Need help with Fujifilm E550 & exposure outside

[ghinesley]

I belong to a car club and I have the E550 camera to take pictures. I bought the camera because people say how wonderful it is and the pictures are great quality, etc. I have yet to have a clear picture out of the camera. I cannot take any pictures outside because they all are too bright. I have read the manual front to back and I have tried numerous settings. Other than the fact that my camera doesn' take good pictures outside, I am pleased with the other options. Can anyone advise me to what settings I should try to get quality pictures in the day light? Thank you so much. Garrett

[P_Schneider]

Well it sounds like over-exposure but I need to ask a question.
Are the outdoor shots too bright or not clear? (out of focus)
Those are 2 separate issues. If its just a case of over-exposure then I would be looking at my ISO settings first. You shouldn't need more than ISO 80 or 100 when shooting outdoors during the day on a average day. ISO is the light sensitivity settings. Generally speaking the more light that is available, the lower the ISO required to get the proper exposure.
Other things to look at is make sure the camera isn't in Night mode or that you don't have long shutter speeds set. Other things to check is make sure that you don't have Chrome selected as your color mode, this increases the contrast and saturation of the shot. Generally speaking the Chrome setting alone shouldn't cause OE but in combination with other settings (high ISO) it can blow your hilights. You can check your White balance too. There are presets for different types of lighting or you can use a custom balance to make sure you get the right balance for the lighting conditions.
Hope this helps.

[ghinesley]

Paul,

Thank you very much for that information. I know that when I was on my last car meet, we had a beautiful day at the coast and all I got was an image as if you held a sheet of white paper in front of the lens. I couldn't believe it. I have adjusted the ISO and the white balance as much as I can to my knowledge. I will have to work with the settings some more I guess. I know that I do not use the chrome option on the camera when I am outside. Thank you again for your help, I will post my results to your suggestions.

[bascom]

This person has the same E550 problem:
http://dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?p=125769#post125769