Question about the D40 and it exposure meter

[pauliec]

I am still playing around with my first SLR and getting the hang of it, and have found this guide to be immensely helpful: Nikon D40 User's Guide

However, one question -- the author states that he has to compensate for the D40's exposure meter, because it is notoriously faulty:

I set my exposure compensation to -0.7 because my D40's metering firmware is defective, just like the D80's meter. It usually overexposes.

Set -0.7 by holding the +/- button near the shutter and turning the rear dial two clicks to the right.

Sadly we'll often have to adjust this depending on the subject. It's no big deal: just look at the image on the LCD and click it towards the left (+) to lighten the image, and to the right (-) to darken it for the next shot. This is why I prefer my D200, which has a superior meter because it rarely needs any fiddling.

Does anyone else familiar with the D40 or D80 find this to be true? Honestly I am not familiar nor proficient enough to recognize how far off the metering firmware is in regards to the photos, so I was wondering if I should get a second opinion before I take his advice and set it to -0.7. In other words, to my untrained eye I don't know how much of a difference it will make. Thanks.

 

[djacobox372]

I am still playing around with my first SLR and getting the hang of it, and have found this guide to be immensely helpful: Nikon D40 User's Guide

However, one question -- the author states that he has to compensate for the D40's exposure meter, because it is notoriously faulty:



Does anyone else familiar with the D40 or D80 find this to be true? Honestly I am not familiar nor proficient enough to recognize how far off the metering firmware is in regards to the photos, so I was wondering if I should get a second opinion before I take his advice and set it to -0.7. In other words, to my untrained eye I don't know how much of a difference it will make. Thanks.

The correct exposure setting for the meter is subjective, as is the author's opinion.

Digital doesn't like overexposed highlights, the information is clamped instead of falling off smoothly like film. This is why many prefer to underexpose digital slightly. doing this will increase the amount of noise in the dark areas of the photograph, so there is a tradeoff.

 

[jlykins]

Check the Histogram.... Or if you know someone that has a light meter, check it. I have never found there to be a descepency, D40,D50,D70,or D300...

 

[MikeBcos]

My D40 exposes perfectly, except with flash, I keep +0.7 flash compensation on all the time.

 

[jlykins]

My D40 exposes perfectly, except with flash, I keep +0.7 flash compensation on all the time.

I bet you don't have your camera or flash set right. Probably don't have the aperture set quite right...

 

[MikeBcos]

I bet you don't have your camera or flash set right. Probably don't have the aperture set quite right...

If I set everything manually then obviously I can get the exposure right, but in Auto, P, A, and S modes the camera/flash underexposes, this applies to both built-in flash and my SB-400.

In any of those four modes, with TTL flash metering set, the exposure should be perfect but it isn't.

 

[jlykins]

hmmm, this sounds weird. You should be able to set your aperture and that should set your flash exposure. The background will be determined by the shutter speed... I'm not sure what else would cause your under exposure.

 

[jlykins]

Is the entire image underexposed or just the subjet, or just the background?

 

[MikeBcos]

It's definitely weird, I figure it's just some small glitch in my camera. It doesn't worry me, I just leave the flash compensation permanently set.

 

[jlykins]

It's definitely weird, I figure it's just some small glitch in my camera. It doesn't worry me, I just leave the flash compensation permanently set.

lol.

 

[MikeBcos]

Is the entire image underexposed or just the subjet, or just the background?

Missed this, it's the entire image.