My photos are turning out dark despite 6400 ISO, low aperture, long shutter speed. Help?

[joshjlowlowy]

I'm shooting with a Rebel T5 and have recently had my photos turn out very dark.  This is a new problem.  I have my ISO set to 6400, and am using a low aperture with long shutter speeds to compensate for this error.  Is my camera malfunctioning/broken, or is there something I can do/fix myself?

[kvbarkley]

Take a picture of a sunny outdoor scene in P-Mode with the ISO set to 100. Post it here with the EXIF data intact and we can use the "sunny 16" rule to tell you whether your camera and lens are exposing in the right ballpark.

[Waddizzle]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

Take a picture of a sunny outdoor scene in P-Mode with the ISO set to 100. Post it here with the EXIF data intact and we can use the "sunny 16" rule to tell you whether your camera and lens are exposing in the right ballpark.

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What if it's raining?  My current forecast is for rain and overcast skies for the next several days.  Instead of ISO set to 100, can I use a light bulb set to 100 Watts, and take a picture of a box of corn flakes.  I could use the "flaky eights" rule to check it! 

[kvbarkley]

That is another option, did you reply to my thread about standard exposures in the general section?

Though 100 W tungsten bulbs are getting hard to come by!

[ScottyP]

I suspect the camera would do fine in outdoor sunlight in green box auto. Also in P mode or AV or Tv. The problem is the user trying to shoot in full manual rather than AV or Tv, without perhaps the full mastery and attention to exposure that would require.  It is difficult to imagine why Manual mode would be the way to go for shooting rock climbing. 

[ebiggs1]

"It is difficult to imagine why Manual mode would be the way to go ..."

i wonder how we ever managed to get a picture?  I suspect the OP is not observing the light meter in his view finder.  In manual mode the camera will not care if it is correct or not.  If that is the case I must agree with ScottyP, why use manual mode if you don't fully understand it?  The camera won't help you.

[ScottyP]

This is daylight climbing, not nighttime climbing, right?  Any camera and lens should be able to pull that off unless he is maybe on the shady side of the mountain or something. The problem is probably in trying to use full Manual. It would probably expose ok in green box Auto.  Or of course Tv or AV. 

[jrhoffman75]

Try using Tv and Auto ISO. What lighting conditions are you shooting in?