How to optimize exposure

[Dennis]

Exposure compensation is a must to use and learn with today's DSLR cameras. When I was using Canon gear for many years I was able to adjust the settings that I needed just looking at the lighting I had available to me and dial in + - and was pretty close almost all the time as it becomes second nature to you. When I switched over to Nikon, I had all sorts of issues with the images being overexposed and trying to figure out why this was the case and now it was like starting all over again learning how to get the right exposure compensation.

One day, I spoke to Paul Janosi about this and he said that he had the same problems with the images being over exposed and explained that Nikon did this to reduce noise in the images of the cameras and there was an adjustment that could be made the camera. So we made the adjustments to the same settings Paul had his set for and this made a big difference for me to handle the exposure compensations again. Now Paul mentions that this can be done in the D300, D700, D3 etc: But I found that this can be done in the lower end cameras like the D90, but you area is different so check your camera for "Fine Tune Optimal Exposure", and than I checked both my cameras and had it set to Matrix metering and changed it in all the other settings.

The jets and planes fly today to check out the flight area near our home and on the lake front for the weekend show and too bad that the smog is bad, many shots are going to end up in the trash can, but there are a few keepers when they fly from the north of us where the lighting is less harsh and hardly can see the smog.


Optimize exposure and sharpness for your Nikon D300, D700 and D3 Camera

By

Paul Janosi

The high end digital cameras such as Nikon D300, D700, D3, D3X etc are packed with an incredible collection of user adjustable custom settings.

Ever since I first purchased my Nikon D300, I always felt that it was over exposing the image. I decided to Fine Tune the Optimal Exposure. It is very simple to do. This is done by selecting b6 under the custom menu. Exposure can be corrected separately for each meter- Matrix, Center-weighted or Spot meter. Exposure compensation can be applied in 1/6 steps from +1 to -1 EV. I re set my Matrix meter to -3/6. I am very happy with the results. Please note that exposure can be fine tuned for each Custom Settings bank and is not affected by the two button reset. Also it is important to note that the once re set, there is no exposure compensation warning. To determine how much exposure compensation has been dialed in you need to look at the Fine Tune Exposure menu. If you are not happy with your exposure, I highly recommend fine tuning the optimal exposure.

[Tom Pryor]

Oh, thanks very much for this great tip Dennis, will have to check my camera settings out and try this.

[Don B]

I always shot in manual mode. I almost forget how to use the exposure comp dial on my camera. I do keep a close eye on the histogram

[Dennis]

I always shot in manual mode. I almost forget how to use the exposure comp dial on my camera. I do keep a close eye on the histogram

Don, when in manual mode and your lighting is consistent it works better in this mode, but the one problem is that with dealing say with the air show it is way to hard as the lighting is changing in all directions and you are better off in using the exposure compensation in this case. The other thing is that making this adjustment really does help all the settings with camera including manual mode. I found shooting the air show Saturday and today that my exposure compensations are perfect and I was able to get the histogram to where it should. Again, this is for those shooting with Nikon gear.

[Tom Pryor]

I tried this out and it worked out well sort of with my Nikon, I found there was a increase in noise at 3/6 and moved it down to 2/6 for me and that seemed to help, but it does work and thanks for the tip.