Trouble with exposure and clarity nikon D5300 vs nikon D80

Halo23

Halo23

New member
I recently purchased the D5300 along with the new nikkor 18-200 VR ll. I am having trouble getting the right exposure and clarity compared to what I enjoyed with my D80 and 55-200. It seems that no matter what settings I use my images are underexposed! Shooting in manual always here are some examples of settings I have tried shooting a person in light even shade on a bright sunny day using combinations of these: ISO 200, 250, 320.. apertures of f5 f5.6 and f6.3 with shutter speeds of 125, 160, 200, 250 . Using the 39point auto focus and single serve focus settings. When I pull up the images I then have to adjust the exposure which gives me bright pixelated spots on cheeks and foreheads. And I'm losing that sharp beautiful focus I had with the D80. Any suggestions regarding the camera or lens or both would be greatly appreciated!
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Halo23 said:
I recently purchased the D5300 along with the new nikkor 18-200 VR ll. I am having trouble getting the right exposure and clarity compared to what I enjoyed with my D80 and 55-200. It seems that no matter what settings I use my images are underexposed! Shooting in manual always here are some examples of settings I have tried shooting a person in light even shade on a bright sunny day using combinations of these: ISO 200, 250, 320.. apertures of f5 f5.6 and f6.3 with shutter speeds of 125, 160, 200, 250 . Using the 39point auto focus and single serve focus settings. When I pull up the images I then have to adjust the exposure which gives me bright pixelated spots on cheeks and foreheads. And I'm losing that sharp beautiful focus I had with the D80. Any suggestions regarding the camera or lens or both would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

If you're shooting in JPG then I would suggest you first adjust the Sharpness setting on your D5300. This one adjustment will have a big impact on the overall sharpness of your photos.

  • Press the menu button and drop down to the "Shooting Menu" and press "OK".
  • Drop down, highlight "Set Picture Control" and click right one time.
  • Here you'll see different options for "Standard", "Landscape", "Vivid", etc.; these are your Picture Controls and each one has its own set of sub-menus.
  • Drop down and highlight "Standard" then click right one time.
  • You'll see options here one of which is "Sharpening".
  • Highlight this option and adjust the slider to +6 or +7.
  • Press "OK" and exit the menus.
Now, as for your underexposure have you tried shooting in one of the Automatic modes, like "A"perture priority or "P"rogram mode?

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Halo23

Halo23

New member
Thank you! That is something I did not know! I didn't realize you could change the sharpness within the picture control panel, I just thought I had to choose a preset. I have tried shooting in program/professional mode and they are even more underexposed and dark with the ISO set to auto under the same shooting circumstances. I just can't figure out of it's the camera or lens or both. I am trying to use the same settings that I used with my D80 but not getting the same quality images. I will adjust that sharpness setting though and see if that helps.
 
N

nickt

Senior Member
More dark in P mode? Be sure you don't have any exposure compensation dialed in and make sure matrix metering is selected. Also make sure when you snap the picture that nothing is flashing at you to warn you of low light. Maybe post a picture with your settings.
 
Halo23

Halo23

New member
Yes, darker in p mode. And matrix stays set . When I get to my computer I'll try to load a couple images in this thread as examples.
 
Marilynne

Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Welcome!

Please post some samples with the EXIF info. It's always better to see a photo.
 
Halo23

Halo23

New member
In Example1 the settings were 1/160 f/6.3 ISO:250 Manual mode. In Example3 Program mode 1/320 f/5 ISO:200
 

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  • exposure example3.jpg
    exposure example3.jpg
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Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
nickt said:
More dark in P mode? Be sure you don't have any exposure compensation dialed in and make sure matrix metering is selected.
Click to expand...
That was my thought too.

Press and hold this button...
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exposure-compensation1.jpg
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Until the matching icon on the Information screen shows "0.0" like you see here:
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EXP COMP.jpg
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Halo23

Halo23

New member
In manual mode that button controls the aperture on the d5300. In program mode it does control the exposure comp. But is set to 0. I tried to work within the picture control setting as suggested earlier but I am not given the option for a sub menu to adjust anything?
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Halo23 said:
Yes I just posted two shots with the info. Can you not see them? Loaded as attachments.
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I do now... But I must not be understanding something because the exposure on all your uploaded photos looks fine to me. If anything they're a little OVER exposed.

???
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Halo23

Halo23

New member
I may be highly critical then because I think the do 300 shots are too dark on the skin and some surrounding areas. I have hundreds of examples that are all making me crazy. Perhaps it's the larger file size that makes it more noticeable but when I try to lighten or adjust exposure on the images from the d5300 it creates a blown out mess on the skin. Does anyone see a difference between the D80 shot and the D5300 shots I posted?
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Halo23 said:
I may be highly critical then because I think the do 300 shots are too dark on the skin and some surrounding areas. I have hundreds of examples that are all making me crazy. Perhaps it's the larger file size that makes it more noticeable but when I try to lighten or adjust exposure on the images from the d5300 it creates a blown out mess on the skin. Does anyone see a difference between the D80 shot and the D5300 shots I posted?
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I pulled a shot from both cameras into Photoshop, the girl standing in the pale blue dress with arms outstretched and the last one, the blonde girl in closeup. The histograms show both shots are clipping significantly in the highlights. The first one (of the girl in the pale blue dress) clips hard across *all* channels (R, G & B) while the second shot (blonde in closeup) shows a lot of clipping in the Blue channel. It looks fine, though, in the Red and Green channels.

Are you shooting RAW or JPG and what are you using to edit your photos?
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Halo23

Halo23

New member
Thanks for the input. I never shoot in raw and I use three different editing programs, one being the CS5. I guess it is hard to explain what I'm seeing. It looks to me like areas which should be brighter look dark and areas that should be darker look too bright. almost like an inverted contrast? I'll see if I can find a better example or post the original and edited version of a shot.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Halo23 said:
Thanks for the input. I never shoot in raw and I use three different editing programs, one being the CS5. I guess it is hard to explain what I'm seeing. It looks to me like areas which should be brighter look dark and areas that should be darker look too bright. almost like an inverted contrast? I'll see if I can find a better example or post the original and edited version of a shot.
Click to expand...
Based on your description here, I'm wondering if what's getting under your skin is what's known as "Active D-Lighting". This is a "feature" on Nikon DSLR's that some people swear BY, and others swear AT. What does, in short, is try to reduce shadows in shots with very high contrast in them. I don't like it, personally, and most people I know who shoot Nikon don't like it either.

You can enable/disable the Active D Lighting option in the SHOOTING menu of your D5300 by following these instructions. Hope this helps.

ADL.jpg
Active D-Lighting set to "Auto"​

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Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Horoscope Fish said:
Based on your description here, I'm wondering if what's getting under your skin is what's known as "Active D-Lighting". This is a "feature" on Nikon DSLR's that some people swear BY, and others swear AT. What does, in short, is try to reduce shadows in shots with very high contrast in them. I don't like it, personally, and most people I know who shoot Nikon don't like it either.

You can enable/disable the Active D Lighting option in the SHOOTING menu of your D5300 by following these instructions. Hope this helps.

View attachment 148551

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Click to expand...
Yes do not use this either lol I hate it.
 
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