I was photographing one of my first weddings this past weekend since I got my new D3. I was also shooting with my D200. I noticed the D3 was underexposing quite a bit compared to the same basic shot with the D200. Both cameras were set on Matrix metering??

Any suggestions, observations, etc.?

Thanks,

Ron

They are both Nikons but they aren't the same exact cameras. ISO 100 on one camera isn't the same as ISO 100 on the other so you will find that you may need to set your D3's exposure compensation to +.7 or something like that.

I would "expect" two D3's would meter nearly exactly the same as each other, but if they didn't I wouldn't be surprised unless it was a matter of more than a stop of light. If one body is 1/3 of a stop off of another identical body that is normal.

Cheers,
Zack

Thanks Zack. I think it is more than a stop though. I will post the 2 images when I get to them. The D3 was WAY too dark for the same scene.

Thanks for the info.

Ron

The way to tell if it is a camera malfunction would be to set the exposure manually and compare it to your D200, also set manually. Exposures should be close to each other given the same ISO, shutter, and aperture.

Like Zack said it will not be exact across different models. It will not be exact between different cameras of the same model but you would expect it to be closer.

Thanks. I don't think the camera is off as far as if I dialed in a manual exposure, but I will try that. I was just concerned that the Matrix metering on the D3 isn't very accurate.

Anyone else thought this?

Thanks again ; )

Ron

The matrix metering on mine seems fairly accurate, no problems here, but then again, I'm always switching between spot, center and matrix depending on the situation. I rarely shoot in matrix because it seems it's rarely needed.

I keep it on matrix most of the time. I like the comped up look in the display from +3 to +7 but in Light room it is too hot so I leave it on matrix most of the time and push and pull as needed. Check the auto ISO feature make sure that is not on it could mess you up, although when I have used it, it works really well.

Sounds to me like an exposure problem if you have to push and pull.

I've actually found the D3 to be the most accurate in camera meter I've ever used. I used to be a manual shooter 95% of the time until the D3. I bet I'm on manual only 75% of the time at a wedding now. I actually trust the meter for the first time. When shooting in aperture priority I'm usually on Matrix and will switch to spot in tricky lighting conditions.


Cheers,
Zack

Push and Pull is a creative decision to under or over expose based on the light and how the camera will see the light, nothing to do with an exposure problem in the camera.

Same here, I now trust "A" mode quite a bit when shooting with the D3. Love that I can shoot in low light around 2500iso and not worry! Switching from center to spot depending on the light.