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I suddenly had a problem which i never had before. I switched to manual mode and all the pics were coming out too over exposed to the point of almost just blown out white screens. The time of the day was 4 pm with pretty cloudy skies and i was standing in average dim diffused skylight. ISO was 100, shutter speeds 100 and above which ususally gives dark pictures with my 55-250 IS lens on.

I thought the camera had some error. So to check i switched to landscape and other modes but was releived to see the pics trun out normal and proper there. Back to manual and it was all white and blown out. Have i mistakenly triggered some custom func or menu to cause this over whitening. I even tried doing a camera settings reset. Still the same problem. Except in certain directions (maybe because of the subject) it was producing OK pictures. But then again back to Blown out pics.

Can someone help as to what might be wrong ?

Thanks

In manual mode, it is, as it sounds manual

This means that you have to set the shutter speed, aperture and ISO combination yourself to get a correctly exposed picture.

Try P mode if you want a manual mode where the camera sets up the exposure correctly.

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Nikon D5000 and D300 with 12-24mm, 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 60mm f2.8 Macro, 18-200mm, 17-55mm f2.8 (all Nikon)

Look at the shutter speed and aperture that "landscape" mode selects and set that in manual.

In manual, you decide what shutter, aperture and ISO you will use so I'd expect the results to be off if you don't adjust the exposure according to what the light meter indicates (over/under exposure) on the scale bar.

Simple fix: Turn your camera to Av (aperture priority), set the desired aperture and take the shot. Then you check what settings the camera used to correctly expose it.

If you used an F4 aperture your exposure should of been of 1/250th or 1/125th of a second if you used F5.6 assuming you used ISO 100 and it was a cloudy day with no shadows.

Awesome guide for correct exposure in manual mode: http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

The charts at the end of the page are awesome.

A more simple guide is the rule of sunny F16. http://blog.epicedits.com/2008/06/18/brushing-up-on-the-sunny-16-rule/

Hi Guys,

Im sorry. Let me explain that this more properly. I last used the camera about 3 weeks ago and i always shoot in manual mode. There was no such blown out effect. The best way to say this is that its like i was using the camera the whole day in manual and shooting pics and suddenly after an hours gap all pictures come out blown out. That too on a cloudy day when 125 shutter speed etc results should be quite dark in manual mode. I regularly shoot pics in manual mode only . This has never happened.

In manual mode on a cloudy day like this with dim lighting (and a not so bright lens like the 55-250 IS) i would get dark pictures not vice versa. The reason i know this is. In several even brighter conditions, in manual mode, with 100iso, if i set anything higher than 100/sec on shutter speed all i would get is dark pics. Id have to go to 1/30 shutter speed etc to get bright enough pics and used to suffer due to camera shake. Now suddenly in manual mode 1/100 of a sec and my pics are blown out ? 1/250 of a second and im able to get ok pics (but with pale colors) ???? This doesnt seem normal. I think might i have triggered some menu inside causing this ?

Can someone tell me how i can reset everything to factory default. I think after my last usage 3 weeks ago. I meddled with some of the custom menu functions. Maybe i enabled some exposure compensation mode there are so many menus with strong, normal and low settings. I tried the reset all camera settings and custom functions menu. Still no luck.

In manual mode (P) you can't adjust exposure compensation because you have full control over the exposure variables.

Try shooting in raw.

Oh... poo... why do I always get confused with P and M modes. Grrr!

I never see you mention the aperture in your posts, keep that in mind too when comparing exposures

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Agun > Im talking about M manual mode. Not 'P' , thats program mode, not manual mode.

Citruspers > Sorry but the aperture was 5.6. Then 4.5 i guess. I cant remember as i made a mistake and deleted the blown out files right then and there (needed to shoot video and wanted the space at that time). But i remember stopping down the aperture completely the minute i started seeing the blown out pics. Using the lowest ISO 100. Not using any exposure gain. They were just white with very little you can see in the pic. Fully blown out. What more can i do to darken the exposure. Ive done all three in the exposure triangle. And i had to go to 250th of a sec to get OK pics. This has never happened as always in manaul ive had to stay under 100/sec to get a decent bright picture on a well lit outdoor shot. Mostly above 100/sec and the pic would get too dark. And now suddenly its the opposite behaviour.

Try the sunny F/16 rule. Basically, on a sunny day, with an aperture of F/16, your ISO is your shutter speed (F/16, 1/100th, ISO 100).

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Citruspers > I will try that. But theres no possiblity of camera fault, is there ?

Regards

blaming the camera nowadays is a bit silly

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

No, maybe your ISO is too high?

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Ruben

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Canon G5, Canon 350D, Canon 50D + BG-E2N
Tamron 17-50 2.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM,
Canon 18-55 II plus lots of Minolta MD/M42 lenses and bodies

f 5.6 and even more f4.5 at 1/100 sec and ISO 100 are letting in about 4 times more light than it would be needed in a sunny day. As Citruspers aptly put it, you should be close to f16.

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Radu
Canon PowerShot S100
Canon 50D , SIGMA 10-20 f3.5 ,Canon EF 24-105 L IS USM, Canon EF 100/2.8 macro Canon EF 50/1.4 ,Canon EF 85 f1.8,Canon EF-S17-85 4-5.6 Old Tamron 28-300 inherited from my Canon Rebel G film camera
Canon580EXII
http://www.errre.net

If you have to use 1/250th to get decent pictures..... then use 1/250th. Maybe it was sunnier today than other days wherever you live.


How more simple can it be?

PS: If you still think there is a problem shoot in raw. If the pics turn out all right then you messed up some jpeg post processing or something.

If they still come out blown out then it's either a sunny day or a mechanical problem in the shutter that is slowing it down.

Any chance you can post one of your pics with the EXIF intact? That might help as we might be able to figure out something in the settings that's gone wrong. It doesn't sound like it can be any kind of camera problem, only because once you switch to other modes, at the same time of day and same lens, you get proper exposures. A camera error like a blown sensor would give you the same results regardless of mode. So it would seem something's gone off in Manual mode in your settings - seeing the EXIF might help figure it out.

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

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