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D300s strange problem .
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Jan 17, 2022 05:51:53   #
Lukabulla
 
So , took out my Trusty D300s out after not being used for about 4 months ... Fully charged battery and spare .
Went to photograph a protest march in London a cple days ago ... weather was cold but not freezing .
On taking the first few shots, noticed that every second one was over exposed and the first one under exposed ..
took many more with same result ... this was in P mode , switched to M , same result , tried A , S, Auto ... all the same result ! I noticed that the Exposure compensation symbol in viewfinder was blinking ! Was on Auto ISO and 300 was chosen ( very cloudy and dark ! ) ... so switched to 600 ..same result .
Took out lens and cleaned contacts , no difference ... tried with pop up flash and SB600 , same results .. some one suggested to go to menu and re set to factory settings .. did this with no difference .. Though unknown to me this switched from Raw to JPEG ... so the rest of the day was on JPEG ... went home to process the images ... Noticed the Raw's had lots and lots of noise , with the quality of lousy JPEGS ! .... The Camera JPEGS seemed to be much better though with camera Shake !! Next morning I found that there was another way to factory reset ... Press Qual and Exposure comp buttons together for a few seconds ... Yay ... this seemed to so the trick and now restored to it's former glory !! but on checking the PPI ( DPI) on latest images .. some were 100 and some were 240 ... before this problem they were always 240 .. By the way I forgot to mention that during all this problem , I took the photo of the girl in the cafe , very poor light and through a dirty window .. and it came out perfect !!


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Jan 17, 2022 05:54:57   #
BebuLamar
 
I think you can try taking 3 shots for every picture. Or you can check and see if auto bracketing is on,

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Jan 17, 2022 05:55:51   #
rjriggins11 Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
 
Your camera is set to Bracketing Mode. Turn it off and all should be well.

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Jan 17, 2022 05:56:42   #
Lukabulla
 
I've added 2 more photos .. but not come up on my topic .

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Jan 17, 2022 06:00:50   #
Lukabulla
 
The only bracketing mode I could find was for flash .
But would that cause all that noise ?

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Jan 17, 2022 06:09:42   #
rjriggins11 Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
 
There's one for the ambient settings as well. It's usually a button marked BKT. On other Nikons this button will bring up a top menu with several "F" settings with 0F being off. You may want to check the manual to be sure.

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Jan 17, 2022 06:54:31   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Lukabulla wrote:
The only bracketing mode I could find was for flash .
But would that cause all that noise ?


Check your manual, download if needed. The original D300 manual, the one I have already downloaded, say that model has three types of bracketing: exposure, flash and white balance, starting on page 116 of the D300 manual. Page 119 begins the process of Cancelling Bracketing.

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Jan 17, 2022 06:59:12   #
Lukabulla
 
tnx .. I only have the Jon Sparks D300s book ... can be complicated !!

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Jan 17, 2022 07:00:29   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Lukabulla wrote:
tnx .. I only have the Jon Sparks D300s book ... can be complicated !!


Original PDF manuals are free for download from your local Nikon.com support pages.

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Jan 17, 2022 07:16:31   #
BebuLamar
 
Lukabulla wrote:
tnx .. I only have the Jon Sparks D300s book ... can be complicated !!


That is why I always use the manual that came with the camera and never third party one.

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Jan 17, 2022 08:24:13   #
Lukabulla
 
Hi and thanks ,
Looked at 119 and 120 and also on camera.

there is a way to select Auto Bracketing for flash /etc etc .
But one must choose and no way to NOT choose any .

I would like to turn off AB completely .

Any clues ?

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Jan 17, 2022 08:25:20   #
lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA
 
Lukabulla wrote:
So , took out my Trusty D300s out after not being used for about 4 months ... Fully charged battery and spare .
Went to photograph a protest march in London a cple days ago ... weather was cold but not freezing .
On taking the first few shots, noticed that every second one was over exposed and the first one under exposed ..
took many more with same result ... this was in P mode , switched to M , same result , tried A , S, Auto ... all the same result ! I noticed that the Exposure compensation symbol in viewfinder was blinking ! Was on Auto ISO and 300 was chosen ( very cloudy and dark ! ) ... so switched to 600 ..same result .
Took out lens and cleaned contacts , no difference ... tried with pop up flash and SB600 , same results .. some one suggested to go to menu and re set to factory settings .. did this with no difference .. Though unknown to me this switched from Raw to JPEG ... so the rest of the day was on JPEG ... went home to process the images ... Noticed the Raw's had lots and lots of noise , with the quality of lousy JPEGS ! .... The Camera JPEGS seemed to be much better though with camera Shake !! Next morning I found that there was another way to factory reset ... Press Qual and Exposure comp buttons together for a few seconds ... Yay ... this seemed to so the trick and now restored to it's former glory !! but on checking the PPI ( DPI) on latest images .. some were 100 and some were 240 ... before this problem they were always 240 .. By the way I forgot to mention that during all this problem , I took the photo of the girl in the cafe , very poor light and through a dirty window .. and it came out perfect !!
So , took out my Trusty D300s out after not being ... (show quote)


Sounds like auto bracketing is turned on, say for HDR. For your first problem. I know little about your model but you seem to have multiple issues. Might have an authorized repair person take a look at it. Good luck.

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Jan 17, 2022 10:30:24   #
larryepage Loc: North Texas area
 
Good morning. (Afternoon for you.) First...I am sorry that you are having trouble with your camera. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, though. I do wish uninformed people who don't even have a camera like the ones people are reporting problems with would stop telling folks to do a Factory Reset, especially as a first step. It is destructive and wipes out any evidence of what was wrong to start with. Much better to turn off all automatic functions, especially Auto ISO and Auto WB, and do some logical diagnostics.

Also...for those trying to help...despite sharing part of the model number, the D300 and D300s are two distinct and quite different cameras. You cannot use the manual for one of them to understand the other.

Finally... to address your exposure problem, it is necessary to understand how bracketing works. It functions in two parts. The first part is "how much" and the second part is "how many." "How much" is set by pressing whatever button you have chosen for and turning the front Command Dial. You can set either a full stop, 0.7 stops, or 0.3 stops. "How many" is set by pressing the same button and turning the rear Command Dial. Moving it to the right selects both pisitive and negative bracketing. To the left selects positive or negative only.

On my camera the Fn button (on the front under the Preview button) is set as my Bracketing control. Your camera may be set up differently.

To disable Bracketing, simply select it and turn the rear dial until "0" is displayed. You may need to search for what button is set to enable bracketing on your camera.

I will not attempt to diagnose the noise and dpi problem you describe. It sounds like there is no good evidence remaining. I suspect that it is related to something that Auto ISO has done and is why I do not use that function. Check all of your menu choices related to image quality. See if setting JPEG quality to Fine/Large has any beneficial effect.

Good luck with your troubleshooting.

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Jan 17, 2022 11:11:51   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
Is there a little button on the side of the lens mount that says BKT? It might have symbols instead. It would be above the button with the flash symbol.

If so, holding that button and turn the main or sub command dials to control the number of shots +/-. Centered, there is no bracketing.

---

The above is from memory ... not the best source in my case ... but it's all I got.

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Jan 17, 2022 11:34:22   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Lukabulla wrote:
Hi and thanks ,
Looked at 119 and 120 and also on camera.

there is a way to select Auto Bracketing for flash /etc etc .
But one must choose and no way to NOT choose any .

I would like to turn off AB completely .

Any clues ?


See the description buried in the longer reply from larryepage. Or, see page 124 of the D300s manual under text = Canceling Bracketing

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