D300 overexposure problem (1 Viewer)

D300 overexposure or maybe not

Has anyone experienced washed out, overexposed shots with a D300. The attached image is a straight reduction of the jpeg my camera produced last Friday. I shoot in RAW and Jpeg and the RAW file is exactly the same. The camera was in aperture priority and I noticed the overexposure occured when I chaged ISO settings from ISO 200 to 500. What's most annoying is I'd spotted an Asian desert warbler and thought I'd got some great shots of it. I may never get another opportunity like it again.

Out of interest, why did you change to ISO 500 ?
You may also need to use or adjust the exposure compensation button. I have a habit of pressing it accidentally when carrying the camera (D200) by it's grip. I would prefer it located elsewhere !

rioja said:

Out of interest, why did you change to ISO 500 ?
You may also need to use or adjust the exposure compensation button. I have a habit of pressing it accidentally when carrying the camera (D200) by it's grip. I would prefer it located elsewhere !

Click to expand...

According to the EXIF data Exposure compensation was 0.

hi roy , just bought D300 this weekend , yes it seems to me that it does overexspose , but not that much , have you switched off the auto iso setting? I am very very pleased with the camera , photos at iso 800 are very good with no noise or very little. I have made the jump from d70 with no trouble, I use manual settings all the time . yes there is much to learn whith this camera , but i find it easy to navigate around...

After a few tests, I'm beginning to wonder if I was at fault. I did notice that exposure bracketing had been switched on and was set for three exposures. How this happened, I have no idea as it's a function I would only use on still objects and landscapes. With birds you usually only get one chance.

Regarding the reset to ISO 500, well if you have ever seen a desert warbler, you would know they are hardly ever still and as I was resting a 600mm lens on my car window I wanted to ensure there would be no camera shake.

I do hope the above was the problem because every other shot I'd taken at home came out great. I most explain that I've just brought the camera back to Saudi Arabia from the UK. Come to think of it, the controls could have been accidentally moved while it was in my hand baggage. :eek!:

AJDH said:

After a few tests, I'm beginning to wonder if I was at fault. I did notice that exposure bracketing had been switched on and was set for three exposures. How this happened, I have no idea as it's a function I would only use on still objects and landscapes. With birds you usually only get one chance.

Regarding the reset to ISO 500, well if you have ever seen a desert warbler, you would know they are hardly ever still and as I was resting a 600mm lens on my car window I wanted to ensure there would be no camera shake.

I do hope the above was the problem because every other shot I'd taken at home came out great. I most explain that I've just brought the camera back to Saudi Arabia from the UK. Come to think of it, the controls could have been accidentally moved while it was in my hand baggage. :eek!:

Click to expand...

I guess that without details of lighting conditions, lens used, camera settings it's pretty difficult to say why a shot is overexposed . It is virtually 100% always the camera operator at fault though . I know, it often happens to me !

rioja said:

I guess that without details of lighting conditions, lens used, camera settings it's pretty difficult to say why a shot is overexposed . It is virtually 100% always the camera operator at fault though . I know, it often happens to me !

Click to expand...

Camera settings are all available in the EXIF.

# Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 10/12500 second = 1/1250 second = 0.0008 second
# Lens F-Number/F-Stop = 71/10 = F7.1
# Exposure Program = aperture priority (3)
# ISO Speed Ratings = 500
# Exif Version = 0221
# Original Date/Time = 2008:02:29 13:11:32
# Digitization Date/Time = 2008:02:29 13:11:32
# Components Configuration = 0x01,0x02,0x03,0x00 / YCbCr
# Compressed Bits per Pixel = 4/1 = 4
# Exposure Bias (EV) = 0/6 = 0
# Max Aperture Value (APEX) = 50/10 = 5
Max Aperture = F5.66
# Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5)
# Light Source / White Balance = unknown (0)
# Flash = Flash did not fire
# Focal Length = 6000/10 mm = 600 mm
# User Comment (Hex) = 0x41,0x53,0x43,0x49,0x49,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20
User Comment Character Code = ASCII
User Comment =
# Last Modified Subsecond Time = 83
# Original Subsecond Time = 83
# Digitized Subsecond Time = 83
# FlashPix Version = 0100
# Colour Space = sRGB (1)
# Image Width = 800 pixels
# Image Height = 531 pixels
# Image Sensing Method = one-chip color area sensor (2)
# Image Source = digital still camera (DSC)
# Scene Type = directly photographed image
# Colour Filter Array (CFA) Geometric Pattern = 0x00,0x02,0x00,0x02,0x00,0x01,0x01,0x02
# Custom Rendered = normal process (0)
# Exposure Mode = auto exposure (0)
# White Balance = auto (0)
# Digital Zoom Ratio = 1/1 = 1
# Focal Length in 35mm Film = 900
# Scene Capture Type = standard (0)
# Gain Control = low gain up (1)
# Contrast = normal (0)
# Saturation = normal (0)
# Sharpness = normal (0)
# Subject Distance Range = unknown (0)

I find that my D300 overexposes just a little for my tastes. It's probably dead on. I tend to lower the exposure to bring the histogram where I like it during raw conversion.

hi, craig
why dont you program the camera too underexspose , rather than doing it in program, it must be better to underexspose than over ..

Looking at the EXIF Roy posted I'd have expected the exposure to be alot better than that. The shutter speed seems quite low given the light and ISO. There would have been nothing wrong with raising the ISO as this would raise the shutter speed and can lead to an underexposed shot rather than overexposed.

I can't say why it turned out like that, perhaps something was amiss in your settings somewhere Adrian.

Jaff said:

Looking at the EXIF Roy posted I'd have expected the exposure to be alot better than that. The shutter speed seems quite low given the light and ISO. There would have been nothing wrong with raising the ISO as this would raise the shutter speed and can lead to an underexposed shot rather than overexposed.

I can't say why it turned out like that, perhaps something was amiss in your settings somewhere Adrian.

Click to expand...

I think I sorted it as I later noticed the camera was set for exposure bracketing in three steps. When I looked at the shutter speed in the viewfinder, it doubled with each click. I'm guessing it started out too slow and worked it's way to the correct speed. Not knowing it was set in bracketing mode, I was using the first step all the time, which was equivalent three stops out. I still don't know how it got in that mode as it needs a combination of button pushes.