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M240, so dark so grey.


TonyS

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Looking at your website, Keith, I rather doubt that those beautiful photographs are out-of-camera ;)

 

Jaap, thanks for the compliment and yes, you're right, the photographs on my website aren't out of camera. But the fact is I'd still be disappointed if I was getting out-of-camera exposures similar to the OPs.

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Hey, everybody.

Im a M9 user, but upgraded to M type240 recently.

But I just find the photos produced by M always a little bit grey.

I used JPEG directly, but the shadow details is very very very bad, as well as highlight.

I try to set menu, contrast, sharpness, saturation. But no better situation. 

Please forgive me my poor english, Im afraid I can not describe it clearly. So I try to upload more pictures (normal EV, No PS) to show my concern.

I need your help and want to know more about your M experiences. Is there something wrong with my M240 cmos? Or, just adjust settings, metering method? Or, no solution,this is M240?

Thank you .

 

I don't have an M240, so I'm not sure what the metering modes offered are in in it,  Others here can help with that.

 

The first image is about a stop under-exposed, and I'm not sure why.  It may just be a low-contrast scene on a dull day.   The rest of them all have perfectly exposed highlights. The background in two of them is much brighter than the foreground.  In the last one, the lampshades are perfectly exposed.   These are all classic cases of using a multi-point, averaging metering system when a spot or center-weighted meter would have been more appropriate for the subject matter.  If you're using an averaging meter setup, you have to recognize when you have a scene that is lit as dramatically as the bottom three images are, and compensate for the shadows in your exposure.  This is a classic case of letting the camera "think" for you rather than you driving the image exposure.

 

You can recover those images in post-processing, but it's always better to expose them properly to begin with.  My guess is that in each case, your M9 probably would have exposed them identically to your M240 as they're just difficult scenes for any camera meter to properly represent without compensating for the difference between the highlights and shadows. 

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You can recover those images in post-processing, but it's always better to expose them properly to begin with.  My guess is that in each case, your M9 probably would have exposed them identically to your M240 as they're just difficult scenes for any camera meter to properly represent without compensating for the difference between the highlights and shadows. 

 

Yup. A perfect histogram can sometimes lead to imperfect exposure.

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If there's any doubt about the calibration of your camera's in-built light meter, you could always try metering off an 18% grey card and compare the results. You don't need to focus on the card, just meter from It whilst it's held in the same light as the scene / subject. Skin tones are a pretty good test, we all have a fairly accurate memory record what they should look like.

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Hi, probably it has been said already: I imagine you have chosen advanced and there either spot measured or more likely used multi field measuring. It is a bit confusing, as you have to chose the metering method in the menu as well as in the set menu. 

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Welcome to the forum 229*****

Lots of good advice for you to consider. I would only add this piece. After your very next shot, study the histogram in camera. For jpeg it should be quite illustrative and helpful to you. If the graph is bunched to the left side, the picture will be very underexposed, possibly by two or more aperture settings. Before leaving the spot, take another and consciously point the camera towards the bulk of important tones in shot. (This is why I prefer centre-weighted to multi-field metering. I feel I have more control and can select those elements in my picture which should be correctly exposed). After the second shot, study the histogram again and assess how well you have succeeded in capturing the picture to your satisfaction.

 

I would also be tempted to set all your menu adjustments to standard until you have solved the mystery of your underexposure.

 

My feeling is that you are tackling quite tricky subjects in your batch of pictures shown above. I suggest you practice with what might be considered a boring subject with a good range of tones but without too many extreme lighting sources. Get that procedure right and then move onto more difficult lighting.

 

Good exposure is often taken for granted. But working towards your own personal technique, which includes good well-balanced exposure, is a skill worth pursuing.

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One more item to consider. On the 240, it can be easy to accidentally touch the thumb scroll wheel on the back of the camera and change your exposure compensation. Check to see if it is at zero.

The pictures shown here include the EXIF data which show that the exposure compensation was indeed not set to zero.

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To me, it looks like you meter and focus a center feature. This can underexposed the remaining context. It takes getting used to without changeable metering in other cameras, but I think if you practice what you meter on and the post process in Lightroom it will,be fine.

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One more item to consider. On the 240, it can be easy to accidentally touch the thumb scroll wheel on the back of the camera and change your exposure compensation. Check to see if it is at zero.

 good tips, I will pay attention to that next time. :p

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Welcome to the forum 229*****

Lots of good advice for you to consider. I would only add this piece. After your very next shot, study the histogram in camera. For jpeg it should be quite illustrative and helpful to you. If the graph is bunched to the left side, the picture will be very underexposed, possibly by two or more aperture settings. Before leaving the spot, take another and consciously point the camera towards the bulk of important tones in shot. (This is why I prefer centre-weighted to multi-field metering. I feel I have more control and can select those elements in my picture which should be correctly exposed). After the second shot, study the histogram again and assess how well you have succeeded in capturing the picture to your satisfaction.

 

I would also be tempted to set all your menu adjustments to standard until you have solved the mystery of your underexposure.

 

My feeling is that you are tackling quite tricky subjects in your batch of pictures shown above. I suggest you practice with what might be considered a boring subject with a good range of tones but without too many extreme lighting sources. Get that procedure right and then move onto more difficult lighting.

 

Good exposure is often taken for granted. But working towards your own personal technique, which includes good well-balanced exposure, is a skill worth pursuing.

Hey, WDA, thank you for your warm tips. Time to practice~~ ;)

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Classic and Multi- Field.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong folks. I thought Multi-Field metering would only be engaged when either:

 

1) Advanced is selected

or,

2) LV is engaged

 

It means it would just be Center-Weighed when the user is using the OVF w/o LV, with Classic + Multi-Field are set in the settings. I get confused sometimes lol

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Here's another method, ignore the metering entirely. Look at the scene and make a guess, glance the image on the screen and make an adjustment to give the look you are aiming for. Funnily enough it's a very fast technique and my guessing gets more accurate over time. The trouble with metering is that it suggests a change every time a person with a black coat, black bag and black hat walks by, and equally when someone else wearing white occupies the frame, in reality of course the exposure hasn't changed at all, and should be left alone.

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this is kinda what I do- make a guess- then set shutter speed manually- then make a few adjustments if required looking at highlights, etc. Often I ignore the meter altogether. Once you have found a correct exposure for a given area then you don't need to worry much. If lighting is tricky- you could always bracket.

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