D70 systematic underexposure...

[myoung]

When shooting in RAW, my camera systematically underexposes by 1 to 2 stops. Can this be corrected by some setting in the camera or must I send it back to Nikon for recalibration?

Or, should I just get used to overexposing and correct later, not a good option?

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Swampy]

On CSM #11, what weighting are you using, 6, 8, 10....?

Also what metering mode are you using? Spot, Matrix?

Matrix has given me some very interesting results, so I've gone to spot metering.

[myoung]

Swampy,

I've reset all the camera parameters and have found that there is a custom color mode setting. The default is sRGB but I use Photoshop that wants RGB, so I've made that change. Also, switched to center weighted 8.

I just shot a range of test pictures adjusting the shutter speed for over and under exposure. All seems right with the world now.

I suspect that what must have happened along the way was that I inadvertently changed some setting while fumbling around with the menu when I was trying to become familiar with the camera. Word of advice, I guess, is to make changes to settings one at a time and not before you know what the effect will be.

All part of the learning curve that I find so interesting albeit frustrating at times. Love the control but am quickly moving toward all manual modes, which I've been doing for nearly 30 years. I'll leave the enhancements to my digital darkroom. Photoshop is such a pleasure.

[Steve P]

I thought I would "butt" in here if you don't mind. I don't have a D70 but still own the S2. I find the subject of metering and interesting one. I tend to use center weighted 95% of the time as I find that matrix can be inconsistant. I wonder how many others here find the same.. I find the dynamic range slightly restricitve especially with tricky lighting conditions but with a little experiment it can be improved. I'm hopeing the S3 will improve things!

Steve

[Swampy]

Yup, as I said, Matrix metering has given me some interesting results. I've set it to spot on my S2 a long, long time ago and I guess I forgot to do it with the D70 when I learned again.

Glad you got it figured out!