I haven't got around to doing a controlled test of live view vs viewfinder exposure as I have a bit of a bug but I took a short walk with my camera today and took a few photos of a mushroom which required me to use live view - they were clearly all overexposed thus leading me to believe that the issue, for me at least, is related to live view - probably due to the mirror being up affecting the metering somehow. I thought it might be light entering the viewfinder but if the mirror is up, I would have thought that would block any light from the viewfinder which, if anything, would cause overexposure.
D5500 & 18-200 Zoom lens anomaly ??? URGENT PLEASE
- Thread starter Brian L
- Start date
I don't use live view at all but I will try out today and let you know what happens with my camera - should be interesting. One thing I did note yesterday was pictures taken with both RAW and JPG showed quite a difference in sharpness - the RAW pictures were considerably sharper straight out of the camera so I intend to experiment today with sharpness setting on the JPG files and see is increasing the in camera sharpening makes a difference. Still nothing back form Nikon support !
The light here has been pretty poor so I didn't get around to do anything in a controlled way but I did a quick test with four apertures; f4.5, f8, f16 and f29 each using the viewfinder and live view with eye piece cover on and off - 16 photos in all. There was an exposure discrepancy of about one stop between the highest exposure and the lowest exposure but there was no pattern as far as live view vs viewfinder or eye piece cover on vs off. The only noticeable difference was with the f-stop with similar results to those already found - so that's my theory out of the window, I suppose, but I also took some more live view fungus photos today and they are overexposed.
We had thick fog up here today so I did not get any pictures but will definitely manage tomorrow and let you know what the results are BUT like you I've found that this same anomaly will result and it definitely seems to be with this camera and lens combinations - more to do with the lenses I guess. Will update you tomorrow.
Hi Okulo
I've managed to take a few pictures today using Live View and comparing them to normal view and they all showed the same differences again with the lowest F No exhibiting the drop of approx. 1 stop. This applies regardless of zoom setting - always on lowest F No ie. No zoom 3.5 FNo Zoomed 56mm F 4.8. Nikon NEEDS to rectify this situation with a firmware update or at least letting us know EXACTLY what the issue is and how to resolve it !
I've managed to take a few pictures today using Live View and comparing them to normal view and they all showed the same differences again with the lowest F No exhibiting the drop of approx. 1 stop. This applies regardless of zoom setting - always on lowest F No ie. No zoom 3.5 FNo Zoomed 56mm F 4.8. Nikon NEEDS to rectify this situation with a firmware update or at least letting us know EXACTLY what the issue is and how to resolve it !
I've just sent the email below to Nikon support. Tested the D5500 with a Tamron lens today and got the same result of a 1 stop difference.
D5500 underexposes by 1 stop at minimum aperture on ANY make or model of lens. Even zooming at lowest apertures causes the same issue. I have tested with Sigma & Tamron lenses. Also tried a D3200 body with same lenses and this DID NOT show the same issue. Can you advise if a firmware update is imminent or would you be prepared to replace the camera with a different model and allow me to pay any differences. I am not alone with this issue. I'd prefer to keep the D5500 as in all other aspects it is ideal. the camera was purchased for WEX on line on the 23-04-2015 along with a Nikon 18-200 lens purchased on the same date. I REALLY need your help as I saved up for months to buy this and am bitterly disappointed !
The 2 attached pictures clearly show the differences.
Will let you know the outcome
D5500 underexposes by 1 stop at minimum aperture on ANY make or model of lens. Even zooming at lowest apertures causes the same issue. I have tested with Sigma & Tamron lenses. Also tried a D3200 body with same lenses and this DID NOT show the same issue. Can you advise if a firmware update is imminent or would you be prepared to replace the camera with a different model and allow me to pay any differences. I am not alone with this issue. I'd prefer to keep the D5500 as in all other aspects it is ideal. the camera was purchased for WEX on line on the 23-04-2015 along with a Nikon 18-200 lens purchased on the same date. I REALLY need your help as I saved up for months to buy this and am bitterly disappointed !
The 2 attached pictures clearly show the differences.
Will let you know the outcome
Nikon support got back to me within 30 minutes ! I'm sending the camera body off tomorrow and will let you know the outcome. See Nikon reply below.
So its beginning to look like they has a solution that seems logical !
(I am sorry to hear of the issue you are having. I canclearly see from the photos provided that it does indeed seem to beunderexposing somewhat when shot wide open. One reason for this and the mostlikely given that it is happening across the board is that the manual aperturecontrol lever on the body is very slightly off and the lever cannot get thelens to its widest aperture even when the camera thinks it should. This wouldexplain the change and darkening in exposure and also why the lenses perform justfine on another body.)
So its beginning to look like they has a solution that seems logical !
(I am sorry to hear of the issue you are having. I canclearly see from the photos provided that it does indeed seem to beunderexposing somewhat when shot wide open. One reason for this and the mostlikely given that it is happening across the board is that the manual aperturecontrol lever on the body is very slightly off and the lever cannot get thelens to its widest aperture even when the camera thinks it should. This wouldexplain the change and darkening in exposure and also why the lenses perform justfine on another body.)
Hi Okulo
UPDATE - Sent the camera body to Nikon. First they said it was 'stuck' at the postoffice (Monday) On the Tuesday they acknowledged they now had the camera.Phoned Wednesday - no they don't have the camera - panic - then wait yes theydefinitely do have it. So far so good. THEN on reading the acknowledgementemail stating they have it they added in small print "We cannot repairunder warranty without a VAT receipt !!!) No one mentioned this and once again it is Nikon's delayingtactics. As this was purchased from WEXon line I wondered why my email confirmation order and delivery receipt wouldnot suffice but fortunately on checking with WEX I was able to download a VATreceipt. So I've emailed this to themand they 'hope' to look at the camera by the 16th. Obviously they are pretty busy with repairs! Also I paid £605 for this body now youcan buy it for £399 - so very piss** off with the whole thing.
UPDATE - Sent the camera body to Nikon. First they said it was 'stuck' at the postoffice (Monday) On the Tuesday they acknowledged they now had the camera.Phoned Wednesday - no they don't have the camera - panic - then wait yes theydefinitely do have it. So far so good. THEN on reading the acknowledgementemail stating they have it they added in small print "We cannot repairunder warranty without a VAT receipt !!!) No one mentioned this and once again it is Nikon's delayingtactics. As this was purchased from WEXon line I wondered why my email confirmation order and delivery receipt wouldnot suffice but fortunately on checking with WEX I was able to download a VATreceipt. So I've emailed this to themand they 'hope' to look at the camera by the 16th. Obviously they are pretty busy with repairs! Also I paid £605 for this body now youcan buy it for £399 - so very piss** off with the whole thing.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
This sounds roughly par for the course when dealing with Nikon customer service. It's why I buy grey market and get a third party warranty. That being said, you'll likely get satisfaction from Nikon... Eventually. I just hope they don't invoke their "Magic Wand" of "IMPACT DAMAGE" in order to stick you with the bill.
As for the price drop, that's just the nature of technology.
Good luck with the repair, though, and please keep us updated.
....
Hi Brian,
That's useful to know because I bought mine online from eGlobalcentral so I don't have a VAT receipt; it looks like I will have to live with the problem unless there is a firmware fix.
I had bought a grey import before, a D70, albeit second hand, and the Nikon website refused to accept its registration on the grounds that it hadn't been sold in the UK. With my D5500, the website did accept its registration so I had assumed that it would be covered.
I paid £374.29 for mine with an 18-55 lens (which I don't use) at the end of August so it's swings and roundabouts, I suppose.
I think the strategy of paying minimal price and accepting any losses has paid off in the long run. I have never paid for an extended warranty or phone insurance and I think that has saved me thousands which would have paid for many of the things I have bought to be replaced with new items if they failed out of warranty. I will file my experience with the D5500 in the same place. But that's just my philosophy; why pay companies to manage my losses and make a profit from me in doing so?
Also, I have a quite strict policy of stopping looking at specifications and prices after I have bought something as I know that they are always going to get better and cheaper.
Sorry to hear of your experience with Nikon but it looks like they are going to deal with it or at least investigate. I have noticed a steady decline in customer service in the last few years. One company I dealt with had a three year warranty on their hardware but they would only diagnose a problem under their technical support warranty which only lasts three months - so to get a hardware fault diagnosed, I would have to pay for an extension to the technical support warranty. I returned the item, a NAS, to the shop where they took out the HDDs I had bought separately and gave them back to me and then returned it for replacement but they cocked up the paperwork and as a 'replacement' sent another one of the HDDs they had taken out which was significantly cheaper than the NAS - on paper, an item had vanished into thin air and another one had magically materialised and they were refusing to accept that they were at fault and I was accused by a member of staff of trying to perpetrate a fraud. Eventually, I did get a refund but I am stuck with the removed HDDs which are redundant on their own until I buy a replacement NAS.
As far as the problem goes from my point of view, currently, it only seems to exist to a noticeable extent when I am using live view and taking photos of mushrooms; i.e. it seems very difficult to pin down.
I hope you get yours sorted out soon.
That's useful to know because I bought mine online from eGlobalcentral so I don't have a VAT receipt; it looks like I will have to live with the problem unless there is a firmware fix.
I had bought a grey import before, a D70, albeit second hand, and the Nikon website refused to accept its registration on the grounds that it hadn't been sold in the UK. With my D5500, the website did accept its registration so I had assumed that it would be covered.
I paid £374.29 for mine with an 18-55 lens (which I don't use) at the end of August so it's swings and roundabouts, I suppose.
I think the strategy of paying minimal price and accepting any losses has paid off in the long run. I have never paid for an extended warranty or phone insurance and I think that has saved me thousands which would have paid for many of the things I have bought to be replaced with new items if they failed out of warranty. I will file my experience with the D5500 in the same place. But that's just my philosophy; why pay companies to manage my losses and make a profit from me in doing so?
Also, I have a quite strict policy of stopping looking at specifications and prices after I have bought something as I know that they are always going to get better and cheaper.
Sorry to hear of your experience with Nikon but it looks like they are going to deal with it or at least investigate. I have noticed a steady decline in customer service in the last few years. One company I dealt with had a three year warranty on their hardware but they would only diagnose a problem under their technical support warranty which only lasts three months - so to get a hardware fault diagnosed, I would have to pay for an extension to the technical support warranty. I returned the item, a NAS, to the shop where they took out the HDDs I had bought separately and gave them back to me and then returned it for replacement but they cocked up the paperwork and as a 'replacement' sent another one of the HDDs they had taken out which was significantly cheaper than the NAS - on paper, an item had vanished into thin air and another one had magically materialised and they were refusing to accept that they were at fault and I was accused by a member of staff of trying to perpetrate a fraud. Eventually, I did get a refund but I am stuck with the removed HDDs which are redundant on their own until I buy a replacement NAS.
As far as the problem goes from my point of view, currently, it only seems to exist to a noticeable extent when I am using live view and taking photos of mushrooms; i.e. it seems very difficult to pin down.
I hope you get yours sorted out soon.
Hi Okulo
Well things have changed significantly. Just tried a D5300 with my 18-200 lens andguess what - yes the exposure dropped by around 3/4 stop to 1 stop. Cant believe it ! I've just phoned Nikon and asked them toreturn the camera body without checking it as it is NOT the camera body. Like you I simply don't know where to go fromhere ! Other than just living with itbecause in all other aspects the camera and lens are fantastic. So there you have it - subject closed for meI'm afraid. I hope you manage to getyour issues fixed as well but to be honest I'm beginning to think that allcameras exhibit some form of exposure anomaly !
Well things have changed significantly. Just tried a D5300 with my 18-200 lens andguess what - yes the exposure dropped by around 3/4 stop to 1 stop. Cant believe it ! I've just phoned Nikon and asked them toreturn the camera body without checking it as it is NOT the camera body. Like you I simply don't know where to go fromhere ! Other than just living with itbecause in all other aspects the camera and lens are fantastic. So there you have it - subject closed for meI'm afraid. I hope you manage to getyour issues fixed as well but to be honest I'm beginning to think that allcameras exhibit some form of exposure anomaly !
Yes, I had similar thoughts. In the olden days with 35mm cameras, we often didn't see the photos for days or weeks and the results, as I remember, could be equally unpredictable but we usually took more time in preparing our shot as the 24 or 36 shots per roll were more precious. I think that I am more careless with my digital photography even though I try to avoid checking each photo as it is taken. And perhaps we are too reliant on technology. I often complain to a photographer friend that the democratisation of art via technology has made it too easy and I have also become lazy as a result. Besides, with Lightroom or other RAW editors, exposure is easily rectified without any noticeable payoff.
On an entirely different note, my favourite monster mushroom has disappeared! It was about 5" in diameter. I saw it yesterday and today it's gone. There is a tyre track over where it used to be but no remains. I felt quite sad but nothing lasts forever.
On an entirely different note, my favourite monster mushroom has disappeared! It was about 5" in diameter. I saw it yesterday and today it's gone. There is a tyre track over where it used to be but no remains. I felt quite sad but nothing lasts forever.
I'm afraid I am not much of a mushroom expert, I'm just fascinated by them and have about twenty different species almost outside my front door and countless dozens on the wider estate. I was told it looked like a cep but then the person changed their minds.
I have an app on my iPad called Roger's Mushrooms which is extremely detailed but I still find identification quite vague. I will have a look later but please don't take my word for it if I come up with anything. However, I have seen the second one around here.
I have an app on my iPad called Roger's Mushrooms which is extremely detailed but I still find identification quite vague. I will have a look later but please don't take my word for it if I come up with anything. However, I have seen the second one around here.