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D7200 Meter always 1-2 stops underexposed... HELP
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Aug 21, 2016 11:46:09   #
Gdelvecc Loc: Dallas, TX
 
Almost every Photo I take using the built in meter is between one and two stops underexposed... It shows up mostly using the averaging meter setting taking daylight landscape photos... I use camera spot metering doing outside portraits or use a Sekonic meter and then exposure is spot on. I have checked and double checked exposure compensation, and thats about all I know to. Histograms look a little left due to shadow areas and I hate my cameras display. My MAC monitor is calibrated, and when I have a lab print my stuff they come out perfect. I always include a note to print AS IS!. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


(Download)

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Aug 21, 2016 11:52:42   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
To me this image looks quite properly exposed. The darkest shadows contain detail and the few spots that are close to white are not blown out. Your best bet is to test your camera with an X-Rite Color Checker. The full size version. Then, post those photos. Photographing scenes as a test can introduce a number of variables which will render the results difficult to specifically analyze.
--Bob


Gdelvecc wrote:
Almost every Photo I take using the built in meter is between one and two stops underexposed... It shows up mostly using the averaging meter setting taking daylight landscape photos... I use camera spot metering doing outside portraits or use a Sekonic meter and then exposure is spot on. I have checked and double checked exposure compensation, and thats about all I know to. Histograms look a little left due to shadow areas and I hate my cameras display. My MAC monitor is calibrated, and when I have a lab print my stuff they come out perfect. I always include a note to print AS IS!. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Almost every Photo I take using the built in meter... (show quote)

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Aug 21, 2016 11:57:41   #
Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.
 
Check you Exposure Compensation to make sure it's set at zero. If it is, set it to overexpose by a stop or two.

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Aug 21, 2016 12:01:27   #
jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ
 
It might help if you upload an original picture that still has all the metadata. We can't see what the hell is going on with your picture if that is missing. At best all we can do is guess. If this is what you truly got with a D7200 then you better send it in. Either that, or you've got the camera settings all screwed up or you are dimming down the photo in post and stripping the metadata for all we know.

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Aug 21, 2016 12:03:43   #
Gdelvecc Loc: Dallas, TX
 
Color Checker is a great Idea... All I have is the small one, but ill give it a try. Thanks..

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Aug 21, 2016 12:06:34   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Make sure it is evenly lit, and not reflecting glare when you photograph it.
--Bob


Gdelvecc wrote:
Color Checker is a great Idea... All I have is the small one, but ill give it a try. Thanks..

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Aug 21, 2016 12:08:37   #
Gdelvecc Loc: Dallas, TX
 
Tried to upload original... Too Big... What can I do?

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Aug 21, 2016 12:11:27   #
dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho
 
Mac wrote:
Check you Exposure Compensation to make sure it's set at zero. If it is, set it to overexpose by a stop or two.


He says he has checked and double checked exposure compensation.

Dennis

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Aug 21, 2016 12:13:32   #
martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida
 
You answered your own question. When using Spot metering the exposure comes out right.. So use spot metering. As you know you can't expose properly for all elements in the photo, you have highlights and shadows. Use spot metering to meter off what's important in your photo. Also, Your D7200 allows for up to 3 photos to be combined for a single exposure. Use a tripod for your landscapes and use the 3 shot exposure blending features of your camera. The dynamic range of your camera is excellent and should give you the results your looking for if used to it's full potential. I use the camera as well.

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Aug 21, 2016 12:20:40   #
Gdelvecc Loc: Dallas, TX
 
Now were onto something!! Hadn't thought about the 3 shot solution... Thanks!!!! Just one more thing to carry! Mine is light though..

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Aug 21, 2016 12:27:40   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
jeep_daddy wrote:
It might help if you upload an original picture that still has all the metadata. We can't see what the hell is going on with your picture if that is missing. At best all we can do is guess. If this is what you truly got with a D7200 then you better send it in. Either that, or you've got the camera settings all screwed up or you are dimming down the photo in post and stripping the metadata for all we know.


If you download the posted image all the data is there. I view the download in IrfanView and click Image/Information/EXIF


Make - NIKON CORPORATION
Model - NIKON D7200
XResolution - 300
YResolution - 300
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.6.1 (Macintosh)
DateTime - 2016:08:21 10:42:43
Artist - GARY DELVECCHIO 2115 BRANDEIS DR.
ExifOffset - 268
ExposureTime - 1/2000 seconds
FNumber - 1.80
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
ExifVersion - 0230
DateTimeOriginal - 2016:08:21 09:37:01
DateTimeDigitized - 2016:08:21 09:37:01
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/2000 seconds
ApertureValue - F 1.80
ExposureBiasValue - -2.00 .............................. NOTE
MaxApertureValue - F 1.74
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Fine weather
Flash - Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 35.00 mm
SubsecTimeOriginal - 04
SubsecTimeDigitized - 04
ColorSpace - sRGB
FocalPlaneXResolution - 2558.64
FocalPlaneYResolution - 2558.64
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit - Centimeter
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera
SceneType - A directly photographed image
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Manual
DigitalZoomRatio - 1 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 52 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - Low gain up
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown
Serial Number - 2501319
Lens Info - 18.00 35.00 1.80 1.80
Lens Model - 18.0-35.0 mm f/1.8

Thumbnail: -
Compression - 6 (JPG)
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
JpegIFOffset - 1036
JpegIFByteCount - 15488


--

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Aug 21, 2016 12:43:00   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
Based on the above, it appears you have two full stops of minus Exposure Compensation dialed in. That would explain this particular image.

I can't tell from the EXIF, but I'd also caution about using Auto ISO at the same time you're using any of the other auto exposure modes (aperture priority, shutter priority, or program). For one, it makes little sense to use Auto ISO at the same time as any of those modes. I also would be concerned that it might give unexpected results... might be right, might be wrong. Who knows! I'd only use Auto ISO with Manual mode (which acutally makes it another auto exposure mode).

The lighting situation for that particular shot is a little tricky.... If you expose for the shadows, the small brightly sunlit area might be over-exposed. If you expose to that, you end up with about what you got. Probably the best you can do in a single shot is average the two and then do some adjustments in post-processing. Or, take two shots... one for the highlights and the other for the shadows, and later combine the two, taking the "correct" portion from each.

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Aug 21, 2016 13:32:17   #
jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ
 
amfoto1 wrote:
Based on the above, it appears you have two full stops of minus Exposure Compensation dialed in. That would explain this particular image.



I couldn't see the exif from the image and I do have a plugin that usually can get the information if it's there. So thanks for posting it. I agree with amfoto1. You have buggered the settings up yourself and dialed in -2 stops of exposure compensation. Set it to zero and take another picture.. Most of the time when I shoot I like to dial in about +2/3 EC.

So at least now you can see how to check your exif or metadata for problems. Check your histogram and exif for problems and most of your errors can be checked.

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Aug 21, 2016 13:49:49   #
Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska
 
Gdelvecc wrote:
Almost every Photo I take using the built in meter is between one and two stops underexposed...

The image you posted has Exposure Compensation set to -2 EV. Technically it is exposed at 2 fstops darker than the light meter thinks it should be.

However... The Devil is in the details! Or perhaps here are several devils. You have a scene with some very bright areas that are in the mid day direct sunlight. They do not have any important detail, and are small. They are "overexposed", but who cares. The sky is also totally blown out, but again it's a case of who cares.

And then there is the rest of the scene, which is in shadows or even deep shadows. Several fstops below the white level, and even at least a couple fstops below where middle grey falls. I mean, 92% of all pixels are below a value of 128! The median value is 33, which is 6 stops below clipping. Note that virtually everything more than 6.5 fstops down is black.

So you have a technically over exposed image that has no middle values and is almost all too dark to show detail. One answer is to overexpose it even more, because the areas that are clipping have no useful detail to begin with. But that isn't the complete cure.

The most significant change is to adjust the gamma curve, commonly known as contrast. This is a balancing act though, as changing contrast moves the shadows to darker and the highlights to brighter. In an editor use brightness and contrast together, back and forth, to get the desired effect. In this case what I did was to watch that little bright patch of grass in the center of the image, and keep it as bright as it could be without losing more detail. Then while watching the histogram to judge the shadows, the target was to keep the left side of the histogram at a value of about 15. When it looked right (both viewing the image and the histogram data), the result was an image with a median pixel value of 66. That means that now half the pixel values, instead of being 6 stop below clipping and maybe 3 stops below middle grey, are now at about 4 stops down. The entire image is 2 stop brighter than it was, and doesn't look bad at all.

Executive summary: The image you posted requires a significant amount of technical savvy to shoot. It has a very high contrast that is greater than can be shown in a displayed image, so a photographer has to decide which part of the image is important, and let either the highlights be clipped or the shadows blocked (or both in some images).

This image is easier to shoot with a camera that has a high dynamic range. The Nikon D7200 is as good as it gets with a cropped sensor. But virtually every full frame Nikon camera is significantly better.

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Aug 21, 2016 13:52:05   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
I concur with Bill. I just looked at the EXIF data and saw your exposure compensation is -2. That's the issue.
--Bob


Bill_de wrote:
If you download the posted image all the data is there. I view the download in IrfanView and click Image/Information/EXIF


Make - NIKON CORPORATION
Model - NIKON D7200
XResolution - 300
YResolution - 300
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.6.1 (Macintosh)
DateTime - 2016:08:21 10:42:43
Artist - GARY DELVECCHIO 2115 BRANDEIS DR.
ExifOffset - 268
ExposureTime - 1/2000 seconds
FNumber - 1.80
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
ExifVersion - 0230
DateTimeOriginal - 2016:08:21 09:37:01
DateTimeDigitized - 2016:08:21 09:37:01
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/2000 seconds
ApertureValue - F 1.80
ExposureBiasValue - -2.00 .............................. NOTE
MaxApertureValue - F 1.74
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Fine weather
Flash - Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 35.00 mm
SubsecTimeOriginal - 04
SubsecTimeDigitized - 04
ColorSpace - sRGB
FocalPlaneXResolution - 2558.64
FocalPlaneYResolution - 2558.64
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit - Centimeter
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera
SceneType - A directly photographed image
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Manual
DigitalZoomRatio - 1 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 52 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - Low gain up
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown
Serial Number - 2501319
Lens Info - 18.00 35.00 1.80 1.80
Lens Model - 18.0-35.0 mm f/1.8

Thumbnail: -
Compression - 6 (JPG)
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
JpegIFOffset - 1036
JpegIFByteCount - 15488


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If you download the posted image all the data is t... (show quote)

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