Problem with G10 shutter speeds.

DampCat

DampCat

DampCat

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Hey guys

Girlfriend is on holiday with her G10 and seems to be having issued using her G10 when she adjusts the shutter speed.

She's on a sunny beach, and is trying to get a picture of the moving water in some rockpools, but there seems to be either a problem with her, or the camera. Here's the scenarios:

Using any shutter speed over 1/30 seems to blow out the picture completely, giving nothign but a completely white screen. With a full range of apertures from f2.8 to f8 the results are the same, 1/30 through to 4 seconds (didnt bother gettign ehr to try higher)

In aperture priority mode, with auto shutter speed and aperture set to f8 is fine.
In aperture priority mode, with auto shutter speed and aperture set to f2.8 is fine.
In shutter priority mode, with 2 second shutter speed and auto aperture (f8) is completely blown out
In shutter priority mode, with 1/30 and 1/60 second shutter speed and auto aperture (f8) is really blown out but you can just about make out objects. 1/250 is normal ish but very bright. Under that is fine.

I got her to go indoors into a shop and do shutter speed 4 seconds at f2.8 (white screen when outside) and it was fine.

Seems that the sunlight is blowing out any combination of settings that use an increased shutter speed in the sunlight. Whilst you should obviously expect to have more light, it shouldnt really be blowing out.

Can anyone suggest some settings to use outside for a long shutter speed in bright light scenarios?

I'm almost tempted to say there's a sensor issue, because no matter what setting is chosen, it seems to blow out when she increases the shutter speed when in bright light.

Any ideas?
:confused:
 
A 2 second exposure in bright light... er, that's 60 times longer than the 1/30 which as you said is already over exposed.

Look into neutral density filters and the manual (I believe there is a ND option in the menu somewhere) :p
 
Yeah sorry, i'm just writing random combinations that we tried. Surely it shouldn't be blowing out at 1/30 in the first place? at f2.8 or f8 really... it's not like she's pointing it at the sun :/

I'll get her to try the ND option
 
1/30s is a slow exposure, in bright light and f/8 I would normally shoot at 1/160-1/500 (depending on how bright).
 
She'd need at least an ND8 to do what she wants to do.

Even out of my window right now it gives f/8 and 1/100s with ISO80 with trees in the bottom half of the picture and sky on the top half.
 
Is that slow enough to give her the trusty moving water waterfall effect?

(sorry, shutter speeds is really the only thing i havent tried on my DSLR yet! just havent had the time to play that i hoped i would when i bought mine, but having a big shiny camera makes girls think you know all about them :()
 
Well, ND8 reduces the light by 3 stops, so if you can shoot 1/30 without, it will become 1/4. Should be okay to capture some water motion, but not the waterfall effect.

It's absolutely not an issue with your camera - simply an exposure issue.
 
Alright. Cheers guys.

I know that shooting in direct bright sunlight is an issue, i just didnt realise the sensors were THAT sensitive.

I'll get her to try the ND setiings, and if that fails then, well, she'll just have to come back later.

Cheers :) Noob out!
 
There's an in-built ND8 filter on the G10. If that's not enough, you can attach an external one with a lens ring attachment.
 
If the largest f number is f/8 then using a shutter speed of 2 seconds, in bright conditions will overexpose the image. I haven't used a G10 but I presume there is an exposure indicator, the needle should be all the way to the right, showing overexposure. Reducing the shutter speed should bring the needle back to the middle, showing a "correct" exposure.

There is nothing wrong with the camera, this is the correct operation of the tv mode.

In av mode you control the aperture size and the camera will adjust the shutter speed to compensate for the aperture which as it is within the limits of the shutter speed the camera has it is able to correctly expose the photo. If at 1/4000 sec (or whatever the fastest shutter speed the G10 has) the needle on the exposure meter is still to right then you are also at the limits of the camera.

So this isn't limited to the av mode. As said above a non graduated ND filter will reduce the light entering the lens and allow a correct exposure.

In the case of using 2 seconds for the exposure in bright light, there is no reason to have such a long exposure, you will need to increase the shutter speed to whatever the camera meter shows as a correct exposure.

It would be better to have an understanding of shutter speed, aperture and iso and the effects they have on exposure before moving into tv mode, av mode will be easier to use as it has more leeway to adjust for the exposure. For example if you set the aperture to f/2.8 then it will be able to adjust the shutter speed from 1/4000 to 30 seconds, or whatever the shutter speeds the camera has.

A book that is recommened by a lot of people and myself is Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, this goes over ISO, shutter speed and aperture and the effects they each have on exposure.
 
Heya;

Thanks for the detailed post. I realise now my original estimates of 2 seconds is way way off. I honestly had no idea of the sensitivity range of these cameras. The only time i've used a long shutter speed was light trails on a bridge in the evening where we were shooting 8 to 15 second shutter speeds.

This was just an experiment really, and in the 11 replies here i've learned a load and realise how far off the mark i (we) was (were). I understand what each of the functions do, and how to contrast them with eachother... i just had no idea the sensors were THAT sensitive to overexpose in 1/30 at both ends of the aperture scale. I've never really shot in bright daylight but always in the evenings and mornings, so i've never experimented in that kind of light.

But i know now, so all is well.

hey, i'd rather ask a stupid question than continue making stupid mistakes :)
 
DampCat said:
Is that slow enough to give her the trusty moving water waterfall effect?

(sorry, shutter speeds is really the only thing i havent tried on my DSLR yet! just havent had the time to play that i hoped i would when i bought mine, but having a big shiny camera makes girls think you know all about them :()
Click to expand...

There is not a way for us to give you a setting to get a correct exposure as the settings for the exposure depend on the light conditions.

To get the waterfall effect you will need to use a slow shutter speed and a large f number (small aperture) that will not overexpose the image, a shutter speed of around 1/30 should be sufficient for fast moving water or slower if this is not sufficient. You will need to use an ND filter if the slow shutter speed still results in an overexposed image.
 
DampCat said:
Heya;

Thanks for the detailed post. I realise now my original estimates of 2 seconds is way way off. I honestly had no idea of the sensitivity range of these cameras. The only time i've used a long shutter speed was light trails on a bridge in the evening where we were shooting 8 to 15 second shutter speeds.

This was just an experiment really, and in the 11 replies here i've learned a load and realise how far off the mark i (we) was (were). I understand what each of the functions do, and how to contrast them with eachother... i just had no idea the sensors were THAT sensitive to overexpose in 1/30 at both ends of the aperture scale. I've never really shot in bright daylight but always in the evenings and mornings, so i've never experimented in that kind of light.

But i know now, so all is well.

hey, i'd rather ask a stupid question than continue making stupid mistakes :)
Click to expand...

f/2.8 is twice as wide than f/4, f/4 is twice as wide than f/5.6, f5.6 is twice as wide than f/8.

If f/2.8 and 1/100 at ISO 100 results in a correctly exposed image and you change the aperture to f/4 which halves the amount of light that reaches the sensor or film you will need to double the ISO or halve the shutter speed.

For example:

f/2.8 1/100 ISO 100
f/4 1/100 ISO 200
f/4 1/50 ISO 100

Will result in the same exposure.
 
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Explained previously. Multiple times.

I had no frame of reference for the settings i (my girlfriend) should be using to do long exposures on a sunny afternoon. I made a guess based upon doing long exposures in a lower light and was way off, which can be attributed to my ignorance regarding just how large the scale is when it comes to these scenarios. Basically, if i could draw a graph based on my discovery, it would be a lot, lot steeper than i previously imagined.

I wasn't blaming the sensor or the camera in any way (after i'd been corrected regarding a possible problem). I was merely suggesting at my own ignorance regarding how i should be using it.
 
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