Overexposed

Hi, i had my first proper outing since i bought the K10D .I used to have a K100D and the norm for it was to underexpose slightly.The K10D ,well kinda hard to describe,but every time i put the settings to say... iso 100 f14/f19 shutter speed 1/3 or 1/4 sec CPL fitted just an example, the image was totally blown ,the lens is Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 DC . Maybe there's something i've not set up properly in camera ,it only really happened when i wanted a longer exposure for smoothing out the water on a fast flowing river. Anyone have any ideas ,i probably haven't explained this very well .

Example ....

http://s860.photobucket.com/albums/ab168/mxfun10/?action=postupload

Melness you linked it a bit wrong.
You should go to the image and copy the IMG code

[IMG]http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab168/mxfun10/imgp6807.jpg[/IMG]

From what I can tell from the EXIF you use manual mode, so could it be an user error?
What settings you use is all up to you in manual mode, your exposure values where simply to high.

It was also doing this in Av and Tv mode in normal run of the mill settings that i've used before on the K100D and the Canon 450D without the blown image .Is there starting point in the custom settings that i can fine tune ,i feel very disillusioned after my first proper outing with the K10D ,just hope your right on the user input theory is really is a big diference compared to the K100D ...ie, on what settings work and which don't . Tog(Saunters off to look out the manual )Oh! and where do i get image code from the photo,is that a right click jobby on the image

It's so hard to say what's wrong over the internet without being able to test the camera.

It looks like user error here, although if you say that it also does this with Av & Tv it makes me wonder.
The metering and handling shouldn't be far off from the K100D.
The Canon 450D expose (different metering and software) a bit differently so you shouldn't compare it to that if you're very critical.

Have you tried the same shot with different settings, if so how were those?

I tried different settings,to get the image decent required me to move mile away from the settings i'd dialed in to start with ,maybe i just have to get used to and learn the camera a bit more ,as i said earlier the K100 tended to underexposed slightly which i prefer,is there anywhere i can get ball park settings from

Another example....
[IMG]http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab168/mxfun10/mxfun10%20photos/imgp6892.jpg[/IMG]

I found that the my K10D underexpose as well, never heard of really over exposing before.

With your second shot, it's set on +0.5 EV, maybe that could be the problem?

Did your original try involve taking a meter reading, then adjusting the shutter/aperture to compensate for any filters used to maintain a proper Exposure Value?

just dialing in a longer shutter speed won't keep your exposure right if you don't stop down the aperture or iso the appropriate amount to compensate....

Don't use + EV Compensation unless you need it, and try Centre-Weighted metering mode instead of Matrix.

Set the camera so that EV Compensation is not remembered when the camera is turned off, otherwise you'll forget to reset it sometimes, which I suspect is what is happening here.

Well if your weather today was anything like it was down here, then it was fairly bright, if not sunny. As a guide, we can use the 'sunny 16' rule, which says that at f/16, the shutter speed should be the reciprocal of the ISO value.

So if using ISO 100, you'd pick the 1/100s shutter speed, or close to it (1/125s). As you were using f/20 for that first shot, we could estimate a shutter speed of 1/60s should be about right.

As you had the polariser on too, that reduces the amount of light by 2 stops, so that brings your shutter speed down to 1/15s.

However, your chosen speed of 1/3s would explain why the shot's so overexposed, especially as it's of snow (I think). The longer exposure will have blurred the water, but it was just too long to still get a correct exposure.

The easiest way of getting a correct meter reading in manual mode with the K10D is to use the green button, a press of this will set your exposure, and then you can adjust the aperture and/or shutter speed to suit the effect you're after.

Dan

Ah! interesting ,this body is so different to the Canon ,i've had a much about with setting in the house tonight .Think i'll put today down to learning new body and being exhausted from a very! long week, 94hrs in total .

Thanks for your input folks much appreciated .

Thanks Dan,does the green button have to be activated in the menus,i have tried using it nothing seem to happen.

There is a setting for it, yes.... Custom menu, "Green button in TAv & M". I have it on 2, you might want 1.

Bret

No green button is always on but function differs per mode, press on the info button to see what it does.

You can change the controls in the menu if you want