idiot G10 user here...need help with shots too dark on auto setting!

[michaelws]

I am an artist...painter (oils). I got a G10 to make shots of my work for my own reference. I have never used it on any other setting than the automatic...and up until yesterday it seemed fine. Now, tho, when I press the shutter button halfway, the image on the LCD screen darkens...a lot...and when I shoot that is the image I get...very dark.

is there any way to troubleshoot this problem? Or is there a good tutorial around for manual settings to try to overcome this darkening problem?

As you can tell, I have little theoretical knowledge of lense openings and f-stops.

thanks for any info on this.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

First I'd suggest that you check to see if you have inadvertently set the exposure compensation (EC).

What is the color or tone of the painting? A camera's internal light meter works by trying to expose what it see (meters off of) as if it's middle grey. So when your subject is brighter than middle grey, the camera doesn't think that it's a bright object...but that it's a middle grey object with a lot of light falling onto it. Thus, it recommends less exposure that you actually need...giving you underexposed photos. (the opposite is also true with dark subjects).
So if your subject is bright, then you will need to compensate for that, in order to get proper exposure. This is where you would use manual mode or use EC with an auto mode. So if your images are darker than you want, you would use positive exposure compensation (or in manual mode, a larger aperture (lower F number) or a longer shutter speed or a higher ISO).

 

[KmH]

is there any way to troubleshoot this problem?

Yes, there is a way. Read the camera users manual.

Keep your eye peeled for how to reset the camera to it's default settings.

 

[michaelws]

Thanks to both of you. I know I sound like a couch potato...so I do not take insult as your intent when you said...READ the manual. I deserve such a reply. I am an avid manual reader...normally...but there is so little time and I am luckily swamped and am behind on commissions...so I posted here hoping there would be a possible quick remedy...that someone might have encountered the same problem and I could benefit from their having done all the work. Sorry that that sounds crass and lazy...but I have been in the opposite position many times and replied on art forums to queries where the person asking was in the same position I was in.

I will read the manual...

So thank you both for your taking time to reply. It would be best if I learned to use the capabilities of this little camera in manual mode.

Again, thanks!

 

[reedshots]

If you have been using the camera for a while has the flash been used when shooting your paintings / in Auto it should trigger when needed. You may have turned it off or it could be as simple as a new battery / if the battery is weak even when fully charged it may not be firing.

 

[michaelws]

I have always turned the flash off. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[michaelws]

I found out what happened. The exposure dial was somehow rotated. Found it by READING the manual...selectively though. Thanks all for your input.

 

[KmH]

Thank you for that last, in two ways. First for letting us know you discovered the solution to your issue, and second, because I hate multiple periods...in the middle of sentences, like in post #4. It looks so as·i·nine.

 

[analog.universe]

I use the multiple period thing alot...even in the middle of sentences. I even spell alot that way sometimes. I feel like the purpose of written language has been redefined since the internet and texting has gotten popular. There's an attempt to get it to "sound" more like talking to someone directly, as opposed to reading an Oxford published essay. The whole point of language is to communicate, and anything people can think of to make it work is fine by me. The ... have a purpose, and the grammatical errors that are more and more widespread rarely, if ever, prevent someone from communicating. Until someone complains about it that is Grammar nazi's at publishers I'm all for... but in a place like this, grammar don't mean **** in the long run... /rant

 

[michaelws]

hahaha - love it that you replied because of the etc (...) in the sentence. You are the first I've encountered in my 63 years. I get wierded out with people not knowing when to use "there - their - they're" in a sentence. Makes me wonder how they got through junior high school.

Thanks to your reply I will henceforth always remember you when I use the three dots. Notice how I have gone out of my way to avoid using it here.