Nikon D100 help.

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lspencer001

New member
hello. i'm new here. not sure if this is in the right place to post. I am new the the DSLR's. I had and old 35mm slr camera. I wanted to upgrade and found this D100 at a good price and thought I'd try it. it came with the camera body, an old manual lens, the mb-d100, 2 batteries and the charger. I got it home and charged the batteries. I read in the manual on how to put everything in manual mode. it takes good photos when i'm inside. my problem is that when I go to take a photo outside and have the camera focused on an object I get a bright white picture but as soon as I come back inside and take a pic I get a clear pic of an inside object. right now there is snow on the ground here but when I take the pic there is no snow in the focus area. it is like I am taking a picture of the snow pack. I have the ISO in auto an the lighting in auto. any help would be great. thanks
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
If you are going to use Manual mode, you are going to have change the settings (aperture, shutter speed) to match the lighting situation. It is much brighter outdoors in the sun than indoors.

For starters outdoors, try camera mode P (instead of M). It is automatic. Camera mode P is more like the auto mode that compact cameras use.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
Welcome. It sounds like it is over exposed. This is one of my pet peeves, the notion that you must shoot in manual to get good pictures. Not so. Try P for awhile, then move on to S, or A mode. You must learn about exposure before you shoot manual. Even then, mostly you will shoot in A or S. Shoot manual when you cannot trust your meter for a specific reasons.

Same with auto iso, stay away until you learn what it can do for you. having it on now will make it harder to learn.


Here's some info:
Learning about Exposure - The Exposure Triangle - Digital Photography School

Exposure | Understanding Exposure - ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed Explained

Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed

Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, & Light Explained-Understanding Exposure & Camera Settings - YouTube
 
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lspencer001

New member
ok thanks. the lens is a non cpu lens so I have to shoot in manual mode. I have the ISO set for 1600 and white balance set for auto. the resolution is set for meduim and the shutter speed is set on 1. hope this makes sense. with it set like this I get good indoor pics.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
Does the camera meter work with that lens? If so, observe the meter and adjust the exposure depending on the light. If the camera does not meter, you need less exposure if you are getting white shots, so that means faster shutter or smaller aperture (higher f#)
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
lspencer001 said:
ok thanks. the lens is a non cpu lens so I have to shoot in manual mode. I have the ISO set for 1600 and white balance set for auto. the resolution is set for meduim and the shutter speed is set on 1. hope this makes sense. with it set like this I get good indoor pics.
Click to expand...


OK, so you are assuming that Auto ISO ought to take care of all changing conditions.

But...the range exceeds your expectations. There can be like 12 EV difference between snow in sunshine, and a more dim indoor scene.

But ISO 100 to ISO 3200 is only 5 EV (i.e., insufficient range). So, you are going to need some revised settings in these two situations.

So indoors in dim light, set a wider aperture. You said 1 second shutter, not sure of your goal, but apparently it is working OK.

But you cannot use 1 second in bright sun on the snow. Simply unreasonable. You will get a bright white picture. :) So when out there, reach up and change settings to 1/400 second, and stop lens down, to like f/8 (Sunny 16). Auto ISO might handle that.

I am not sure Auto ISO can even work if the camera cannot meter non-cpu lenses? My own models have metered with non-cpu lenses, so I don't know. But if the camera cannot meter to adjust shutter speed, ISO does not seem a good bet?

Speaking of Sunny 16, it is the information you need to know outdoors. Sunny 16 is what we used in the old days, before light meters were in cameras, and before we could afford to buy a light meter. Every roll of Kodak film came with a Sunny 16 sheet of instructions. It is not precise, our own judging of the light situation could be off 1/2 stop or more, but the wide latitude of B&W negative film covered it, and now Auto ISO should easily cover it, if it works.


Basic rule of thumb for exposure outdoors is:

Shutter speed: 1/ISO is the shutter speed. ISO 100, that is 1/100 second. ISO 400, 1/400 second.

Bright sun - dark sharp shadows - the correct exposure is f/16 (at above shutter speed)

Slight overcast (soft edges on shadows), open a stop to f/11

Overcast (shadows barely visible, but not absent), open another stop, f/8

Heavy overcast (no shadows), open another stop, f/5.6

Open shade (blue sky visible, but not the sun), open another stop, f/4

And Equivalent Exposures work too...

1/100 f/16
1/200 f/11
1/400 f/8
1/800 f/5.6
1/1600 f/4

These are all equivalent exposures. Basics of photography.

Search Google for Sunny 16 - it is all over. Not quite precise enough for digital today, but still valid, and a fantastic starting place, and Auto ISO will easily have range for it, if it works with non-cpu lenses.
 
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