X-t3 taking massively under-exposed images

[Alami1906]

I've not used my X-t3 for a while, haven't changed any settings since I last used it & it was working fine. But now everything through the viewfinder & the images it takes are massively under-exposed & dark, in a weird, grey-ish kind of way. Please see image attached; it's hard to capture in a photo, but this was a well lit setting, with the camera on: Shutter 125, Aperture 5.6, ISO 400. The image is way too dark (nb it's not blue like in the photo, just really under-exposed). I'm thinking of doing a factory reset but can't find how to do this. 

Help! 

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[Olaf W.]

Is the resulting image dark, too, or is it just dark in the display?

[Alami1906]

3 hours ago, Olaf W. said:

Is the resulting image dark, too, or is it just dark in the display?

Thanks - no, in fact I just tried to do a factory reset (not sure if it worked though, as my own settings seemed to still be there) & now the images look ok in the viewfinder but the resulting images are massively too dark. I can't work out how to change the exposure settings. I've tried to take photos showing the viewfinder window before taking the photo & the playback of the image taken, but the second image is so dark the screen is like a mirror, but I think you can see the difference! The camera settings are on the screen. I would expect it to be maybe a little dark at 7.1, but not this dark. Plus I thought the whole thing with mirrorless cameras is what you see on the screen should be the same as the shot you take! 

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Edited July 28, 2021 by Alami1906

[Olaf W.]

There are different display modes, so the display doen‘t necessarily show the resulting image during shooting (the manual describes the different modes). Watch the exposure indicator to get the correct exposure. F7.1 will not give enough brightness under normal light conditions inside. Open the aperture to the max for testing and/or dial up the ISO value.

[dta116]

Try a different lens

[dta116]

The Aperture blades may be stuck. Also try a shot outdoors in bright sunlight if you don't have another lens.

[Alami1906]

2 hours ago, dta116 said:

Try a different lens

Thanks, I did try a different lens, but the result is the same 😞

[Alami1906]

2 hours ago, Olaf W. said:

There are different display modes, so the display doen‘t necessarily show the resulting image during shooting (the manual describes the different modes). Watch the exposure indicator to get the correct exposure. F7.1 will not give enough brightness under normal light conditions inside. Open the aperture to the max for testing and/or dial up the ISO value.

Thanks @Olaf W. - Opening the aperture did help to improve it, but then I have to massively increase the iso - with the grain that results - as otherwise the shutter speed becomes really slow. I've been trying to fix this while on a train sitting by a massive window, & the light levels inside aren't very different to outside, so I guess I'm puzzled why this camera is incapable of dealing with the indoor light - it's mostly sunlight coming in from outside! Maybe I'm too used to DSLRs that are fine taking indoor photos, but this wasn't exactly a crappy cheap camera!

[Olaf W.]

Try some outdoor shoots to narrow down the problem. 

[dta116]

This camera is capable of taking indoor shoots as well if not better than Most DSLRs' You may try to reload (update) the firmware. Both the camera and lens.

[Alami1906]

1 hour ago, Olaf W. said:

Try some outdoor shoots to narrow down the problem. 

Thanks @Olaf W.- I did try some out of the train window & they were much better than the indoor shots. But as I said above, it's weird because the inside of the train was being lit by the light from the window, so the lighting was almost the same!

I will try some more tomorrow; too tired now. Thanks so much for your help! 

[Alami1906]

1 hour ago, dta116 said:

This camera is capable of taking indoor shoots as well if not better than Most DSLRs' You may try to reload (update) the firmware. Both the camera and lens.

Many thanks @dta116 - good suggestion, I will try this! 

[dta116]

Secondly, re-read the manual to insure all of the settings you thought were correct are in fact correct.

[dward]

Just a thought for you. Your images look like you are in manual mode, if so the camera isn’t under exposing, you are.
 

My suggestion would be to go into Auto Aperture (iso to A and shutter speed to A, aperture to something neutral like 5.6). I would also select matrix metering.  Once setup like this, see what iso and shutter speed the camera selects for what it believes is the proper exposure. You can then adjust your aperture and observe the offset to iso and shutter speed the camera makes.
 

To understand how your camera is behaving you will want to spend a minute with the manual reading up on Auto ISO. There are also numerous resources online that will explain how that function works. Once you understand how Auto ISO works than you can dial in your preferences to influence how it adjusts.

From here the natural follow up is to then change metering methods (Fuji calls it photometry) and also mess around with the exposure compensation dial and see how they influence the exposure.

Spend a half hour or so messing with these items and you will have a pretty good baseline of how to set your camera for a proper exposure.

 

Hope that helps,

David

[dta116]

I re-read your Orig post and it may be that your display is showing you the wide open aperture so it will be brighter than the shot. Indoors it will be much darker (it will surprise you how much) your eyes adjust but the camera won't.  Try a tripod (or table top) and open your aperture and reduce your shutter speed w/ ISO Auto (check the meter for proper exposure) to get the shot. then go outside and do the same to see the difference.

[Alami1906]

Many thanks @dwardand @dta116 ; Thanks so much for the advice; I think you're right that it may be the settings & not a fault. I will try all of this; right now I'm occupied on a time-consuming shoot over several days with my Nikon D750; I took the Fuji along as a back-up but haven't used it for so long I've forgotten a lot of the settings!

[dta116]

4 hours ago, Alami1906 said:

but haven't used it for so long I've forgotten a lot of the settings!

Yeah, I too am a Nikon user but there is no better camera for street photography than the x-E3 and I too forget where things are and it just goes to show you that practice is everything in photography.

[rapperstheman]

Could this be a sensor or lens problem? Cause I'm having serious problems with it, too. Thought it might be lens fungus, but same problem persists on different lens.

 

Also have set Aperture, Ss, and Iso all on Auto. And natural live view turned off. 

[Olaf W.]

Most likely it‘s a wrong setting. Are you shooting inside or outside? What are the actual settings of the resulting photos (EXIF data)?