Hi there,

I have been using my HD1010 for around 6 months now and was really pleased with the video and photo results.

In the last few weeks I have noticed that the video is still fine but the photos seem very dark in the blacks with very little detail.

I use the camera in auto mode most of the time.

Here is an example of the darkness:-





which i then have to process to look like:-




This exact same problem occurred on my old HD1 hence I bought my HD1010 and the same thing has happened! Does anyone know what it is or how I can reset the camera?

Many Thanks

Lee
http://www.xacti.co.uk

Check your metering settings to see if it is on spot metering. If you take a photo of a scene with no large differences between dark and light are the photos still dark?

oo that all sounds a bit technical!

ill ask around locally to see if anyone has one!

thanks.

It is just a setting in the menu. If you scan the menus you will be able to see if it is set on Spot metering or not.

If it is, it would also show up in your videos every time the centre of your shot is bright but away from the centre is dark. When the camera is set to spot metering the camera only looks at the light in the middle of the shot to set the aperture/shutter speed etc. If it is set to spot metering all you have to do is change it to one of the other two options.

Ive just found that menu on the HD1010 and it is currently set to MULTI.

Ive selected another option and taken some photos and then reverted back to MULTI to see if there is any change - but there isnt!

V strange!

I am going to attempt a similar shot with varying exposure settings to see the difference of what the camera can achieve. Ill post back the results soon.

Meanwhile here is a funny I had with today's photos:-
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Any more info about the dark pictures. I just picked up the hd1010 and it is much darker than the HD700 (even on multi metering). I suspect that the did this on purpose to hide sensor noise in low light, however, I could be wrong.

Have you tried to reset the cam to its default settings in the menu/ last option page#3 reset settings? The cams viewfinder won't represent an accurate view of the photo you are taking. It may look fine until you put the cam in playback and see an over or under exposed image. With the video setting you get what you see. It is strange that your other cam did this as well. BTW I enjoy your vids on vimeo.

One reason why camera under exposes photos when shooting to direct light is automatic settings, it automatically reduces exposure when you have lots of light, try to use manual exposure values to get different results. Automatic doesn't always work properly in different conditions, learn to use manual settings.

Something is definetly wrong with these double image pictures, it looks like photo stabilizer isn't working correctly. As Markinter suggested, reset settings to factory settings from menu and if that doesn't help take it back to store for repair.