D5100 Metering Issues

[nobrain01]

Hi,

I bought my D5100 4 months ago and it is all working fine.
Now, I bought a Nissin Di866 Mark II for Nikon and attached it to my DSLR. The results were nice and awesome.
When I removed the external flash and try to capture a picture without the flash the picture was underexposed. The settings I used is (M, 1/60, F/8.0, ISO 100). Previously, this settings works best for me without the flash but now this settings is giving me an underexposed picture and the result of this settings is a very dark picture which should not be happening. When I tried to increase the shutter speed to 1/160 to freeze the motion what I've got is a totally black picture.

I tried to set the mode to P, and the camera is automatically setting the shutter speed to either 3s to 6s and F/4.0 in a well-lighted environment.

Is there anyone out there who knows what could be the possible cause of this metering problem? Please help me in solving this issue.

Thanks/Ivan

 

[cbrown222]

You probably have the ISO set way too low. I'm not quite sure what you're asking but it seems like you're using the same exposure settings in all conditions but if P mode is under exposing, the meter might be fooled. You can use exposure compensation which is a button right next to the shutter button I think that looks like +/- . Go to +0.3 or +0.6 to get more exposure.

 

[dwightdegroff]

I agree with cbrown - your ISO seems far too low to allow for a correct exposure for indoor shooting using that shutter speed and aperture(unless there is LOTS of light). Perhaps you had Auto ISO enabled before you started using your new flash? What is your light meter telling you?

Sticking with one group of settings(1/60s, f/8, ISO 100) just plain isn't going to work as the light changes from one situation to the next. If you're going to be shooting in manual, you will need to look at your light meter and adjust your settings to get correct exposure. If you need/choose to use 1/60s and f/8, you will definitely need to boost your ISO for indoor shots.

Since you're shooting in manual, you may not prefer it, but you could always enable the Auto ISO mode on the D5100.

Good luck

 

[jriepe]

Ivan, for any image to be exposed properly requires the correct amount of light hitting the sensor. When shooting in manual you and not the camera is controlling that amount of light with the aperture and shutter speed setting. There is no one size fits all when it comes to proper exposure and the aperture and shutter speed settings will never remain constant. It depends upon the available light. When shooting in P or auto mode the camera will probably set the aperture to the maximum for that particular lens. Then it will set the shutter speed to allow the proper amount of light. If you want a particular aperture shoot in aperture priority and if the light is so low that your shutter speed is too slow then increase the ISO. It's all a balancing act and proper exposure is controlled by the aperture, shutter speed and ISO. No way can shooting in manual with an ISO100 a shutter speed of 1/60 and an aperture setting of f/8 give you the proper exposure in every lighting situation. Those settings may have been okay with the flash unit attached because a compatible flash unit will fire at different intensities depending upon your other settings. Don't know if this answers your question because I'm not quite clear of the question.

Jerry

 

[greybeard]

Hey Ivan, I have that camera and is what you need to do. When you have the flash off of the camera and you don't want the onboard flash to fire, select the setting 2 notches before (P). The circle with a slash through the lightning bolt. That will give you perfectly exposed pictures without any flash. The camera will automatically select the proper ISO, Shutter speed and f/stop. You can do all of this manually yourself of course but what I have told you will work I guarantee it.

 

[nobrain01]

I usually used that settings in an open field and I am getting good results. But now, after I'ved used an external flash the images were underexposed. I tried to increase the ISO but still the image was still underexposed for that ISO setting.

 

[MTVision]

I usually used that settings in an open field and I am getting good results. But now, after I'ved used an external flash the images were underexposed. I tried to increase the ISO but still the image was still underexposed for that ISO setting.

If the photos are underexposed then the settings are wrong.

Are you using the in camera light meter to determine your settings?

What does the camera do in the other modes? Put it in aperture priority - set the aperture to 8 and see what the camera chooses as the shutter speed.

 

[nobrain01]

I tried to set the mode to S (so I will control the shutter speed and the camera will select the approriate apperture), 1/60 and ISO to 600 and I am shooting outdoor at around 9AM. However, I am still getting same results, an underexposed picture. The meter in the rangefinder was still showing a negative exposure.

All other modes except S, A, M are working fine. For now I cannot use these 3 modes as they are not working fine.

Do I need to reset the firmware of my camera so that the metering will return back to normal?

 

[MTVision]

I tried to set the mode to S (so I will control the shutter speed and the camera will select the approriate apperture), 1/60 and ISO to 600 and I am shooting outdoor at around 9AM. However, I am still getting same results, an underexposed picture. The meter in the rangefinder was still showing a negative exposure.

All other modes except S, A, M are working fine. For now I cannot use these 3 modes as they are not working fine.

Do I need to reset the firmware of my camera so that the metering will return back to normal?

Honestly, there probably isn't anything wrong with your camera or your metering. If all the automatic settings are working fine then your metering is probably fine. The only issue you are having is when you are controlling the exposure.

Sometimes you have to adjust things in the priority modes to get a good exposure. Add exposure compensation or change the shutter speed.

In manual mode - even zeroing out the meter won't always give you the best exposure. You may have to tweak it a little. Just because those previous settings (f/8, 1/60) worked at 9am one day doesn't necessarily mean it will give you the best exposure the next day.

Is the P mode working fine?

Posting some examples might help as well.

 

[nobrain01]

Hi Megan,

Yes, I am using the in-camera lightmeter to determine my settings.
All other modes are working fine except the S, A and M modes. I tried to switch the modes b/w these 3 modes but I am still getting same results.

 

[nobrain01]

I tried to set the mode to S (so I will control the shutter speed and the camera will select the approriate apperture), 1/60 and ISO to 600 and I am shooting outdoor at around 9AM. However, I am still getting same results, an underexposed picture. The meter in the rangefinder was still showing a negative exposure.

All other modes except S, A, M are working fine. For now I cannot use these 3 modes as they are not working fine.

Do I need to reset the firmware of my camera so that the metering will return back to normal?

Honestly, there probably isn't anything wrong with your camera or your metering. If all the automatic settings are working fine then your metering is probably fine. The only issue you are having is when you are controlling the exposure.

Sometimes you have to adjust things in the priority modes to get a good exposure. Add exposure compensation or change the shutter speed.

In manual mode - even zeroing out the meter won't always give you the best exposure. You may have to tweak it a little. Just because those previous settings (f/8, 1/60) worked at 9am one day doesn't necessarily mean it will give you the best exposure the next day.

Is the P mode working fine?

Posting some examples might help as well.

P mode is working fine, I tried shooting in P mode and replicate the settings generated by the P mode in M mode but the images were still underexposed.
A certain settings may not work in the same enviroment you are shooting. However, setting the apperture to its lowest value and the shutter speed to around 1/20 to 1/60 in a well lighted place should give you a well exposed image. However, when I tried to shoot with this settings in a well lighted place the image is just way too dark.

I cannot post a sample image for now since i brought my camera to a Nikon Service center for them to check what is the real problem behind this issue.

 

[xj0hnx]

However, setting the apperture to its lowest value and the shutter speed to around 1/20 to 1/60 in a well lighted place should give you a well exposed image.

Depends on the ISO too. I just tried it out in my room and f/3.5, 1/60 sec. the pictures were very dark up until ISO 1000 and even then still not bright at all. And updating the firmware will fix problems, or add features, if you want to reset the settings do it in the menu, or the hard reset (if there is one on the D5100)

 

[nobrain01]

However, setting the apperture to its lowest value and the shutter speed to around 1/20 to 1/60 in a well lighted place should give you a well exposed image.

Depends on the ISO too. I just tried it out in my room and f/3.5, 1/60 sec. the pictures were very dark up until ISO 1000 and even then still not bright at all. And updating the firmware will fix problems, or add features, if you want to reset the settings do it in the menu, or the hard reset (if there is one on the D5100)

What I mean with dark image is that the image is totally dark that you can't barely see the subject. As if you were shooting in M mode at night without flash in a high shutter speed. I.e. 1/60. That's how dark the image is. I tried playing around with ISO, Shutter speed and Apperture. You know what, the best setting the camera is giving when Im inside my room is (3", F/3.5, ISO 2500) which is insane because I cannot shoot it handheld and my subject should not be moving for me to get a great picture.
400
I will try to udpate the firmware if there is a latest release and see what will happen.