Sony a6500 underexposing when shooting in A or S mode

[Christina84]

If I could, I would shoot in manual all the time, because that is obviously the best way to properly expose and overall take the most ideal picture. However, I have a toddler and shooting in Manual can sometimes be tough. When I shoot in A or S, I always find the camera seems to underexpose the picture. I tried taking more control over the exposure by increasing the iso but the camera just changes the A or S (depending the mode I have it in) leaving me with a photo I always have to brighten in photoshop. Does anyone find this to be true when shooting with the a6500?

 

[dmorgan924]

So go to settings, group 1, page 9 of 14 and click Exposure Std. Adjust

click ok

Change the settings to +1 for the metering mode you use.

or less if you don't need that much brightness.

 

[Christina84]

Thank you so much!

 

[Newbie Phewbie]

What Metering Mode are you using? Try Multi & Center.

http://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/1640/v1/en/contents/TP0001306059.html

To 'adjust' your metering dynamically, (ie, if the frame is backlit & you want to increase exposure), you should use exposure compensation. I use the rear wheel to set that. It becomes second nature very quickly

http://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/1640/v1/en/contents/TP0001306113.html?search=exposure compensation

Post a couple of your underexposed pics. That's the best way for forum members to understand what could be going wrong and make suggestions. Good luck.

 

[brilly]

if you are shooting in limited light then perhaps you are hitting the iso limit you have set? (eg 100-3200 or whatever)

or worse if you are setting the iso too low then the same

have you tried shooting in manual mode with auto iso?

i find it works better when indoors as you set it fast enough to not blur, whatever aperture you want and the only thing left for exposure is iso which camera takes care of

 

[idsurfer]

If I could, I would shoot in manual all the time, because that is obviously the best way to properly expose and overall take the most ideal picture. However, I have a toddler and shooting in Manual can sometimes be tough. When I shoot in A or S, I always find the camera seems to underexpose the picture. I tried taking more control over the exposure by increasing the iso but the camera just changes the A or S (depending the mode I have it in) leaving me with a photo I always have to brighten in photoshop. Does anyone find this to be true when shooting with the a6500?

I have found that both Sony and canon’s onboard reflective meters tend to underexpose up to a stop. I think this is default to help prevent overexposing images and loosing shots. My suggestion for shooting your kids is to put it in A mode, pick you aperture, use auto iso with a minimum SS set to 1/250 to start, dual in +2/3 exposure compensation. In anything but low light I bet this will work well. Pay attention to the SS’s you’re getting. If too slow increase the minimum iso. Also, look at the histogram. Make sure you’ve got the brightest data snugged over to the right. Often times the preview on the rear LCD will lie to you. It may look like a nicely exposed shot but if there’s a bunch of dead space on the right side of he histogram it’s gonna be underexposed. Honestly, once I learn to use the histogram my days of underexposure over.

 

[Christina84]

Thanks for your help! Yes, I love the histogram. Can't shoot without it. I set my auto iso with a minimum SS set to 1/250. I've never changed this setting. Does this mean my shutter will not drop below 250? I have changed the setting and it is not staying on or above the 250 shutter. I have my camera in a mode. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[idsurfer]

Thanks for your help! Yes, I love the histogram. Can't shoot without it. I set my auto iso with a minimum SS set to 1/250. I've never changed this setting. Does this mean my shutter will not drop below 250? I have changed the setting and it is not staying on or above the 250 shutter. I have my camera in a mode. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Interesting. The way it supposed to work ( when shooting in A mode) is your ISO will increase in order to maintain your minimum shutter speed. At the same time, if there’s enough light your ISO will drop to minimum as per auto Settings and your shutter speed will increase in order to maintain proper exposure.

Having said these things, I’m no expert. These cameras are highly sophisticated and I am probably not using it to its fullest potential. Truthfully, I don’t use auto ISO. I set ISO manually. I shoot mainly A mode and watch the histogram. If I am under exposing I make exposure compensation adjustments or bump the ISO.