Nikon D600 blown-out skies


holyxiaoxin

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Mar 18, 2011
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To cut the story short, i just started photography and have been trying vigorously to learn about photography. I've just bought myself a D600 and realised that the shots taken are usually very overexposed. This is even more obvious during a sunny day. Sometimes, my subject that's under strong lighting gets overexposed as well. I will upload some shots soon. I shoot in manual setting, auto ISO, average/center exposure metering(these 2 doesn't really make much difference), and i control only my aperture and shutter speed. I used this settings as it's easier for me to start out and get used to the ISO/aperture/shutter speed ratio before going manual ISO.

There have been some complains saying that nikon d600/d800/d7000 tends to overexpose their shots. I've only read this after buying my D600. Should i have gone over to canon? :/
 

All editing is done in LightRoom 4.

Without lens profile correction
Before Auto Tone
8527069522


After Auto Tone
8525947873


With lens profile correction
Before Auto Tone
8525937129


After Auto Tone
DSC_0155-4 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
 

If you are getting overexposed shots when in manual mode, then you are the culprit, as auto ISO may not be able to fully compensate for your settings.
 

Erm, how do i share photos? sorry. :/
 

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If you are getting overexposed shots when in manual mode, then you are the culprit, as auto ISO may not be able to fully compensate for your settings.
How do i solve this problem then? i didn't get overexposed shots with my uncle's 650D. :/ sorry for the silly noob questions that i ask.
 

And the scenes you are capturing are very high contrast scenes. You need to understand the limitations of the camera and understand techniques such as High Dynamic Range photography and the use of graduated Neutral-density filters.
 

And the scenes you are capturing are very high contrast scenes. You need to understand the limitations of the camera and understand techniques such as High Dynamic Range photography and the use of graduated Neutral-density filters.
So you mean that there's nothing wrong with my camera? I'm willing to learn, but i don't want to learn with a defective camera. :/
 

From your pictures, I don't think there is any reason to think that your D600 is faulty.
 

From your pictures, I don't think there is any reason to think that your D600 is faulty.
Thanks. :) great to hear that. Btw, is there any way that i can improve on my settings to make it less overexposed?
 

Thanks. :) great to hear that. Btw, is there any way that i can improve on my settings to make it less overexposed?

don't use manual, until u know the basics.
 

I've tried shots with Ap and Sp, it's giving me the same problem. I'll upload another shot in Ap.
 

It doesn't matter what mode you use. You need to understand the concept of metering, as in what you make your camera meter for, and that the scene you are trying to capture is way too high in contrast.

Your pictures already demonstrated the immense capabilities of the Nikon D600 - you are able to recover so much details in the highlights just by using auto tone.
 

Please provide the full EXIF data. I can't seem to find it on Flickr

Camera Nikon D600
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/1.8
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias +4/3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program Manual
 

ohmygawd. this is stupid. ok i'll play around with it and get my facts right before posting stupid stuffs. :/ Thanks guys for the helpful pointers. really appreciated that. :)
 

There you go. Your settings explains itself. You are on 1/250s and f/1.8. The auto ISO goes down to the lowest ISO it can, which is ISO 100, which still results in overexposure as your settings are way too high. Then there's the +4/3 exposure...

If you are using f/1.8 to capture that scene, you clearly need to learn more about aperture.
 

please learn how to use your built in light meter.

Also, spot and center weighted metering , if locked and exposing for a dark subject, will result in blown out for the highlights.

if you don't want blown out highlights, set spot meter, read exposure value for hightlights...dial it in, use fill flash.