Nikon Coolpix S9...Overexposed?

[kgspecial]

hello everyone. i'm new to the board, and to be quite honest, i'm not an avid digital photographer. however, i do have one for personal use, and just got the nikon coolpix s9 for christmas.

i used the camera on new years, and i was fairly pleased with the photo quality. i'm not sure if since then, i messed with the settings, or what... but for some reason, now, everytime i use the camera with the flash on (either auto or manual, during the day or in dark setting) each picture is over exposed to the point that you can't even make out anyones face.

any suggestions on where to start troubleshooting?

thanks,
kel

[mattdm]

Start with doing a Reset All in the setup menu....

[kgspecial]

ok. tried that.
no luck -- still bright bright pictures...? :(

[mattdm]

Can you post an example, with EXIF data?

[kgspecial]

sure thing, but how do i get EXIF data?

[mattdm]

If you post the unmodified picture, it'll be in there and we can see it. Some resizing programs and many online services (flickr, say) strip it out.

[kgspecial]

ok finally able to get one. please take a look. this is the pic as is no editing.

nikon coolpix s9 pic (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/pic2.jpg)

[coldrain]

Well, the photo does look a bit over flashed. But not to the extent that you can not see the face of the pretty woman smiling. The red eye is pretty horrid though, with this Nikon.

[mattdm]

I note that it's set for ISO 64, which is pretty insensitive. This means the flash has to be pretty bright to compensate. If it were on a higher ISO, the flash wouldn't have to work so hard. However, I'm not sure if the S9 is smart enough to do the right thing with the flash in that case (use the minimal necessary) -- it may just be how it is.

[RebelRat]

I did a quick adjustment in Photoshop elements. It is not as bad as you described it. I'm not an expert, but, it's not a bad fix.

[kgspecial]

I note that it's set for ISO 64, which is pretty insensitive. This means the flash has to be pretty bright to compensate. If it were on a higher ISO, the flash wouldn't have to work so hard. However, I'm not sure if the S9 is smart enough to do the right thing with the flash in that case (use the minimal necessary) -- it may just be how it is.

first of all, thank you guys for the input. second, is there a way that i can change the ISO to a higher setting?

i have an olympus camera (older) that i was going to get rid of...maybe i'll post one of those pictures, so you can see the difference i am seeing.

[John_Reed]

hello everyone. i'm new to the board, and to be quite honest, i'm not an avid digital photographer. however, i do have one for personal use, and just got the nikon coolpix s9 for christmas.

i used the camera on new years, and i was fairly pleased with the photo quality. i'm not sure if since then, i messed with the settings, or what... but for some reason, now, everytime i use the camera with the flash on (either auto or manual, during the day or in dark setting) each picture is over exposed to the point that you can't even make out anyones face.

any suggestions on where to start troubleshooting?

thanks,
kelI'm just making an educated guess, but your experience seems to indicate that your flash sensor is possibly either not working, or is getting blocked when you're taking a shot. The flash sensor, I can only surmise by looking at the front of the camera, probably resides in that little aperture just beside the lens, near the edge of the camera body. (Which probably also functions as your AF illuminator?) It functions to quench the flash for short-range flashes, by sensing illumination. If it's blocked, the camera will always emit maximum flash light, which would over-expose most shots not taken at full distance. Check how you're using the flash; dangling a finger in the region of that sensor could be causing your problem. If it's not a dangling finger, then I'd start to wonder about the sensor itself?

[coldrain]

I am not totally sure here, but I do not think a digital camera has something called a "flash sensor".....

Digital cameras meter through the lens...

[kgspecial]

ok, went on a trip, i found the ISO setting as mentioned above (even though i don't know what it is) and it was set to Auto. i put it on 400...assumably the least sensitive.

here are some examples and what i think:

Daytime/No Flash/I think its too bright (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0292.jpg)

NightTime/No Flash (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0059.jpg)

DayTime/No Flash/I think this looks great (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0124.jpg)

DayTime/No Flash/Looks good (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0052.jpg)

NightTime/Flash (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0060.jpg)

NightTime/Flash/ SO BLURRY (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0036.jpg)

NightTime/Flash/When I photograph people its always blurry (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0068.jpg)

NightTime/Flash/Ok. Seems bright to me, maybe I just need a tan! (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0230.jpg)

Here is a GOOD example:

Daytime/Flash/Looks horrid (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0074.jpg)

Daytime/NO Flash/Looks horrid - same shot (http://68.43.249.253/~KAG/LJ/DSCN0075.jpg)


maybe i'm just bad at taking pics. though i've never had a problem with any other camera...thank you to anyone that took the time to check these all out! :)

[JLV]

ISO 400 is best with low light so that you can use a faster shutter speed and/or smaller aperture. For your "night no flash" this was a good choice. A lower ISO would have been a better choice for the daytime shots.

[danidabi]

Do you mind loading ur pics using a program like flickr that way they will show up in the forum istead of opening each link. It's alot slower when we have to open up each pic.