Nikon D850: Images constantly under exposed

[Fred Kingston_RIP]

Send it to Nikon… If you’re correct, they’ll adjust it, and only charge you shipping. If it’s within their defined parameters…they do nothing and only charge you for the shipping.

Either way… I’d just make the adjustment to B7… and skip risking my camera to all the shipping…

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Thank you for the reply.

Because not all D850 have this problem, isn't this something that should be adjusted or serviced by NikonUSA instead of going thru b7: Fine-Tune Optimal Exposure?

Thank you.

You could contact Nikon and discuss it with them but I have a feeling they'll reply saying your D850 is, "Within specification". Then again, they may not; and maybe they'll perform a repair. If the Fine-Tune Optimal Exposure option is one you don't like, I suggest emailing Nikon Customer Service, maybe attach some photos illustrating the problem, and see what they say.

 

[jkmin]

Send it to Nikon… If you’re correct, they’ll adjust it, and only charge you shipping. If it’s within their defined parameters…they do nothing and only charge you for the shipping.

Either way… I’d just make the adjustment to B7… and skip risking my camera to all the shipping…

Thank you for the comment.
I live in Los Angeles area, so I can take it there myself.
I am just debating with myself if this is something I need to do fine tuning myself and live with it or have it serviced by Nikon, if the NikonUSA accept.
Thank you.

 

[jkmin]

You could contact Nikon and discuss it with them but I have a feeling they'll reply saying your D850 is, "Within specification". Then again, they may not; and maybe they'll perform a repair. If the Fine-Tune Optimal Exposure option is one you don't like, I suggest emailing Nikon Customer Service, maybe attach some photos illustrating the problem, and see what they say.

Thank you for the comment.

I am contacting NikonUSA for this issue.
If they perform the repair, do you know what they do by any chance? Do they replace faulty hardware? Certainly it looks like it is not a software issue since the software codes would be same for all D850.

Thank you.

 

[jkmin]

Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

The consensus of this thread from 2017 is that a little underexposure is normal for this camera.

Thank you for the comment and the warm welcome.

But I suppose that this underexposure problem does not happen in the majority of the D850.
Maybe it is definitely due to my lack of knowledge and experience.

Thank you.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Thank you for the comment.

I am contacting NikonUSA for this issue.
If they perform the repair, do you know what they do by any chance? Do they replace faulty hardware? Certainly it looks like it is not a software issue since the software codes would be same for all D850.

Thank you.

While I have read posts from other D850 owners with this same complaint of underexposure, I've not read of anyone having their D850 serviced by Nikon to resolve the issue. Based on the fact there IS a user accessible option to correct this, I would guess Nikon probably does something similar; they'll just have more sophisticated tools and testing equipment to do it with. But again, I'm guessing when I say that. I think it's likely Nikon will request you send in your D850 so they can run diagnostics; if there's an issue they'll provide a quote.

If you do send your camera in to Nikon to be evaluated, I'd be very curious to hear what they say, you're definitely not alone in your underexposure complaint.

 

[Ronnie BoomBoom]

I've pulled your posted shots into Photoshop and there's nothing wrong with them. The camera's metering is behaving exactly as it should. So that's good!

From reading your previous posts it's clear to me you are unclear on precisely how metering works on a DSLR. The camera's meter is designed to give you consistent exposure based on Middle Grey; not necessarily "proper exposure" because only you, as the photographer, can decide what that means. "Proper exposure" is a judgment call, and the meter in your camera does not make judgements; it determines exposure based on Middle Grey. Now, it's true that Matrix Metering attempts to improve on this concept and, a lot of the time, it does a good job at that. However, Matrix Metering is easily confused and when it gets confused it falls back to exposing for Middle Grey. In short, the camera's meter is more like a compass that leads you to the exposure you want and understanding precisely how it does that, is crucial.

Essential Reading: Why Your Camera Loves "Middle Grey" and Why That's Important

This is dead on - "only the photographer can decide". I've seen this same expianation re the same problem on the Z7II (I shoot this and D850) and the same problem appears in photos shot in manual mode with exposure determined with an incident meter (Sekonic 558) and studio flash. (I.e., Nikon's meter is "out of the picture" entirely.}

So while this explanation re middle gray is absolutely valid, I think it may be that Nikon just decided to preserve highlights at the expense of shadows and let the photographers adjust to their own aesthetic. I note that there are some very classy looking professional websites of Nikon shooters and when I downloaded their images they presented similar exposure bias.

 

[Dawg Pics]

I realize this is an old thread, but there is one thing I have never seen addressed. I thought the same thing when I got my D500, images were darker than on my D300. There is an internal setting for exposure, b7 Fine Tune Optimal Exposure, and I wondered if Nikon changed the default values on that for the later cameras or maybe I just didn't know what I was doing when I got the D500, which is most likely.

Anyway, I thought I would alert people regarding that setting in case somebody wanted to futz around with it if they are consistently getting an exposure they aren't expecting or like.