Why does my Sony a6000 EVF look correctly exposed while focusing, but the final image is underexposed?
Asked 6/18/2017
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2 answers
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When shooting a high-contrast night scene on a Sony a6000, I noticed that while autofocus is working, the EVF preview shows both my subject and bright light art looking well exposed. As soon as focus locks, the preview changes and the person becomes very dark while the light art stays properly exposed, which matches the final photo.
Is the brighter view during focusing something I can actually capture, or is it only a display effect? If the scene’s dynamic range is too high, what’s the right way to handle it on the a6000?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
1
You can get whatever exposure you want. Put the camera in manual exposure mode and select the ISO, aperture, and shutter time you need to get the result you are after.
To alter the relationship between the brightest and darkest elements of the scene you should adjust the camera's contrast control(s) if you are saving your images as jpeg files.
If you are saving the raw data you will have much more control over the brightness response curve in a post production raw conversion application such as Lightroom. You can boost the shadows and reduce the highlights in addition to adjusting overall contrast. Or you can adjust the light curves themselves (this has a steeper learning curve, however).
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
What you see in the EVF during focusing is not always the true captured exposure. On Sony cameras, the EVF/live view can brighten the display to help you compose and focus in dark scenes, so it may look much better balanced than the actual photo. Check the a6000’s Live View Display setting in the manual.
If the final image has bright lights exposed correctly but your subject is dark, that’s a dynamic-range limitation: the camera can’t fully hold both without added light or post-processing.
To control the result, use manual exposure and choose the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed you want. If you shoot JPEG, contrast-related settings can affect how tones are rendered. If you shoot RAW, you’ll have more room later to raise shadows, reduce highlights, and adjust tone curves.
But no camera setting can magically overcome extreme scene contrast. To truly brighten the person without blowing out the light art, you’ll typically need extra light on the subject, or use multiple exposures/HDR if appropriate.
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