K10D Light Meter

I have a Pentax K10D with firmware 1.03. I have managed to produce perfectly exposed landscape pictures on days with bright blue sky's, however if the light is poor and the sky is overcast I cannot produce effective exposures. I have tried taking multiple shots at different stop values and changing the metering from multi mode to spot metering with no marked improvement .Is the K10D light meter up to the job or should I be purchasing a separate light meter, if this is the case what?

I have the same problem on them sort of days.After a bit of practice with the AE-L button it's not as much of an issue.

You also could use a graduated gray filter to darken the sky and bring out the clouds rather than it been overblown.

I don't think any light meter will help you but a graduated neutral density filter will.

When you have a bright sunny day the sky is bright but the ground below is also very well lit, hence you can get a nicely exposed picture.

On an overcast day the sky is still extremely bright but the ground is much dimmer in comparison. The dynamic range between the two areas is greater than a digital camera (any digicam, not just the K10D) can capture so you either end up with a well exposed sky with a dark foreground, or a well exposed foreground with a washed-out sky.

A graduated ND filter placed over the lens at the time of capture will even-up the light levels by "dimming" the sky portion. There are also software tricks for achieving similar results in post processing (do a forum search for "HDR").

Thanks for the advice, I have played around with some Cokin pro series ND grads with some positive effect but still feel fairly frustrated with the metering, my old Pentax 35mm did tend to give more consistent results. To be fair to the K10d the start of this year in Northumberland has been very dull so I have spent time trying to improve my use of contrast giving it the benefit of the doubt on the metering side. I will just have to persevere.....

Don't forget that film has a wider dynamic range than digital so photos you took before that were "near the mark" on film would be outside your new camera's abilities. It's one of the few areas where film technology still reigns supreme.

That depends upon the type of film and the type of digital camera - it's rapidly becoming no longer true.

Slide film has a range of about 5 stops, so if you use the same technique for metering with your DSLR you will be spot on. Meter so the highlights are not burnt out and let the shadows take care of themselves.

Colour negative film has about 7 stops, but some digital cameras now equal or exceed this.

Black and white film depends on the speed - very slow film needs more accurate exposure than fast film, but you can vary development as well so this is quite a versatile medium.

You can exceed the possibilities of this in digital by using HDR techniques. Then you can have a dynamic range far exceeding that of film.

I would suggest putting the camera in M and adjusting the Aperture (f-stop) and time by hand.
Perhaps taking suggestion from the green button, and then adjusting according to your likings.

ALl this, because it seems to me that you are unhappy with the automatic metering system of the camera. There are many variables for this to work properly, and only an accurate study of the manual will help you understand 'spot meter' vs 'centre weighted' and the fact that (as others already explained) the camera meters for what you ask it to meter. Not to consider the difference between sky and ground and the possible use of ND filters.

Regards.

Thanks for all your comments I appreciate the help