Nikon D40 metering technique
I love my Nikon D40. When I get past my film romanticism, I have to admit it’s the best camera I’ve ever owned, and I recommend it to everyone. But it has one big problem – metering! For some incomprehensible reason, Nikon chose to meter shadows rather than highlights. But highlights are what cause real problems with digital photography – the output gets clipped at pure white, and detail is lost, whereas shadow detail is easily recovered in software later. So how to operate a D40 so you a: don’t have to process the heck out of everything for shadow detail, and b: don’t lose highlights?
Again, I repeat – information can be recovered from shadows in software. It cannot be recovered from blown highlights! Overlit areas of your photo will be white, and will always be white, no matter how you adjust them. So it’s preferable to underexpose than overexpose. Alas, the D40 is prone to overexposure.
Here’s my own D40 metering technique. Maybe it’ll be useful for you. First, I operate the camera in Program mode almost all the time. Avoid the factory convenience modes. Program does the right thing and puts control back in your hands. My primary control over the camera becomes adjusting the exposure compensation, via the info button and wheel. But if my exposure compensation is too high, I get blown highlights – the camera doesn’t adjust effectively.
So to monitor my highlights, I keep the back screen in Highlight mode, which causes blown highlights to flash, making them easy to spot. From there, I can make judgment calls on how much blown highlight I’m willing to tolerate. Personally, I actually like the look of slight overexposure, and I shoot with no flash in low light most of the time, so bright light sources blow easily anyway. I make this decision shot by shot, subject by subject. It’s slightly distracting, but the feedback gives me a great sense of how I’m shooting.
Find your camera’s weakness, and turn it into a strength. In a way, the D40′s poor metering design has made me a better photographer.
June 19th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Hi Dave,
This article takes the words right out of my mouth! I use the D40, I really love it, I find it’s metering funky, I shoot in Program mode with -0.3 in low contrast scenes and -0.7 and more in high contrast scenes. I use the LCD to make sure my exposure is good. The histogram and the blinking highlights. I also shoot in RAW so I can fine tune my exposures later at home.
I learn a lot when using f-mount lenses that the D40 won’t meter with and a hand held meter (in Manual mode). You ought to pick up an old Nikon lens (like series E or AI) and give it a try.
Bryan Peterson’s books explain metering so well, I can’t recommend them enough
After you read them you’ll want to shoot in manual mode.
Good luck!
Craig