Seeking basic help with Nikon D40

[jenna16]

Hi,

I have a Nikon D40, and I love it usually. I really bought it for the lack of shutter lag and I have been using it on automatic aperture priority. However, sometimes it seems to get overwhelmed by light - things come out overexposed when it's sunny. I am using it on aperture priority because of some issue I was having with reds (which I actually can no longer recall), and it solved that issue, but why the "haze"?

Any help would be most appreciated. I am not a pro, but I'm willing to take the camera off auto if I know what to do...I do get what a shutter speed is and what an aperture is, but not much more than that.

Some examples are here - please ignore the Olympus shots - that's my point and shoot I take to the beach.

http://greenstein.smugmug.com/gallery/4048375#P-1-15

Thanks in advance.

[ziggy53]

I could not find the EXIF for this shot, but if one of your problem images is the barn with horses in the foreground:

http://greenstein.smugmug.com/photos/235744028-M.jpg

I suggest that you are shooting into the sun and your subjects are backlit. The sun must have been just out of the shot in the upper right. This type of glare reduces contrast and, in addition to the backlighting of the subjects, renders the images as less than optimal.

A longer hood, even improvised, might have helped. A different camera position or different time of day would have likely produced much better results.

[Azzaro]

You seem to shoot a lot of pictures in bright sun light. The D40 will tend to overexpose under these conditions. Shooting early in the day or late in the afternoon may also help you.

Under normal shooting conditions I set my D40X to minus .7 and I also increase the color saturation in camera. I general keep it set on Programmed Auto and I use matrix metering.

I would suggest that you get a good program like Ellements, if you don't already have one.. I seldom get a perfect picture out of the camera.

I hope you don't mind that I did this....but it was a neat picture with good composition...... I will take it off my computer, I hardly have room for my own stuff..

http://Azzaro.smugmug.com/photos/242311653-L.jpg

[jenna16]

I don't mind at all, I'm flattered and grateful, but I'm getting a broken image tag....I'd love to see what you did. However, I'm kind of annoyed with Nikon that I can't just shoot in bright sunlight - the camera was almost $600! The horse day was hazy, but lots of the other shots were clear bright days. I do have Elements, I guess I could try reducing the exposure even in iphoto i can do that, but that kind of irks me. perhaps i'm unrealistic, but I feel like a $550 camera should take a nice picture on a clear sunny day, without me editing it.

You seem to shoot a lot of pictures in bright sun light. The D40 will tend to overexpose under these conditions. Shooting early in the day or late in the afternoon may also help you.

Under normal shooting conditions I set my D40X to minus .7 and I also increase the color saturation in camera. I general keep it set on Programmed Auto and I use matrix metering.

I would suggest that you get a good program like Ellements, if you don't already have one.. I seldom get a perfect picture out of the camera.

I hope you don't mind that I did this....but it was a neat picture with good composition...... I will take it off my computer, I hardly have room for my own stuff..

http://Azzaro.smugmug.com/photos/242311653-L.jpg

[Azzaro]

I don't mind at all, I'm flattered and grateful, but I'm getting a broken image tag....I'd love to see what you did. However, I'm kind of annoyed with Nikon that I can't just shoot in bright sunlight - the camera was almost $600! The horse day was hazy, but lots of the other shots were clear bright days. I do have Elements, I guess I could try reducing the exposure even in iphoto i can do that, but that kind of irks me. perhaps i'm unrealistic, but I feel like a $550 camera should take a nice picture on a clear sunny day, without me editing it.
Read what ZIGGY53 said, I believe it applies to this picture...... .... Here it is I think.

http://Azzaro.smugmug.com/photos/242439394-XL.jpg

[ziggy53]

... I feel like a $550 camera should take a nice picture on a clear sunny day, without me editing it.

Jenna,

You would probably be surprised to know that the Canon 1Ds MKIII, an $8000 dSLR, would probably produce similar results to yours, given a similar lens and shooting position and lighting.

Learn how to use lighting to your benefit and learn when to use additional measures and techniques to improve your photography.

Appropriate lighting makes more difference to a shot than either lens or camera, and good lighting with a good lens trumps any sort of camera improvement (assuming the camera you have is appropriate and adjusted for the task.)

It doesn't take much searching to see fantastic results from even simple cameras. I assure you that lighting, and the control of lighting, played a major role in each of them.

[Harryb]

Hey Jenna,

What would help if you could post one of your pics that you are unhappy with along with the exif data.

Your problem probably lies with you not using the EV adjustment. When I shoot in bright light I need to do a minus EV adjustment to prevent the highlights in the shot from being over exposed.

[jenna16]

All the pics are on smugmug and phanfare. The ones of Phanfare have the exif data. The whole phanfare/smugmug switching thing is another matter all together! I've been back and forth and back again.

Here are some examples with exif
http://greenstein.phanfare.com/album/385320/594922#imageID=24964091
http://greenstein.phanfare.com/album/385320/594922#imageID=24963810
http://greenstein.phanfare.com/album/385320/594922#imageID=24963414

At any rate, As for the horse shots - I was trespassing with my toddlers, so I couldn't get another angle - and it was pretty hazy out.

Could you point me to what an EV adjustment is? I looked quickly on the menus and didn't see it. I'll dig out my manual too.

Thanks so much - and the note about the $8000 camera does make me feel better! I'll try not to shoot into the light - would it help to shade my lense wih my hand? I suppose I can buy something to put on it.

Jenna

Hey Jenna,

What would help if you could post one of your pics that you are unhappy with along with the exif data.

Your problem probably lies with you not using the EV adjustment. When I shoot in bright light I need to do a minus EV adjustment to prevent the highlights in the shot from being over exposed.

[jenna16]

He seemed to agree with all of us, and this is what he said -

"A flaw in the D40's meter firmware (same issue as the D80) makes most photos too light, so I leave mine set to -0.7. If your photo is too light, hold the +/- button and spin the rear dial to a more negative number, like -1.3. If your photo is too dark, hold it and spin the dial to a more positive number, like -0.3 or 0.0. It's perfectly OK to go to any number you need, like -3.3 or +1.0.

The need for constant variation and supervision is what makes this meter so bad. I prefer my D200, which rarely requires any correction.

Flash exposure is Nikon's usual perfection. You can change it's brightness along with the flash button."

Nice to know it's not me! I will set my meter to -.7 or -1 depending on the light. I wish I had read this before my vacation! I'll try messing in photoshop.

All the pics are on smugmug and phanfare. The ones of Phanfare have the exif data. The whole phanfare/smugmug switching thing is another matter all together! I've been back and forth and back again.

Here are some examples with exif
http://greenstein.phanfare.com/album/385320/594922#imageID=24964091
http://greenstein.phanfare.com/album/385320/594922#imageID=24963810
http://greenstein.phanfare.com/album/385320/594922#imageID=24963414

At any rate, As for the horse shots - I was trespassing with my toddlers, so I couldn't get another angle - and it was pretty hazy out.

Could you point me to what an EV adjustment is? I looked quickly on the menus and didn't see it. I'll dig out my manual too.

Thanks so much - and the note about the $8000 camera does make me feel better! I'll try not to shoot into the light - would it help to shade my lense wih my hand? I suppose I can buy something to put on it.

Jenna

[ziggy53]

... would it help to shade my lense wih my hand? I suppose I can buy something to put on it.

Jenna

Yes, in a pinch, anything that provides shade to the lens will help. Again, a change in position will make a difference as well.

The more important thing is you are learning what works and what does not work. That information and experience will translate to "any" camera and its usage and that is what makes you a better photographer. :thumb

Hang in there and keep doing and learning and progressing. Most importantly, keep in touch here. Lots of friendly and informative folks, happy to help anyone interested in helping themselves.

[dmmattix]

Jenna,

Marc Muench (the Smugmug Artist-In-Residence) posted a link to his tutorial on this very subject just last week.

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/2794210

Maybe it will help with your problem.

Mike