A question??? (Page 3): Take it easy on the OP!

BebuLamar

tomcat wrote:

For 3 years you have been using this camera and did not know what the "A" meant? Holy smokes!!! How in the world have any of your images turned out ok?? Geez. Do you realize that in 3 years of reading the instruction manual that came with your camera, you could have become an expert and been giving out advice yourself? Remind me never to accept a ride with you.....

Take it easy on the OP!

blue-ultra Loc: New Hampshire

OK Guys, here is the story. I am not new at this. I have been shooting for over 40 years. I have taken many classes, including the Ansel Adams B & W Class at Maine Photographic Workshop. I do understand exposure. I have won many photo contest and have earned several mag covers and calendars. So While I am not a pro and we can all learn from our mistakes which is what I was trying to do here. I was mistaken with the camera setting on my 810m my error. Got to "RTFM". One of my issues is as I get older is more difficult to see the settings of the camera in low light. I will refrain from asking for help here and continue to try to earn your respect with my work. Thank you all for your helpful comments. I did learn from this ...

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

Here's what I do. I put the D810 into Program mode and see what the exposure settings are with the Info button. I make a mental note, and set it up now in Manual using the camera meter suggestions from "P" as a starting point. Then I adjust exposure compensation to bring the pointer into the middle and shoot away.

I didn't think you could use exposure compensation in manual mode.

BebuLamar

blue-ultra wrote:

OK Guys, here is the story. I am not new at this. ... (show quote)

Judging from the EXIF data the condition is very dark (LV3). With that condition it's darker than the eyes can see clearly. Your images that had good exposures I think should look brighter than the eyes saw.

jcboy3

Tracy B. wrote:

I didn't think you could use exposure compensation in manual mode.

Depends on the camera. There is good reason to have exp compensation, if shooting manual mode with auto ISO, for example.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

blue-ultra wrote:

OK Here are two example of the issue. Both were shot with the same light in basically the same location. The first one (dark) was shot with Aperture mode at ISO 12800 at f2.8. The second one was shot with the same settings but in "M" mode. Both were PP in LR as I could not up load the RAW files as my IT speed is not very good here (DSL). I believe both shots were at 70mm. The third shot is at about 28mm. same settings.

you have a few things going on here.

First, are you sure you haven't tried to adjust the exposure in the first one? If this is how it came out of camera, and you shot raw, you could easily salvage that one.

In the second one, it's properly exposed.

The third one is underexposed, because you have that spotlight in the middle. Your camera is seeing that' and adjusting that, which throws the subjects into shadow. If you use spot metering, and meter on the faces, the people will come out fine, but the background may get a little blown out (better option in my opinion) When you have a lot of latitude (range from dark to light) in a photo, the camera has to do the best it can, normally preserving detail in the highlights.

If you go into ACR, or lightroom, bump up your shadows, and you will bring back more detail in the faces.

Hope that helps.

Tracy B. Loc: Indiana

jcboy3 wrote:

Depends on the camera. There is good reason to have exp compensation, if shooting manual mode with auto ISO, for example.

So if I'm understanding this: I'm in manual mode, auto iso. I set EC to -1. What is really happening is: auto iso is changing?

kmocabee

Blue -I'm kind of new here, and was surprised at the tone of the responses. Doesn't matter if you are experienced or just got your first camera, people should be able to ask questions here and not get torched. I agree with you - I would be reluctant to ask questions here too.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

blue-ultra wrote:

OK Here are two example of the issue. Both were shot with the same light in basically the same location. The first one (dark) was shot with Aperture mode at ISO 12800 at f2.8. The second one was shot with the same settings but in "M" mode. Both were PP in LR as I could not up load the RAW files as my IT speed is not very good here (DSL). I believe both shots were at 70mm. The third shot is at about 28mm. same settings.

You gave your ISO and aperture, but not your shutter speed. I would bet the underexposed shot used a faster shutter. If not, if the lighting, ISO, aperture and shutter speed were in fact identical, then you've got me stumped.

truckster Loc: Tampa Bay Area

blue-ultra wrote:

I will refrain from asking for help here and continue to try to earn your respect with my work. Thank you all for your helpful comments. I did learn from this ...

Well that would be dumb ... this forum mirrors real life ... you have people honestly wanting to help and others who would do nothing but criticize ... I read all the answers and you did get your answer, from more than just one respondent ... I hope what you learned was how to set your camera for what you want to photograph, and not that some here can be real azzhats.

srt101fan

Tracy B. wrote:

I didn't think you could use exposure compensation in manual mode.

On my D5300, when set for P, A or S, you can set exposure compensation by rotating the dial while pressing down on the EC button. In M, this doesn't work because the dial and EC button are used to change the aperture. In M, you set the EC by entering the value on the information screen.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

blue-ultra wrote:

"I have been using the D810 for almost three years. I always thought the "A" was for auto! I normally do all my settings in manual mode. I read the available light and adjust as needed. Plus I do shoot in RAW. But even in RAW you cannot save a underexposed photograph to a very good degree... When I get home this evening I will post the photos I just don't have them here at work.

Thank you for the comments. We can always learn something new everyday...

That's OK. I once thought the Sv on my Pentax was for shutter speed, it is for Sensitivity (variable) = a type of Auto ISO (that I don't use, now). You can't imagine how confusing that was. Well, may be you can. Probably similar to your problem but luckily I was attempting to shoot in daylight. On a Pentax shutter speed is Tv like on a Canon. And also Pentax does Av for Aperture priority. And they have another weird ISO thing called TAv (again not my thing). I stick with M, Av, Tv. And never the Green Auto everything setting.

BebuLamar

Well I used A for auto. I never use S and I don't use P as I am not a pro.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

blue-ultra wrote:

I did try to set the shutter speed at 4000 and all... (show quote)

Yes, some of them are being real mean pricks right now.

Got up on the wrong side of a G.A.S. attack or something?

Chill out guys!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

BebuLamar wrote:

Well I used A for auto. I never use S and I don't use P as I am not a pro.

I guess Pentax and Canon on some models thought it would be easier to use two letter designations such as Tv, Av, plus M and X, but what about Sv and TAv? But it can still be confusing the first time. I don't worry about Auto because I'm never looking for it.