camera issues

[anke]

I have had my D300 for about a year now and I always thought my indoor photos were really dark. I chalked it up to inexperience. It's ridiculous to have to crank up your ISO to 3200 with light coming in through the window isn't it? I finally decided to do a comparison and I used my old D40 for the same shot and the light difference is BIG! I have never heard of a camera having that kind of issue, what the heck could it be? I did check exp.comp and it's zero. I think I am filing a claim with the insurance to see what they say.
Has anybody ever heard of something like that?

[kmartorina]

Must be the Nikon....

[katrinak]

Not sure what's happening. Did you try resetting to your default settings in your menus?

[anke]

no, I haven't tried that one yet...

[katrinak]

do it... I'm just saying...

[AllynD]

Ah, yes, the old camera "re-boot!" Many the time have I had to do that because I simply could not figure out what I changed or how I changed it! LOL! (After taking your class, Katrina, that doesn't happen very often anymore!)

Anke, you are such a good photographer, that my money is on something wrong with the camera. But let us know what happens!

[MIDA78466]

Bummer. Hope it is just a setting.

[amcmillian]

I can't help you Anke but yeah that doesn't sound right and I hope it is resolvable quickly and cheaply!

[sweetpeony]

Anke, check with Nikon and the store where you bought the camera, they may be able to help. 3200 is a bit high...

[anke]

Okay, I did a little test Here are 2 pictures, one taken with the D40, same lens, same settings (well the D40 ISO was 360 and the D300 was 320, I couldn't change that). See what you think



the store is no help at all, I have CPS Insurance, so I hope that I can just have it serviced. Would you say that my concern is warrrented judging by the images? This was daylight....

[DesignerDigitals]

Originally Posted by anke

Okay, I did a little test Here are 2 pictures, one taken with the D40, same lens, same settings (well the D40 ISO was 360 and the D300 was 320, I couldn't change that). See what you think

the store is no help at all, I have CPS Insurance, so I hope that I can just have it serviced. Would you say that my concern is warrrented judging by the images? This was daylight....

What are your White Balance settings at on both cameras? Also, make sure your +/- is set to 0 on both.

[anke]

White balance on both was set to auto and the +/- are both 0. Would you say the difference is pretty significant? It seems even worse when it's darker

[DesignerDigitals]

Originally Posted by anke

White balance on both was set to auto and the +/- are both 0. Would you say the difference is pretty significant? It seems even worse when it's darker

Yes, big difference. Do you have the latest firmware installed on your D300? Goto Nikon USA to check.

[kaleidoscope]

Originally Posted by anke

White balance on both was set to auto and the +/- are both 0. Would you say the difference is pretty significant? It seems even worse when it's darker

I would say there's a good difference.
But since I"m a photography dummy, that's about all I can tell you. LOL (oh, and I noticed the darker one is also a little blurrier as you get closer to the camera.)

[anke]

where do you look for that Randy? I feel like I am lost in New York City on that site. I tried a search and nothing came up...

[DesignerDigitals]

Originally Posted by anke

where do you look for that Randy?

Here is the link for D300 Firmware on Nikon USA.

To see your current firmware version goto Menu, Setup Menu, Firmware. You will see both an A and B versions. If out of date you will need to update both per the instructions on Nikon's site.

[KerryMac]

I don't want to sound like I'm asking you a redundant question, but have you checked your meter settings? Are they the same on both? It almost looks like one is on matrix and one is on spot...

[anke]

Okay, my filmware is 1.10 on both, so I think that's the latest. Not sure Kerry, the D40 doesn't have that many options. the main issue is that I think the D300 gets too dark, I only did a comparison shot to confirm it to myself I guess. I have a lot of trouble getting shots when there is low light and with this camera that really shouldn't be a big issue. This is really frustrating. I just want someone to look at the thing and tell me that either I am wrong or that there is something up with the camera....Thanks for all your help, Randy and all I feel like a dummy..

[katrinak]

Anke, why not do this...

Set each camera to Evaluative metering

Set your ISO to 400

Set your Aperture to 4.0 (use the same lens on each camera)

Set your Shutter Speed to 1/125

Take a photo of the exact same thing in the same light with the same lens

I think that will answer it for you.

[anke]

how do you set for evaluative metering? Was I absent during that lesson ? Sorry to be such a pain. Other than that I did pretty much that above, using different settings than what you proposed, but the same lens, same settings on both cameras. Don't know about the metering though...

[esther_a]

Anke, it is an interesting experiment, isn't it?! I'm not going to offer to be of any assistance, but I do find the topic interesting. We usually just shoot and assume that our camera tells the truth. I remember a post on PioneerWoman (I think) where it she (or MsBooshay - great memory I have!) said one of their cameras always shot a little blue. I remember because I thought it was a weird thing to say. But now that I have two cameras (as per my signature) I can certainly notice many differences. When I took my photo of the day yesterday it was an indoor shot and I used both cameras. Not only was the color different, but I noticed so much grain in the Lumix that was not there in the DSLR. Totally different. I suddenly felt that I had proof that I WAS justified in getting the DLSR!

I will also be interested to see if/how you resolve this!