you're in normal daylight and shooting underexposed @ ISO 200, going to ISO 400 isn't going to add visible noise. Problem solved. But this isn't going to work for low light situations where jacking up ISO will bring a lot of noise into your shots.
Shutter speed can be tricky, and should be a last resort adjustment.
Good luck!
Sorry, I miss read. On a 7 inch tablet now.
Englischdude
Senior Member
can you post a typical shot? check the manual and familiarize yourself with the different metering modes and utilize this when composing the shot. see if the results are different. I also suggest selecting single point metering and shoot a well lit object, if the object is then correctly exposed I suspect the situation lies with the matrix metering being not suitable for the shot.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Histograms are often misunderstood it seems... I'd need to see some of your underexposed shots because a histogram that "hugs the left side" does not necessarily mean your shot is underexposed; it means there is a lot of shadows and blacks in your shot. I don't mean to say your shots are NOT underexposed, however; I mean to say I'd need to see the shots themselves.
If your D3100 is in fact underexposing the simple solution might be to adjust the Exposure Compensation.
...
If your D3100 is in fact underexposing the simple solution might be to adjust the Exposure Compensation.
...
This is a tough one to address, even if we could see a problem picture.
Reflective meters are simply not 100% accurate. It is not "wrong", but what the meter will read depends on the scene (which varies). The sooner this is realized, the better. There is absolutely nothing new to be covered here, but if anyone doesn't know yet, they should look into it.
Reflected meters are aimed at the subject from the camera, and meters the light that the subject's colors reflect.
A white background or subject reflects a lot of light, which reads high, so the meter underexposes the picture.
A black background or subject reflects little light, which reads low, so the meter overexposes the picture.
The expected reflected goal is that all results come out middle gray brightness, not too dark, not too bright. This is all the meter can do (it cannot recognize anything). Fortunately, many typical scenes contain a random mix of dark and light colors that probably will average out about middle gray, then the middle gray result can often be about correct. When otherwise, we can compensate it, to correct it to come out as as we want, brighter or darker, as needed.
Incident meters are the reverse, aimed at the camera from the subject, which reads the incident light from the light source directly (is never influenced by the "subject"). So then any subject tone, be its colors light, dark, or middle, is shown as it is. Kind of a big deal. Point&shoot, where it counts. Incident meters have the accuracy that newbies imagine their reflected meters ought to have (but can't). Of course this is not possible at the camera, incident meters meter the light incident on the subject (from the subjects position).
To illustrate Reflective metering is this obvious example: How light meters work - Simply how life is. If we imagine our meter should always get it right, we're in for disappointment. Which is our fault, we need to learn what to expect, and how to react.
Matrix metering has a computer in there doing unknown things. It is far from a human brain, too dumb to recognize the scene with any human understanding. It cannot tell a black cat in a coal mine from a polar bear on the snow. BOTH will come out around middle gray (reflected meters). Matrix does try point&shoot heroics, but it is also safe to say we are never sure what it will do. Matrix Metering result will also vary with subject contrast, and is heavily influenced by area under the focusing point. With single point focus, you should know where that is. With Dynamic or Auto Area, you may not know.
Quoted from the Nikon Glossary online, which says:
Matrix metering: If you are a beginner, Matrix is where you should start. As your skills grow, and they will, you will acquire a better understand of when it might be beneficial to use other light metering options.
Center metering: Meter sensitivity is biased toward the center of the viewfinder. Recommended when the subject is in the center of the picture.
Spot metering: A metering method in which meter sensitivity is concentrated within a small circle in the center of the viewfinder. Recommended for very precise metering; requires extensive knowledge of lighting for really effective use.
Me? I don't care to participate in all that newfangled unknown point&shoot stuff, trying to guess what it might do. When possible, I always use Center Weighted metering and Single Point focus (old fogy stuff), because I can see the scene too, and I like knowing what to expect that metering will do. I still have to deal with the reflective meter, but we learn, and Center and Single are simply easier to understand.
But metering is a skill that we learn.
Reflective meters are simply not 100% accurate. It is not "wrong", but what the meter will read depends on the scene (which varies). The sooner this is realized, the better. There is absolutely nothing new to be covered here, but if anyone doesn't know yet, they should look into it.
Reflected meters are aimed at the subject from the camera, and meters the light that the subject's colors reflect.
A white background or subject reflects a lot of light, which reads high, so the meter underexposes the picture.
A black background or subject reflects little light, which reads low, so the meter overexposes the picture.
The expected reflected goal is that all results come out middle gray brightness, not too dark, not too bright. This is all the meter can do (it cannot recognize anything). Fortunately, many typical scenes contain a random mix of dark and light colors that probably will average out about middle gray, then the middle gray result can often be about correct. When otherwise, we can compensate it, to correct it to come out as as we want, brighter or darker, as needed.
Incident meters are the reverse, aimed at the camera from the subject, which reads the incident light from the light source directly (is never influenced by the "subject"). So then any subject tone, be its colors light, dark, or middle, is shown as it is. Kind of a big deal. Point&shoot, where it counts.
Incident meters have the accuracy that newbies imagine their reflected meters ought to have (but can't). Of course this is not possible at the camera, incident meters meter the light incident on the subject (from the subjects position).To illustrate Reflective metering is this obvious example: How light meters work - Simply how life is. If we imagine our meter should always get it right, we're in for disappointment. Which is our fault, we need to learn what to expect, and how to react.
Matrix metering has a computer in there doing unknown things. It is far from a human brain, too dumb to recognize the scene with any human understanding. It cannot tell a black cat in a coal mine from a polar bear on the snow. BOTH will come out around middle gray (reflected meters). Matrix does try point&shoot heroics, but it is also safe to say we are never sure what it will do.
Matrix Metering result will also vary with subject contrast, and is heavily influenced by area under the focusing point. With single point focus, you should know where that is. With Dynamic or Auto Area, you may not know.Quoted from the Nikon Glossary online, which says:
Matrix metering: If you are a beginner, Matrix is where you should start. As your skills grow, and they will, you will acquire a better understand of when it might be beneficial to use other light metering options.
Center metering: Meter sensitivity is biased toward the center of the viewfinder. Recommended when the subject is in the center of the picture.
Spot metering: A metering method in which meter sensitivity is concentrated within a small circle in the center of the viewfinder. Recommended for very precise metering; requires extensive knowledge of lighting for really effective use.
Me? I don't care to participate in all that newfangled unknown point&shoot stuff, trying to guess what it might do. When possible, I always use Center Weighted metering and Single Point focus (old fogy stuff), because I can see the scene too, and I like knowing what to expect that metering will do. I still have to deal with the reflective meter, but we learn, and Center and Single are simply easier to understand.
But metering is a skill that we learn.
Even I have not been able to fathom the criteria of exposure behind Matrix Metering. I always use Center Weighed metering and normally the centre focusing point. That way I know what is going on, and not relying much on the computer in the camera. My son is a big proponent of matrix metering, but I find its exposures erratic.
It seems a lot of you use center weighted. Might be good for me to try that mode and see how the exposures turn out. I read a lot on photography e-books and most use matrix so that is what I have been using. I do a lot of high contrast stuff so I switch to spot metering for that. I will give all the suggestions a try and see what happens and get back to everyone. Thanks
A consistent error, continually and exactly repeated in many different situations, would imply some hardware problem, like miscalibration. Just sometimes though, would imply a procedural problem.
Does indoors mean flash? SB-700 does TTL BL flash mode by default, and up to one stop underexposed is common indoors. We use Flash Compensation to correct it, to obtain the desired result. Simply do what you see you need to do. This really is no big deal, nowhere near as terrible as it may sound, because it quickly becomes very easy very soon. You learn what to expect for the similar situations, and you have already done it in advance. It is called experience.
Flash indoors - if seeing this problem with TTL BL flash indoors (and you will), try using Spot Metering mode indoors. Spot metering is a strong caution in brighter ambient, it is never what the inexperienced expect. Not point&shoot, anything but... Spot metering requires considerably more skill and knowledge (in ambient bright enough to matter).
However indoors, the flash system does not use Spot metering. The ambient does, but indoors (assuming low ISO), the ambient is too low level to care about, meaning in this case, it really won't matter what the spot is aimed at. Flash always meters a central area. What Spot metering does for flash is to switch the default TTL BL mode to instead be TTL mode - which is not a balanced mode - the system does not reduce its level (even when it should, for example fill flash in bright sun).
You will very likely get your one stop back then.
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Well I just got the camera back in Jan from a complete overhaul so I assume they checked the calibration. No, not with flash. This would be indoors with good natural lighting. In addition, I am a good student Wayne and have thoroughly studied your Four flash fundamentals. I normally use spot metering indoors with flash (TTL) and matrix when outdoors (TTL-BL).
I can post a picture if everyone would like but I guess what I really want to know is this a generalized thing with Nikon camera's since I am getting a D7100 shortly and I am used to it with the D3100. If it happens with the D7100 I will be back here in a flash with pictures
I can post a picture if everyone would like but I guess what I really want to know is this a generalized thing with Nikon camera's since I am getting a D7100 shortly and I am used to it with the D3100. If it happens with the D7100 I will be back here in a flash with pictures
Yes, I take a lot of good pictures with the histogram weighted to the left. In the current situation (or topic), the pictures are definitely underexposed in all areas (highlights, whites, blacks and shadows). A quick slide of the exposure slider in Lightroom to the right will make it perfect. I generally copy the settings of the first photo and apply it to all and everything is great. If I was going to keep this camera, I would do it as a preset.