D70s and the challenge of correct exposure!?

[Shoit]

I've had a D70s since January and am having great fun taking lots of shots. I'm really pleased with some of the results that I am getting. However, I'm finding that my shots lack consistency when it comes to exposure and contrast. At times the images seem underexposed and when printed via a online gallery seem to come back darker than I would have liked. I use the camera a lot in full manual and would like to be able to take shots that are ready for printing without much post processing.

I've read quite a lot about the D70s and there does seem to be discussion about how the camera exposes. What I really need is some advice from people that are actually using the camera and ways they get consistent exposure.

Any advice please?

Kev

 

[Shoit]

Hi there,
I would get to grips with the histogram. Will help a lot with exposure.

Thanks for the advice, Im sure that the histogram is one of the crucial elements, what should i be aiming for when reviewing a histogram? I know there is lots of information out there but find it difficult to relate that to the different photographs that i take. i.e what the histogram represents?

Kev

 

[Shoit]

Is the online gallery you have been using for printing photobox btw? Quite a few people find their prints from their come out too dark, myself included. You should calibrate your monitor to solve this.

Nah it was another gallery - is there any surefire way of calibrating the monitor?

The D70 doesn't have an RGB histogram, it only displays the green channel so isn't a whole lot of use. It was one of the reasons I upgraded to the D200.

Didnt realise that!

Kev