Mike,
There is an option on the camera to adjust the EV setting to compensate for the underexposure by 1/3 increments. To me this is chancy because it's based on the assumption the meter in the camera is always naturally going to underexpose. The camera is set to underexpose since once highlights are blown out there is no way to retrieve the lost data. It errs on the side of caution.
Personally, I use the histogram to evaluate the tonal distribution of each image after I exposed it. While I'm shooting, I have the histogram set on my display so I can see it as soon as I've captured the image. I toggle back and forth between the histogram and the highlight warning to make sure I have the best possible distribution of tones. The highlight warning blinks in any area that contains no (or little) tonal data (blown out areas). Once I have my subject setup and I'm happy with the histogram I can fire away without worry.
If you're grab shooting in different lighting situations using these two controls will slightly inhibit your sense of spontaneity, in my opinion a small price to pay. If you were shooting film you'd have to wait to get the film processed to find out you've overexposed the image. You get very used to doing this and the piece of mind is well worth the extra effort.
Also, I shoot in raw format (NEF) to insure my image retains the most information. Raw is the most forgiving of any format. Image data that could be lost in another format can still be retrieved from raw which is referred to as a digital negative. So shadow detail that gets lost in a jpeg may not necessarily be lost if raw capture was chosen. The Nikon Capture software does a great job retrieving this data.
There is also the option of uploading a custom curve to the camera, through Nikon Capture, which will give you the ability to tweak whatever tonal info you want to maximize, be it highlights, midtones or darks. These curves can be incorporated prior to taking the image, or later in Nikon Capture or Photoshop.
For the price there isn't a camera that comes close to matching the flexibility and quality of the D70. I'm not easily impressed but the D70 has blown me away. I've read reviews that it even outperforms the new Canon 8 megapixel SLR.
There is a CD book, available online, called the "Complete Guide to the Nikon D70" by Thom Hogan. It's 500 pages packed with valuable information and suggestions on getting the most out of the D70. It costs about $30.00 and I think it's worth every penny. This guy knows his stuff.
I hope this helps.
|