500mmf4 Help

[micpic]

I'm having trouble with my images being way to bright, and the only thing I can do is dial down the exposure alot. I've got it mounted on a 50d and everything I look at says shoot, but when I download the images they are a mess. Any idea's out there. I'd apprecitate some guidence since I'm starting Warbler season.

Thanks Mike

[pulsar_nx]

You could try lowering the ISO or increasing the shutter speed.

[Dbl]

I think we need a bit more information and a photo. How long have you had this lens? What are the metering settings on the camera? What are you shooting, Av, Tv, P, Manual? Keep in mind if this lens is new to you a learning curve will be expected. It really sounds like your backgrounds and or subject are throwing off your metering. A picture or two with the EXIF intact would be a great help.

[MuleShack]

Is your metering mode on Spot or evaluative?

If it is on spot and you are shooting a darker object on the focal point, it will show your meter to be low. Increasing the settings to get the meter to show correctly will probably have you over exposed.

I have a 300mm and when fully extended, I find that the best setting is when the meter is 1/3 on the low end when using spot...not balanced.

[micpic]

Here is 2 images I took this A.M.

Mode AV Shutter Speed 1/320 AV 9.0 Exposure Comp -1/3 ISO 200 White Balance Daylight Evaluative Metering A-I Servo Center Focal Point

ISO 400 shutter Speed 1/640 only changes.

[Steve Foss]

These look well exposed. Not too bright at all on my monitor.

[Dbl]

It looks to me like everything is working the way it should. I agree with Steve, not bright at all. If you look at your settings in the first by giving -1/3 EV you slightly underexposed the subject. The second shot the subject is a even more underexposed likely because the meter sees more sky in the second shot.

The one thing I did notice is your shutter speed. I've found with the higher pixel count sensors that the old rule of "shutter speed equal to focal length" is not quite enough for getting a subject sharp. I like to double that so with your 500 I personally will shoot for 1/1000s shutter speed at a minimum, especially hand holding.

[micpic]

Ok, thanks again for the help. I'll try the higher shutter speed and maybe some other stuff. Like someone said it's a new learning curve I'm on. Practice is probably the best!

Mike