D70 Question

[meagain]

Took lots of pics with the new D70 whilst on hols in Mauritius, no problem really got some good shots. But with some of them if i veiw them on the screen sometimes any white in the pics flashes black for a few seconds repeatadly?

any ideas?
thanks

[simpo two]

That's the Highlights display - the flashing areas are over-exposed. I find it very useful but if it bothers you use the four-way switch left/right to toggle through the options.

[meagain]

Thanks for that will do...

How can the pics be overexposed if they where shot on auto?

[406]

meagain said:

Thanks for that will do... How can the pics be overexposed if they where shot on auto?

The D70 tends to over expose by a stop or so

Dave

[simpo two]

406 said:

The D70 tends to over expose by a stop or so

No, if anything it underexposes. More coffee needed Dave!

The problem with any DSLR at this level is exposure latitude - the chip can only handle a certain amount of contrast: the camera cannot expose for both shadows and highlights at the same time. Despite a tendency to underexpose, to save highlights, in some shots you can still get burnt out whites. It may not bother you, but if it does, you need to use either the Highlights or Histogram display to assess exposure and dial in -EV until the highlights are brought into range. This will of course make the shadows darker, but you can restore these later in PhotoShop or similar. You can restore remarkable amounts of information from shadows, but once a highlight is burnt out, the detail is lost forever and darkening it simply gives grey. Hence the phrase 'expose for the highlights'.

This is why DSLRs are not 'point-and-shoot' They are far more powerful, but need more careful handling at times too.

[406]

simpo two said:

406 said: The D70 tends to over expose by a stop or so No, if anything it underexposes. More coffee needed Dave!

Some sleep would be good. Selling bloody houses is a nightmare.