photos are getting too dark, contax g2 and ektar 100.

[tranvutuan]

I dont know why these picture below are so dark except the panels.. I am using contax g2 with ektar 100. I was sitting not so far away from the counter in Mc Donald and light was bright at that time. I am so disappointed right now.
Any thoughts about this situation.

 

[mfunnell]

My guess is that you were using aperture priority auto and metering from the internally lit signboards. That set the exposure "just right" for their brightness, letting the exposure of the foreground go where it will (darker, in this case, as there's less light coming from those parts of the scene). There are many different things you could do here, including:

• Meter for the foreground, which would likely have the signboards overexposed
• Meter from the signboards then add light (ie. slower shutter speed) using positive exposure compensation
• Meter from the foreground then subtract light (ie. faster shutter speeds) using negative exposure compensation
• Meter both the signboards and the foreground (one after the other), noting the meter's recommended shutter speeds then set manual exposure values at a "happy medium" between the two, to suit your taste.

...Mike

 

[rhl-oregon]

+1 on ^.

Also, why try to ask Ektar to do a job that Portra 400 or Fuji Pro 400 are better suited for? I recently got some good shots of people at twilight in shade with the G1/45 2.0 loaded with Arista 100, but I had to shoot wide open to get them. And some got blown by the metering/focus being fooled by twinkly light strings behind the people who were my subjects. This would not have been the case with Arista 400 shooting at 5.6 or even f8.

 

[tranvutuan]

Good advice as two posts from both of you. Thanks all

 

[froyd]

Also, make sure you did not accidentally knock the exposure compensation to -1 or -2.

 

[MatthewThompson]

Get a good reading off the floor or back of a person in line if that's what you want as neutral gray, and flick the AEL switch. Personally, I like the look as-is but I understand if it's not what you intended.

 

[froyd]

The bright area is not dominant or bright enough to fool the center weighted metering of the G. Mine would not have returned a similar exposure in the same situation.

I think the bright menu boards could have influenced the reading by a little bit, but other factors might have applied including auto corrections applied by the lab at the scanning stage (or exposure compensation, as mentioned above).