D60 Exposure Questions

[karman_cates1]

I've been using the D60 for about 6 months, my first digital. I use a

high-quality light meter but I'm puzzeled by some of the results.

First, I get a histogram that has data somewhat evenly through the

middle but doesn't reach all the way to either end and the image

looks vague, murkey. I can improve it dramatically in levels, but

shouldn't I be filling the histogram if my light reading is accurate?

Second, I have shadow areas that appear "furry." This is much worse

when enlarging past 8x10. It's not quite the same as just pixelating

and it only happens in shadow areas. Thanks for your input.

KC<div></div>

[will_perlis]

Only if the scene itself has a range of brightness large enough to fill the histogram. Not all scenes have that range.

[Ken Katz]

If you take a photo of an 18% graycard, I think the histogram would spike right in the center, with almost no pixels anywhere else.

 

I have read that a good histogram should have very few pixels in the right hand quadrant (highlights), and that its OK to have lots of pixels in the left had quadrant (shadows) as long as you don't have a "mountain" of pixels piled up against the left hand side of the screen.

 

I seem to get good results following this advice.

[alan_schietzsch]

If the histogram is centred, the scene is low contrast. You can

increase the exposure until the histogram ALMOST touches the

right side. If it touches (or goes past) the right side, you are

overexposed and will have "blown out" highlights.

[barmijo]

What the histogram looks like has little to do with your meter reading. As others have noted, the meter is designed to expose whatever it measures as 18% grey. But what that really means depends on what type of meter you have and where you've aimed it.

 

I use a Sekonic 508 with my D60 and spent an entire weekend correllating my meter readings in spot and incident mode to my histogram so I can predict pretty well what my results will be. Pick a large flat wall in a shaded area, white is fine, and take a reading. Then set the camera as the meter indicates and you'll find the shot isn't white, but grey. In this case, the histogram should be a sharp point in the center. To get white when metering white, you have to adjust the settings by two to three stops and the histogram will be a sharp spike on the right side.

 

If you use a spot meter, then when measuring scenes, pick a portion of the subject that you wish to be grey for your measurements. Then check your highlights and shadows to be certain they're less than three stops from grey to avoid washout and featureless shadows.

 

If you use an incident meter you can take measurements in several parts of the scene that have different illumination. I try to measure the light on faces and keep them 1 stop above 18% grey. Hence if the meter says 1/500 at f11, I'll shoot at f8.

 

As for the sample image, I may be wrong but it looks like you're storing the image in low resolution jpeg mode. Check your menu to be certain you're in large fine mode.