Image problems

[Tonkerdog]

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Hello everyone

 

I took my Q out down the river Tyne today as it was a beautiful clear sunny day. I've just downloaded my photos, and they are a mix between being overexposed, way to hi ISO and from a dirt cheap sensor.

 

The clouds were almost pixelated, the colours very flat and there was a lot of noise. I took it out two weeks ago on another winters day and it was fantastic.

 

Auto shutter speed/ISO aperture priority.

 

Any ideas. I've double checked all the settings!

[ropo54]

Did you check the settings to see whether you may have had it on a jpg setting?  (There may be a setting for low resolution jpegs. I don't recall).

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[earleygallery]

They say a picture is worth 1000 words, and for a photo forum you'd think it would be best to post one of your photos, with the EXIF details and then maybe people can comment usefully. 

[Tonkerdog]

I'll try that tomorrow, when my MacBook returns.

[beez]

If you're out shooting pictures on a nice day, and don't expect the exposure values to change drastically (as in going inside a building, etc.), don't use auto ISO. Pick an ISO setting yourself - on a nice day, 100, 200, etc. If you do go inside, boost it up some to 800, 1600, if needed. You're ceding way too much control of the camera, to the camera. In my experience (and I've been a pro photojournalist for more than 40 years, using digital for 15), auto ISO on this and the other cameras I've used doesn't work all that well. I never use auto ISO, even in the faster-paced assignments I shoot like the campaign trail. I change it for the conditions I'm shooting in. That means changing on the fly if necessary. The more control you have over your camera (and this assumes you know something about basic exposure theory) the more consistent your pictures will be. You want to be taking the pictures, not letting the camera taken them for you. You may have also gotten the metering system into spot metering or some other mode where the meter is reading the the wrong part of the frame. Try going through your menus and see what your settings are, or reset them to defaults and start from scratch. 

Edited February 6, 2017 by beez

[nick h]

Nice idea, Beez, but if you're using any sort of auto setting, then surely you're ceding control to the camera? I use auto ISO as when I am shooting available light, it can change significantly, very quickly. With Nikon, I set everything manually and use some flash, usually bounced as a fill. (This doesn't work with Leica as the flash is completely unpredictable - SF40). Unfortunately I cannot work quickly enough on the move to change everything and still make shots with the Q, which I can with my Nikons...

 

I am still trying with the Q, but finding it quite hard work. (BTW I have been a professional photographer for 20 years).

[wda]

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Toner dog, without any visual evidence it's impossible to give you a solution. One piece of advice, however, try using custom presets. Providing you check early results in the field, you can easily revert to a known and proven settings.

[beez]

Nice idea, Beez, but if you're using any sort of auto setting, then surely you're ceding control to the camera? I use auto ISO as when I am shooting available light, it can change significantly, very quickly. With Nikon, I set everything manually and use some flash, usually bounced as a fill. (This doesn't work with Leica as the flash is completely unpredictable - SF40). Unfortunately I cannot work quickly enough on the move to change everything and still make shots with the Q, which I can with my Nikons...

 

I am still trying with the Q, but finding it quite hard work. (BTW I have been a professional photographer for 20 years).

 

 

You are correct, using any auto setting cedes some control of the camera. The the OP's case, my thought was he was ceding too much control to the camera by using auto ISO and an auto exposure setting outside on a nice day. I only shoot available light unless I'm in a studio or on location and using lighting for an editorial portrait. I use Leicas (M9s and the Q) and Nikons, and I've tried many times to use auto ISO, and I found the quality of my pictures from the same take with too much ISO variation. I shoot a lot of magazine assignments through my agency, and the pictures need to have technical consistency. I don't understand why the camera changes the ISO all over the place, just by pointing the camera in a slightly different direction, but it does. Sometimes I'll get two consecutive frames - one at ISO 400 and one at 1600. The Nikons are better than the Leicas on this, but not much. That's why I've given up on auto ISO. I came up shooting film with meter-less Leicas and Nikon Fs, so most of the time I use manual exposure, but sometimes use aperture priority. I find changing the ISO on the Q easy, and can do it with the camera up to my eye, if necessary.

[Herve5]

(...) I don't understand why the camera changes the ISO all over the place, just by pointing the camera in a slightly different direction, but it does.

looks like exposure metering set on central-point and forgotten maybe?

[wda]

looks like exposure metering set on central-point and forgotten maybe?

That should be no surprise. That is just what AUTO ISO is set to do; it is the only variable set.

[Herve5]

That should be no surprise. That is just what AUTO ISO is set to do; it is the only variable set.

I don't say it's a surprise. I think it may explain the cam behavior... Specially if one has reduced the single-point exposure target size...

[beez]

looks like exposure metering set on central-point and forgotten maybe?

 

 

That should be no surprise. That is just what AUTO ISO is set to do; it is the only variable set.

 

 

I don't say it's a surprise. I think it may explain the cam behavior... Specially if one has reduced the single-point exposure target size...

 

 

Thing is, I very rarely use spot metering in the single focus point - may 2-3 times in the 14 months I've had the camera. I always use multi-point or matrix metering. One time, I set auto ISO on one of my Nikons, and just walked around the house with my eye up to the viewfinder, and watched the ISO go up and down like a yo-yo. I need consistency, so I set the ISO for prevailing conditions, and if I need to set it higher or lower, I do so. I also find that setting my ISO manually gives me a baseline for my general exposure for the conditions. That way I can keep track in my head if, for instance, someone moves out of the light some, I can open the aperture, and still know about what that setting is without having to take my eye away from what I'm shooting to see the settings.  

[Tonkerdog]

Gents, thanks for all you responses. Embarrassingly I have to report that as opposed to when I dowlnloaded images to a MAC, the MacBook only displayed really basic images. When I opened the image, and let the whole raw file download it all went back to normal!

 

So it wasn't the Qs fault, it was me interpreting the cheap ass image initially displayed by our MacBook!

 

Thanks again for all the advice etc