I recent did a photo survey of a new library. I use a D50 w/ a sigma 8 mrotatortcpshort. I set the d50 to manual, ISO 400, White balance to auto, shutter 1/80 and aperture F4.

First question...The problem I'm having is the exposure in the TOP view. All the other shots are great but for some reason the top view comes in lighter. In the pano, when looking up it looks like a fairly big circle in a lighter exposure.

Second Question..If you use manual mode and set the shutter, aperture and iso do you have to use the AE-Lock or is that redundant?

Hi There,

I have the same equipment of yours and I get the same problem with both top and bottom shots.

Did you find a solution to it yet?

Alex.

You might consider taking RAW images and using Adobe Carmera RAW to adjust your white balance and exposure.  Then you won't need to be concerned about AE-Lock.

AE-Lock is good to use on a Nikon 950, 990, 5000, 4500 maybe a few more.

Dave

You need to use all manual settings.

Dont use auto white balance. Thats is the first problem. White balance is a big issue. Use either direct sun or incandescent depending on the amount and mix of lighting. Or shoot RAW as Dave suggested.

AE-lock just locks the exposure settings the camera has picked ( shutter speed and aperture) so that each successive shot is taken with the same settings. If you go to full manual you pick these and they dont change between shots unless you change them your self. AE-lock is just for using when the camera is in auto mode.

Use a diaopter cover. Light entering the diaopter will bounce of the mirror and sometimes cause the exposure to change.

Consider the light in the room. If your top shot is of a lighted fan you can expect an exposure difference.

When the camera is rotated for the top shot light will pass more obliquley through the lens. If a bright light source near the lens is present or if the sund is beaming in through a window the exposre will change. Either brighter of darket depending on the overal lighting in the room.

The key to avoiding these problems is placement of the camera in the space and the lighting in the room. I sometimes turn off some lamps and I always turn off the center top light of the room. I open all the windows. Avoid areas where there is a strong light source near the camera and If can't avoid this then change the lighting by turning on or off the available lighting in the room.

General Lee

I suggest using the AE-L on Nikon Coolpix series cameras when shooting in .jpg format. As it locks the White Balance also. This allows you to use Auto White Balance if you so choose. Whilst I also recommend using your camera in manual mode auto white balance will suffice if you use the AE-L. Your first shot for metering should be at a well lit part of the room without excessively bright sunlight within shot.

Compose this shot lock the AE-L and shoot your panorama series.

Regards, Smooth

Shooting "Up" shots is really not necessary unless you have super important information on the roof (like a cathedral) You simply clone and heal using Photoshop. But is you must use an upshot you will need to adjust the colours and do some blending in Photoshop.

The reason for the colour change, is that the centre portion of the image is always lighter then the outside edges when shot with a Fisheye lens because of light fall off (Vignetting).

You could try shooting the UP shot one F/Stop underexposed to try and compensate for this. This should bring the colours back to a more even match.

A little bit of testing should yield good results. Try haft a stop then 1 full stop and see what works best in your instance.

Regards, Smooth