Why does my D80 take bad pictures in "Auto"

<p>I have had better success in auto with my Canon SX100is (point-n-shoot) than with my D80 which I just got a few months ago (so I'm still learning about it). I use the manual settings on the D80 when I'm in a more controlled situaton but when the lighting is weird like at the end of a sunny day and I'm zooming in and out (18-55mm), full auto with the D80 seems to take under-exposed, off color photos.</p>

<p>Here are some inside test images I just took this morning. In auto, are there deep settings within the D80 that can correct this?</p>

<p><strong>The Canon point & shoot used the flash but didn't darken the outer edges:</strong><br /> http://s474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/gsquared0318/General%20Photos/?action=view&current=CanonInside.jpg</p>

<p><strong>D80 with flash darkened the background and didn't produce right white bal:</strong><br /> http://s474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/gsquared0318/General%20Photos/?action=view&current=D80withFlash.jpg</p>

<p><strong>D80 without flash:</strong><br /> http://s474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/gsquared0318/General%20Photos/?action=view&current=D80without.jpg</p>

 

<p>Hi Greg! Uhmm! Having problems, huh? I might be wrong but a DSLR is not a camera meant to use in auto mode. The main reason to buy a DSLR is to be able to grow. So my first advice is to forget about your P&S camera, forget about auto mode on your D80 and set it into A mode. Here you will choose the aperture and the camera will choose the speed. Also set the ISO to auto with ISO 800 as maximum. Start from there. Play with the apertures all the way open to maybe f/8 in bright situations. also buy a book and read about exposure. I recommend "Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson" and you will find out how much fun your D80 is. Good luck! </p>

<p>Greg,<br /> It looks like the second photo was taken without flash, not the third one.... it appears warmer than the others - could you have mixed them up?<br /> When the D80 came out there was a lot of talk as I remember that the metering mechanism in the D80 was not working that well - however I thought it overexposed (I do not have my D80 anymore), and I frequently shot with -0.3 to -0.7 exposure compensation. This is (presumably not available in full auto - I never really used that feature much, my dad, who has the camera now, uses it exclusively and has not reported any problems.<br /> Despite all bells and whistles, the D80 does not know what you are taking a picture off - light color changes at the end of the day and the auto white balance may not do the best job, I do not know. Try "P" or "A", set the white balance manually or shoot in RAW and you can correct it later.</p>

<p>Hope this helps</p>

<p>Ben</p>

<p>Rene', you seem to be on line ALL the time :) Beat me to it while I was typing! I second the book recommendation, it is a good read.</p>

<p>Greg... Part of the problem in your examples is differing composition. The P&S didn't include the visible part of the room in it's calculation. If you ask me, the D80's are a bit underexposed, but the little Canon overexposed it a little.</p>

<p>You are also witnessing an example of the different ways the two companies look at exposure. Canon has always seemed to favor overexposing a bit for people who want a nice bright image, even at the cost of losing the highlights. Nikon has always seemed to favor backing off a little bit so the highight details are preserved, then a quick application of Levels in your editing program finishes it to your liking.</p>

<p>That said, there's a pretty good difference in your shots. I think some is the extra (and distant) backround the D80 was trying to meter for. Try it again and frame all three the same; I think you'll find them to be more alike. Also read up on <em>and learn to use</em> the Exposure Compensation. Dial in a quick +1/3rd or +2/3rds compensation when the average meter doesn't give you want you want. It takes seconds, and is one of the basic camera controls, whether a dSLR or your SX100.</p>

<p>You where duped by the marketing. A DSLR like Nikon D80 doesn't take better pictures than a point and shoot. It just enables the photographer to take better pictures because he can control almost every aspect of the camera.</p>

<p>In the first shot the darkening of the background is called the inverse square law and it's basically because the further the light from the flash need to travel the darker it becomes.</p>

<p>I started a thread similar to this concerning flash photography with my D2x and D40 awhile back. With all settings equal, the D40 takes a much better flash photo than the D2x.</p>

<p>Lex (perpendicularity consultant) Jenkins often chimes in on this type of discussion and has some observations on the situation - maybe we'll hear from him.</p>

<p>I have played with the priority settings before but I didn't think to use them in place of full auto. Pete S, I like how you compared the p&c to the SLR. It's a good way to think about the two. I'll try Aperture Priority over Auto that way I can get into some of the sub settings. Thanks for the advice and quick replies.</p>

<p>Benjamin.... Nah!! I am off line everyday between 2 and 8 am (Japanese time) :)</p>

<p>The D40X has two auto-modes (one with flash, and one flash-less). The D80 only has flash-auto mode, it does not have a no-flash auto mode. Though you can kinda get the same with the P mode.</p>

<p>So I was wondering how you got the no-flash pic in auto-mode.</p>

<p>You can turn the flash off in auto mode. Or at least you can on my D50.</p>

<p>Too many variables in those sample photos to offer any useful suggestions. The photos weren't framed identically, ISOs were different, etc. Also, navigating photos hosted on Photobucket is painful - bloated, sluggish interface.</p>

<p>I'll rehash my usual observations: P&S digital cameras are optimized to produce good quality (by snapshot standards) JPEGs right out of the camera for easy printing at home or a minilab. Most dSLRs are not. Both are good, useful cameras but demand very different approaches.</p>

<p>Not everyone enjoys the post processing steps needed to optimize photos from dSLRs. I don't really enjoy it so when I'm just taking casual snapshots I prefer my Olympus P&S digicam. And I've developed some tricks for optimizing JPEGs straight from my D2H. But it took months of methodical experiments which I first got it and what works for me with my camera won't work for you with yours. Each model is different.</p>

<p>I really don't see a problem with any of the images; both cameras perform as I would expect under the circumstances considering the subject and the photographer.</p>

<p>If you are interested in getting the most out of your D80 I suggest getting a copy of Thom Hogan's ebook guide to the DSLR along with a basic exposure book such as "Understanding Exposure." (I haven't read the latter book but lots of people recommend it...)</p>

<p>Another step to consider is spending some time learning how to take advantage of RAW files and download the 60-day free demo of Nikon Capture NX2. If you do that I recommend Jason Odell's NX2 ebook to obtain a head-start and get the most out of the software.</p>

<p>There is nothing wrong with using automatic modes when you want to, but auto modes have their limitations. Automatic modes cannot read your mind about what is most important to you in a scene or how you want the final image to look. And they can be fooled by scenes with very dark or light areas in the frame. In the long run you will get much better pictures if you learn how to use your D80 so you will know what to expect when using any of its options (or at least the options you want to use...) including experimenting with center-weighted and spot metering vs. Matrix Metering.</p>

<p>As many have said, it is not uncommon for a P&S camera to have good results right out of the camera, and most poeple shoot them in full AUTO mode. However, they have limitations that you just can't get around. An SLR or DSLR give you a much wider area of creativity and usage, but, you do need to know a bit more about how the much more complicated meters will look at a scene. It's sort of like an automatic transmission and a stick shift. With the first, driving is easy and gets you where you want to go, but it doesn't always shift were you want. A manual trans takes time to learn, but you control it fully. When you first learn, you probably grind some gears.</p>

<p>However, I would hope that the much more expensive camera would be able to beat a simple point and shoot in most situations. If not, then Nikon and Canon need to work on their full auto settings, I guess.</p>