Upgrading from D80

I am thinking about upgrading my camera (D80).
I have some issues that make the camera not as anjoyable as I wish it
was:
1) The camera tends to overexpose in weird ways. My D70 did it to, but
it was predictable, so I just compensated by 1/3 stop. D80 is hit and
miss, and I don't always have the luxury of stopping and checking the
histogram.
snip

I'm having the same problem with my D40x. Unpredictable overexposure
particularly when using matrix mode. It this a Nikon thing? I don't have
this problem with my Canon or Samsung cameras. Did a comparison with my
Canon IXUS 950, same shots, conditions, etc. Canon metering spot on; Nikon
usually overexposed. Have reverted to using my old Weston Master 5.

Any metering problems with other Nikon cameras?

PDM

Croosh wrote:
On May 22, 12:49 am, "PDM" pdcm99minus this
wrote:
I am thinking about upgrading my camera (D80).
I have some issues that make the camera not as anjoyable as I wish it
was:
1) The camera tends to overexpose in weird ways. My D70 did it to, but
it was predictable, so I just compensated by 1/3 stop. D80 is hit and
miss, and I don't always have the luxury of stopping and checking the
histogram.
snip

I'm having the same problem with my D40x. Unpredictable overexposure
particularly when using matrix mode. It this a Nikon thing? I don't have
this problem with my Canon or Samsung cameras. Did a comparison with my
Canon IXUS 950, same shots, conditions, etc. Canon metering spot on; Nikon
usually overexposed. Have reverted to using my old Weston Master 5.

Any metering problems with other Nikon cameras?

PDM

I used to have D70, and AE was very predictable. Since I was shooting
RAW, I set it to underexpose by 1/3 EV and seldom had any problems.
D80 is definitely much worse (at lest the one I have). This is mostly
the issue in the matrix mode. Spot metering is right on.

You'll find that the D300 can produce "brighter" ex-camera images with
less highlight clipping than the D70 - I also would set EV -0.5 or so
and/or dial in exposure compensation routinely with my D70, but I leave
the D300 at default. That latitude also gives you 1/2 stop more room to
pull shadow detail in post-processing - on top of at least another stop
advantage that the D300 has over any previous Nikon Dx dslr. (Note that
ADL is set on medium by default, hence some people take test shots with
D300 and complain about noise in skies at ISO 400 - to cater for these
inevitable people visiting camera stores looking for "problems" - Nikon
should have set ADL to off by default). I've set the Fn button to
toggle spot meter on (spot follows selected focus point - or center if
using the weird auto mode (can't even remember what it's called - I tend
not to use it).
I suspect that you're right - the D70 matrix metering is better than the
D80. I don't know if the D300 metering is better than the D70, or if
the reduced highlight clipping when using matrix is because of better
sensor, or possibly a bit of both. The results are much better - and
that's what counts.

snip
I suspect that you're right - the D70 matrix metering is better than the
D80. I don't know if the D300 metering is better than the D70, or if the
reduced highlight clipping when using matrix is because of better sensor,
or possibly a bit of both. The results are much better - and that's what
counts.


Thought my camera was faulty; half glad it appears to be a general fault.
Hopefully, Nikon will rectify this problem with a firmware update and
correct it if we all bombard them with requests.

PDM.

PDM wrote:
I am thinking about upgrading my camera (D80).
I have some issues that make the camera not as anjoyable as I wish it
was:
1) The camera tends to overexpose in weird ways. My D70 did it to, but
it was predictable, so I just compensated by 1/3 stop. D80 is hit and
miss, and I don't always have the luxury of stopping and checking the
histogram.
snip

I'm having the same problem with my D40x. Unpredictable overexposure
particularly when using matrix mode. It this a Nikon thing? I don't have
this problem with my Canon or Samsung cameras. Did a comparison with my
Canon IXUS 950, same shots, conditions, etc. Canon metering spot on; Nikon
usually overexposed. Have reverted to using my old Weston Master 5.

Any metering problems with other Nikon cameras?

You might just try center weighted or spot metering. Matrix metering is
always going to be unpredictable because it's referencing a big library
of possible scenarios & making a best guess. Hard for humans to predict
what exactly it is thinking :-)

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

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