Recently picked up an A1 II and I'm noticing the images are underexposed by 1-2 stops. I am running the latest firmware on the camera and the latest firmware for Lightroom Classic. I have DRO turned off.
I am shooting in Multi for exposure mode. I haven't shot Sony in a while so I'm wondering if this is by design and Sony generally under exposes or if there might be something else I am missing.
Sony cameras don’t (nor any others I am aware of) under expose unless you have settings to underexpose. List your exact exposure settings on the camera
I know how to properly expose an image and read the histogram. My question is around the default metering behavior which seems to be generally under exposing unless I manually utilize exposure compensation.
photonc wrote:
Recently picked up an A1 II and I'm noticing the images are underexposed by 1-2 stops. I am running the latest firmware on the camera and the latest firmware for Lightroom Classic. I have DRO turned off.
I am shooting in Multi for exposure mode. I haven't shot Sony in a while so I'm wondering if this is by design and Sony generally under exposes or if there might be something else I am missing.
Did you buy it new or used? If used, you might drop the battery out for a minute and then try a reset if you did not do that when you got it. Could do that even if new. My Ai II exposes normally, like every other Sony camera I have had. Yours sounds like it is acting as if stuck in Highlight Metering mode.
Thanks for the tip, I think I figured it out. There is a master exposure mode override in the settings menu I missed that had been previously adjusted.
photonc wrote:
I know how to properly expose an image and read the histogram. My question is around the default metering behavior which seems to be generally under exposing unless I manually utilize exposure compensation.
Initially I interpreted your comment as overly defensive, but then I asked myself whether I have ever observed the tendency of Sony's meter to underexpose. After some thinking, one example comes to mind.
I use my digital cameras to digitize film. When exposing a color negative on a light table, my Sonys (I've had two) underexposed by 1.5-2EV relative to my Nikon or Canon bodies. But they expose perfectly otherwise, and consistent with others, including my Gossen light meter.
What does this tell me? The orange mask on film makes the entire "scene" mostly/heavily red, so it appears that Sony's "light meter" is overly sensitive to the red spectrum. However, I don't remember any exposure issues photographing Santas around Christmas. But that film digitization experience was the only relevant memory I can offer.
That is a very interesting insight as several of the scenes I felt were under exposed had a significant amount of red in them. I bet that's it in addition to the other setting I found. I think I'm good now. Appreciate the insight and suggestions.
I have learned to reset the camera and start from scratch whenever buying used.
Something similar caused me issues in the past - some buried setting which the prior owner had messed with ;-)
photonc wrote:
I know how to properly expose an image and read the histogram. My question is around the default metering behavior which seems to be generally under exposing unless I manually utilize exposure compensation.
