Why Nikon?....Can anyone explain this to me. PLEASE OMMENT

I learned a long time ago that if I want to minimize my headaches, I had to stop relying on the camera to do the thinking for me. I don't care what they advertise, the craft of photography (if you want good results) requires some level of knowledge, or a desire to learn that knowledge. I dont know of a camera built to date that nails everything.

But with what I learned, I can take ANY camera and in short order begin shooting quality shots with it and within a few weeks really have things fine tuned output wise.

There IS value in such knowledge.

Roman

binary_eye said:

Gunzorro said:

Otherwise, we're just using our judgement without improved computerized metering, circa 1980.

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Yeah, I suppose without responsibility placed on the camera, we have no one to blame but ourselves. I'll take my own judgment over that of a camera from any decade (including those in the future).

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--

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
~ Ernst Haas

We are officially live!!!!
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I don't see anyone turning off the viewscreen and meter, breaking out the spot meter and taking their chances, at least not often! I'll occasionally break out my spotmeter for difficult situations (usually monitoring twilight light levels), but otherwise I rely on the camera's light meter and viewscreen for proofing. I just want the camera to be accurate in what it is supposed to accomplish.

I guess this will be a Flintstones vs. Jetsons technical dichotomy. We are confronted with the same data but coming to completely different conclusions.

I developed my photo chops in Bedrock, now I want something computerized from Spacely Sprockets.

I too am amazed by the number of people who have not figured out how to adapt to changing tools. The comments frequently include appeals to authority by including "the problem is real because I am very experienced and had no problem with my Dxxx". Why did they get rid of a camera that was working so well for them? Surely they had no problem with exposure when they had only 7stops DR to work with but now with 14 each scene is too wide for them. Makes no sense at all. When they used their D70 which they remember as being flawless in metering, which end of the DR did they give up, surely they could not have shadow detail AND highlights at the same time.

The new tools require rethinking old habits that just do not work so well when the results of sloppy attention to detail is so well revealed, that was not with the old gear. Having more flexibility, precision and resolution in most fields exposes poor technique whether performance driving, hi-fi photography or anything else that has tools that appear to be simple and automatic but for optimum results require more refined skill, and problem solving capability.

There is something that strikes me very often in these threads, that few people have a clue about how to diagnosis causes of results differing from expectations. Maybe its due to the lack of basic science education or understanding of fundamentals in an age when buzz words and opinions trump facts and reason.

I am not a highly experienced photographer but have never had a problem with any of these cameras.

This thread, with two overexposed shots(one so overexposed that something else is likely the be the cause other than the claimed FP bias in Matrix) yet see not reasonable attempt to diagnose the cause. Since in 55,000 shots with my D90 I have never seen the poor performance claimed by some in this thread I have to conclude that we are not getting the rest of the story or there is a deliberate attempt to exaggerate the claims.
--
Stan
St Petersburg Russia

Gunzorro said:

I don't see anyone turning off the viewscreen and meter, breaking out the spot meter and taking their chances, at least not often!

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I assume you mean incident meter; the camera has a spot meter.

Gunzorro said:

I developed my photo chops in Bedrock, now I want something computerized from Spacely Sprockets.

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Fair enough and I understand where you're coming from. But when all is said and done, a sprocket is still a sprocket whether made from stone or a space-age composite. My point being: The computer hasn't yet obsoleted the human brain.

...and it got just exactly this sort of thrashing in exactly this forum for exposing too dark. It tended to ignore what was under the focus point in about the same measure as the later cameras tend to prioritize it. Nikon obviously hated all that criticism of the D70 and moved to "correct" the behavior of the 'prosumer' line in the direction of users who want less involvement in the process.

To all of which I might say; AE-L is your friend. When you're shooting a dark dog (using the previous example), expose-lock and recompose. That is, assuming you're working quickly and don't want to get out of Matrix.

I suppose Nikon could give us two Matrixes. One for contrasty scenes and one for without. But we here would surely find something wrong with that.

I meant hand-held spot meter, not incident, for taking multiple readings throughout the scene.

DrugaRunda said:

perhaps they can buy into Pentax and than complain that it underexposes ...

the truth is that you need to get to know your camera, and once you know how your meter performs (as long as it is predictable, and I bet it is), dial in exposure compensation and be done with it... if it consistently overexposes, it is very easy... if not, learn to recognize high contrast situations and dial in ev as appropriate

--
common sense is anything but common

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Pentax do tend to underexpose a bit at times but then that's not actually a bad thing (over exposure is fatal for digital)

BTW I use Minolta as well and that tended to be a bit over but not a lot and nowhere near this level.

The AF point should bias towards a mid tone this isn't happening and Nikon are yet again struggling with metering. I'd expect a blow out on just about all cameras in the sky but the shadow areas are being pumped up too much exposure wise.

Despite Nikon's claims about thousands of metering zones and colour aware etc etc they're consistently beaten by far more simpler metering systems with a lot less "zones" marketing is great but if the camera doesn't deliver it's just hot air.

Photographer is spelled "fotografo" in spanish which is a very close language to Italian as both come from latin.

Right in this forum when the D90 came out there were countless people complaining of overexposure metering problem in the D90. You can read it right here in DPreview review of the D90 as they say that the D90 relies to much on the focus point for metering which is as they say the root cause of this overexposure issue in the D90.

But your examples are way to overexposed to be just this overexposure problem of the D90 as if I remember correctly it was a slight overexposure issue not a gross one as your example implies. Take care my friend.

spbStan -- It can also work the other way.

You can be an experienced photographer who has already assess your equipment and found you would rather have higher MP, better resolution and IQ, more accurate or automated exposure, better DR, and many other improvements lacking on your current equipment that you may know very well.

You read reviews, owner comments, manufacturer's specs and advertising. You think you know exactly what you want/need and have a model that promises to do so.

Then you get it and consult the manual for any points concerning new features. And continue to refer back to the manual and consult other members on forums to get questions answered or theories for why something is happening.

And still, you can find problems on specific models, or common to the model in general. You can find owners over-hyped the features. Or you might even find the manufacturer was a little to generous in the as copy.

The net result is that you can find that in certain ways, your old equipment provided better or more predictable results once you get the new stuff figured out. That doesn't mean you don't still want the new technology that you hoped for, it means you must wait for another model or look elsewhere. But it doesn't necessarily mean you have retreated from seeking new technology to make your photography more rewarding.

I have several fully functional Voigtlander and Schnieder folding cameras from the 50s, and if I feel like it, I can take them out and guesstimate distance and adjust for hyperfocal range and select exposure based on Sunny 16. But it is awkward, and extremely unpredictable for precise exposure and framing. There are reasons we don't use these cameras today, except as historical novelties. I prefer a camera that makes my life easier and allows me to concentrate on the image I want to capture. Based on current trends, I'm not alone, even among pros.

When in Matrix Metering there should be an option so that you can set the camera to preserve highlights, especially if you are using the D7000 and for that matter the D700 & D3 etc due to their excellent shadow noise.

--
Lance B
http://www.pbase.com/lance_b

There you go......













Thx for your interest

Martin Datzinger said:

Even after the problem in my own thread got sorted out and I've understood the dilemma, I'm still baffled to see examples of such gross overexposure and the fact that helpful users such as RomanJohnston, have to ask questions about focus points in order to clear up things (no offence, OP, or Roman, you're just reacting the right way, it is Nikon who is to blame).

Note to Nikon: Neither have you documented Matrix Metering as a spot meter in disguise, nor do people recognize it as one. But it has a rather unpredictable tendency to behave as one due to the emphasis on the active focus point. And since focus point acquisition seems to favour dark parts of the image, the result are numberous 100% legitimate overexposure complaints which are completely incompatible with the DR characteristics of your (or any) digital image sensors. You go great lengths to harmonise your user interface along your model range and years, why then do you play this stupid pro-vs-amateur metering behaviour game? Release a firmware update that fixes this pronto.

Kind regards,
Martin

--
http://www.datzinger.net

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We have been having this problem ever since the D80 came out which was the worst one at that. The D90 bot a bit better but it seems the D7000 has given a 180 degree turn as reviews imply . I don't have a D7000 so personally I don't have practical knowledge if this is true or not but reviews tend to imply that the D7000 does have a overexposure issue and many here have said that it in fact does have this problem...Having been things as they are for quite some time I don't think Nikon will do anything about it till we consumer just stop buying their cameras with this behaviour to force them to fix the problem once and for all.

have you checked your lens function? It seems to me that both of these photos are overexposed and maybe the aperture is stuck or lethargic or you have dirty lens contacts for the aperture control. Have you tried another lens to see if you get better exposure? Might be worth a try.
--
Lance B
http://www.pbase.com/lance_b

I hope you are a better Photographer then you are in politeness.

foto+Grafia... from the Latin .... meaning picture by exposure... i´m sorry I´m Portuguese and my is English has some faults, its true. But i guess it is better ten your Portuguese, Spanish, French and bit if Italian that i speak and try to write.

By the way here are the originals for you to talk about my English.













Thx

Lance -- I think all these comments about exposure problems will be remedied soon with selectable in-camera single exposure HDR parameters with evaluative metering. I mentioned this to some Canon techs a year or two ago, and they hadn't even considered the need to produce such in-camera software. But I'll bet it is coming and we'll be able to select a little or a lot, pushing beyond D-lighting (which is a good step).

Here you go.













Have Fun

Gunzorro said:

jonikon -- In many countries, such as Italy, photography is spelled with an "f" as the poster did. You need to get out more.

Paranoia strike deep.

If some people on the forums were more interested in correcting Nikon's errors, instead of shooting the messengers (owners!), perhaps we'd have a better exchange of information. It seems whenever "bad" news or problems crop up, its defense mode and circle-the-wagons.

I've been told off several times when I've mentioned difficulties or sought solutions -- by people who don't even own the D7000, and not handled it! Now that's loyalty!

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Fully agree. What sets off my BS and troll alarm is when people state that because their camera doesn't have a problem nobody else's can possibly have one. And yes, it is no secret that Nikon D5000, D90 and some others tend to overexpose about 0.7 stops in sunlight, but not usually as bad as in these shots.

--

D5000 - Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR - Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 G - Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm VR - Canon PowerShot S3

Thx.... true indeed and exactly where i want to get.

Appreciated words

Bruno -- +1 Thanks for your patience and contributing to the forum.