D90 - exposures -
- Thread starter Larry E30
- Start date
Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
You have Exposure Compensation set on all your images. Why? That may be the reason you're NOT getting the exposures you're expecting.
Bikerbrent_RIP
Senior Member
Yes, in my film days (and with 200 cameras I would suspect some are film), I also underexposed my slide film slightly (1/3 to 2/3 stop) to get better images. However, I found that with digital cameras, shooting in matrix mode, this underexposure was NOT needed. I generally shoot in either matrix or spot metering mode and only use exposure compensation under extreme circumstances like snow or white sand scenes, large dark area scenes, etc. What exposure mode do you typically use? I would recommend you go out and take some landscape type photos in matrix mode without exposure compensation and see what you get. Let us know how this works out.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
One of the many reasons I love Highlight-Weighted metering; it automatically detects and meters highlights for optimal exposure with less washout. Highlight-Weighted metering even takes the color of the light source into account to prevent overexposure, even in highlights with a strong color cast. It's pretty much the only metering mode I use any more.
Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
There are 3 meter modes... single point, center-weighted and matrix... What exactly are you calling "highlight-weighted metering, Paul?
Some of the more recent Nikon models (not the D90) have an explicit highlight metering mode in addition to those three. The symbol looks like the one for spot-weighted but with an added asterisk at the upper right.
Saves you the trouble of using spot metering on the bright part of the scene, locking exposure, and then recomposing the shot - which would give you the same result.
Saves you the trouble of using spot metering on the bright part of the scene, locking exposure, and then recomposing the shot - which would give you the same result.
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The D750 has it. This video says it's on professional model bodies. Highlight Metering starts around 1:30.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
The two modes render very different results under identical shooting conditions. I've tried them both, side-by-side, and Highlight Weighted is definitely using a very different algorithm for calculating exposure; one that incorporates data from RGB channel saturation if I had to guess. I say that because Highlight Weighted is clearly better at preventing individual color channel clipping (reds and greens in particular) in my experience.
Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
Wow!!! Learn something NEW every day. It's on about 4 or 5 cameras... Thank y'all... guess I'll have to buy a new camera to get it... D610, D750, D7500, D500 and D810... I presume the D850
I don't have the D90 anymore - but MAYBE I was ahead of my time. ( Now I use an Olympus Pen F $1000. absolutely fantastic camera-but with a chunky after market china metal BIG grip. - really - I couldn't be happier.My other camera is an Olympus E-3 with Oly. 18-180mm.Great set up for car shows)But the minus 2/3 really seems to get the exposure in...or low then in PP really bring it in. Larry
This morning I switched my D750 to highlight metering to try during Worship. My ISO tends to be @4000 or 5000 in this situation (no flash allowed). It lasted all of one frame. It underexposed way too much. No doubt it has its uses, but I still prefer center weighted metering for what I shoot.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Not that I care how anyone shoots but simply by way of explanation...
When shooting at high ISO you lose dynamic range and won’t be able to pull up the Shadows nearly as well as you could with images shot at, say, ISO 100 or 200. Highlight Weighted metering meters off the highlights, protects them from clipping, and yes... It does so at the expense of the Shadow regions which will appear under-exposed. The idea being that the Shadow regions will be able to be recovered in post while at the same time preserving Highlight detail. Center Weighted metering, on the other hand, restricts the metering calculation area to a smaller, more centralized portion of the frame. If that's what's important to be metering off of, Center Weighted is the correct metering choice. Different tools for different shooting situations.
Highlight Weighted metering doesn't do anything TO the Highlights, it simply preserves them from clipping.
While the shady items disappear off the bottom of the dynamic range.
Nothing new or interesting about metering limits here, use that plus/minus button and click again to home in on what you want.
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