Nikon D40 suspect metering system?

Having recently purchased a D40,mainly on the recommendation of it's metering

system i find that the camera has a tendency to blow highlights very easily

when faced with bright sun/deep shade scenes.I am having to compensate by AT

LEAST four stops to get a reasonable compromise.I appreciate most metering

systems/sensors will find this a challenge, but i had an Olympus E 500 which

did a much better job of scenes like this.Has anybody else encountered a

similar problem?, or perhaps i have a faulty example.

Many thanks,

Martin Hardy.

Does it do this in all scenes or just ones with very high dynamic range?

The D40 Matrix metering will favor shadow detail at the sacrifice of highlight detail but not

by 4 stops. Do you have more than one lens and if so, do you get the same overexposure

with both lenses?

I find I generally need to dial in -0.7 exposure compensation (2/3rds stops) into my D40 on normal scenes.

 

You talk about 4 stops on bright sun/deep shade scenes. There's never been a film or sensor made that can handle the full range of bright sun to deep shade, so you have no problems there. But in a "normal" scene, -0.7 stops should bring the highlights down into range.

 

Perhaps you have unknowingly dialed in some positive exposure compensation??

I only tend to get the problem in scene's with a high dynamic range.Unfortunately,i have the one kit zoom at present, so unable to establish if it's any lens interfacing problem.Definitely no accidental positive exposure compensation was used either.I have only had the camera for a week or so,maybe i just have to think more about where i point the meter in these kind of situations with the Nikon than the Olympus.Oddly,i have found that i seem to get more reliable results using the centre-weighted metering than with the matrix meter.

Thanks to everyone for their comments.

This is why Nikon included an exposure compensation over-ride. There isn't any metering

system that can read a photographers' mind. You have to make choices yourself when the

dynamic range of the scene exceeds the dynamic range of the sensor.

I haven't had a D40 for that long, but I definitely find the matrix meter more finicky than my E-1. It seems to be pretty heavily biased by whatever is under the focus point. For "normal" scenes, it works OK, but with high contrast, it's all over the map. Try a scene with a very dark object next to a very light one. I find that very slight changes in composition (focusing at the edge of the dark object, versus focusing at the edge of the light one) gives over a stop difference in the metering. It's no doubt great for Aunt Maude when she tries to take a backlight picture of her niece, but for my taste, it's a bit too sensitive.

I agree, David. It's also why I shoot in manual mode when the light isn't changing rapidly.

It seems that judging from David's post i don't think my camera is faulty.Sorry David, just to clarify are you saying that in matrix mode i need to put the main focusing point directly on the section of the scene where highlight meets dark shadow and lock the meter reading before i re-compose the shot?.How have you overcome your own challenges with the metering system?.

Does the D40 have spot metering? That's the better choice in difficult situations. Then you get to decide if you prefer blown highlights or black shadows. Or use flash to control contrast.

Hello Robert.Yes, the D40 does have spot metering.It seems i will have to do quite a bit of "suck it and see" with this camera to arrive at a result i am happy with.At least with digital experimentation is free!.Thankyou for your suggestions.

I'm impressed by the D40 - I gave one to my son, but I took it for a test drive yesterday (I'm a D200 user). Image quality is impressive, and the AF was good enough for me to shoot indoor basketball.

I don't have any particular advice, only the observation. You just have to get used to it and adjust like with any meter. If you're really struggling with it though, maybe center-weighted would be more predictable.

Being D40 user, I personally feel, center weighted and spot metering is fine than matrix metering in D40. Most of my shots in matrix metering is not satisfactory but same with spot metering is perfect.

I never used Matrix on any body since I bought the N8008n. I know how to meter with center weighted metering, and when needed, to read from surrogate subject and lock that reading and then recompose.

 

I now use a D40 and mostly a single lens, the 35mm f/2.0 AF... and I follow that way of shooting, just like when I was shooting slides.

 

I turned off Matrix, set the pattern for center weighted and get consistant results even with subjects that have deep shadows and highlights that occupy a a small part of the frame. Meter from a mid-tone, let the shadows go black and highlights will take care of themselves.

 

FWIW... I did try the matrix pattern on the D40, just to see if they made it better since the N8008s. After a few dozen frames, I set the camera to center weighted, If it ain't broke....<div></div>

Coming from a bunch of Nikon P&S cameras with blow out metering, I immediately set -.7 EV on my D40X. Yes, it does try to favor the darker values... I also find that I need to go to -1.0 to -1.3 EV with all Sigma lenses (from 30 mm f1.4 to the Bigma at f4, 'splain' that to me). I move to -.3 EV in lower light conditions. I'll try messing with other metering methods as mentioned by folks here. Thanks. I did find that on matrix metering I can use AE hold and recompose. That works just fine, and one does develop a sense for dynamic range and the need for watching blown highlights.