Inconsistent Exposure (Solved- Windows Photo Viewer Sucks, at least for my Sony A9ii) (1 Viewer)

[Statsomatic]

I’ve just started shooting with the Sony A9ii and 200-600mm. Something I encountered today was I was shooting Least Sandpipers and some of my shots were turning out perfectly exposed while others were totally blown out. Both of these shots were at 1/3200, ISO 640, f/6.3, taken moments apart from each other. Then why are they exposed totally differently?

 

[KC Foggin]

Hard to say. Perhaps the lighting for each one.
Welcome aboard Statsomatic!

 

[Statsomatic]

Hard to say. Perhaps the lighting for each one.
Welcome aboard Statsomatic!

Yeah, I thought about that, but these pictures were taken within ten seconds of each other on a clear sunny day. That’s why I’m kind of scratching my head on this.

 

[KC Foggin]

One pic is definitely lighter so perhaps a turn by you blocked the sunlight

 

[Jefrs]

One of the wonders of photography is the light changes. Presumably the bird had moved to another position and so your angle had changed too. Were you shooting all-manual? What was the exposure meter telling you? I like to fix the aperture (we do not want it wide-open), use auto-ISO with some upper limit, and a low limit on shutter speed. That way the camera will adjust its exposure value whilst keeping desirable parameters - lowish ISO, fast shutter. The metering mode may be a factor as might the WB. And why I'm not all that fond of AWB, it strives for 18% grey (that sand is not that) and can alter the colouration from one shot to the next, which will also alter the exposure gain and hence exposure value.

 

[Statsomatic]

One of the wonders of photography is the light changes. Presumably the bird had moved to another position and so your angle had changed too. Were you shooting all-manual? What was the exposure meter telling you? I like to fix the aperture (we do not want it wide-open), use auto-ISO with some upper limit, and a low limit on shutter speed. That way the camera will adjust its exposure value whilst keeping desirable parameters - lowish ISO, fast shutter. The metering mode may be a factor as might the WB. And why I'm not all that fond of AWB, it strives for 18% grey (that sand is not that) and can alter the colouration from one shot to the next, which will also alter the exposure gain and hence exposure value.

I was using auto ISO and I set my shutter speed to 1/3200 and aperture at f/6.3. The bird had barely moved position between the two photos, maybe a couple feet. Here’s how the camera shows the two photos. First one is the correctly exposed one, second is overexposed.

 

[Jefrs]

I was using auto ISO and I set my shutter speed to 1/3200 and aperture at f/6.3. The bird had barely moved position between the two photos, maybe a couple feet. Here’s how the camera shows the two photos. First one is the correctly exposed one, second is overexposed. View attachment 1472634
View attachment 1472635

That's why I asked about your settings. I can only see a very slight change in angle from their shadow, reflection and tracks and yet the camera obviously has not compensated for some change. Weird.
The settings are the same, the histograms look the same but the exposures are different, weird. Is this the only time it has happened? Sticky shutter?
I don't think I understand what I guess is the Sony WB symbol that looks like the Olympus fluorescent balance symbot (+2)

 

[Statsomatic]

That's why I asked about your settings. I can only see a very slight change in angle from their shadow, reflection and tracks and yet the camera obviously has not compensated for some change. Weird.
The settings are the same, the histograms look the same but the exposures are different, weird. Is this the only time it has happened? Sticky shutter?
I don't think I understand what I guess is the Sony WB symbol that looks like the Olympus fluorescent balance symbot (+2)

Alright, now I’m thinking the issues are somehow happening when I’m downloading and saving the files. Because on my camera screen, the two shots look exposed exactly the same (see pics). I’ve just been going through my raw shots with windows photo viewer, and cropping+saving the good shots as jpgs, which worked totally fine for that one sandpiper shot, but most of the other sandpiper shots, when I view them in windows photo viewer, are totally blown out. I haven’t used this camera very long, but I haven’t noticed this issue elsewhere, it just popped up shooting this group of shorebirds. Super noticeable on this killdeer too, looks stunning on the camera screen, but mangled on the computer! Here are pics of that too.

Photo which turned out well on computer


Photo which turned out way overexposed on computer

Killdeer on camera


Same Killdeer photo when cropped and saved as a jpeg in windows

 

[Jefrs]

Alright, now I’m thinking the issues are somehow happening when I’m downloading and saving the files. Because on my camera screen, the two shots look exposed exactly the same (see pics). I’ve just been going through my raw shots with windows photo viewer, and cropping+saving the good shots as jpgs, which worked totally fine for that one sandpiper shot, but most of the other sandpiper shots, when I view them in windows photo viewer, are totally blown out. I haven’t used this camera very long, but I haven’t noticed this issue elsewhere, it just popped up shooting this group of shorebirds. Super noticeable on this killdeer too, looks stunning on the camera screen, but mangled on the computer! Here are pics of that too.

Photo which turned out well on computer
View attachment 1472637

Photo which turned out way overexposed on computer View attachment 1472638

Killdeer on camera
View attachment 1472639

Same Killdeer photo when cropped and saved as a jpeg in windows View attachment 1472640

I think you have solved it. I had to get a UHD monitor for photo editing. There a good colour change between the tow monitors even though they are allegedly calibrated.
I do shoot raw+jpeg but if it is only a crop I'm most likely to use the jpeg. Saving jpeg at maximum (original) is lossless. I set the camera up for the jpeg. If I use the raw I am throwing those settings away. The camera is usually better at converting its own raw anyway.

 

[Statsomatic]

I think you have solved it. I had to get a UHD monitor for photo editing. There a good colour change between the tow monitors even though they are allegedly calibrated.
I do shoot raw+jpeg but if it is only a crop I'm most likely to use the jpeg. Saving jpeg at maximum (original) is lossless. I set the camera up for the jpeg. If I use the raw I am throwing those settings away. The camera is usually better at converting its own raw anyway.

Alright, with everything I’ve heard online, I hadn’t even considered not shooting raw. But since all I’m doing to my photos is cropping them and maybe a little bit of lightening/darkening, I can just shoot jpeg and avoid this mess? I’m definitely not a photo editor/photography competition type, I’m just a birder who enjoys capturing the moments.

 

[Statsomatic]

I think you have solved it. I had to get a UHD monitor for photo editing. There a good colour change between the tow monitors even though they are allegedly calibrated.
I do shoot raw+jpeg but if it is only a crop I'm most likely to use the jpeg. Saving jpeg at maximum (original) is lossless. I set the camera up for the jpeg. If I use the raw I am throwing those settings away. The camera is usually better at converting its own raw anyway.

Well I’ve got a solution now! Sony’s image viewer/editor does the trick. It might be doing the same thing as if I was just shooting in jpeg, but at least I have the flexibility of shooting in raw now. It all looks good on my monitor, it was just the windows image viewer itself that was absolute garbage for whatever reason. Very happy to retrieve these photos!!

 

[Mono]

The RAW files produced by different cameras are different! There is no common standard so most generic images viewers can't view RAW files. One can sometimes get a RAW codec that allows Windows to preview RAW images but most camera manufacturers want you to use their software.

To get around the limitation of most image viewers cameras will embed a jpg preview in the RAW image. Windows can then use that preview as it can't read the RAW image. The trouble is that those embedded previews can be of varying quality.