Flash On Sonny Xperia L

[anotheoldgit]

Although I have set my flash to auto when I take a photo in the dark, it turns out just like an over exposed photo, ie very, very light with the image hardly recognisable.

My resolution is set at 5m

Focus mode : single auto focus

Exposure value : +2

HDR : off

ISO : auto

Can anyone please tell me why this is?

[stuey]

Try using a larger f-stop number which will give you a smaller aperture.

[Gizmonster]

This might sound like a bit of a daft question, but do you have a phone case for your phone ??
All will be revealed ........

[Buenchico]

If you're using flash the EV should normally be 0. (Setting it to +2 compensates for low light but you've not got low light because of the flash).

[quizman55]

You are telling the camera to over expose the picture by two f stops from the exposure the camera would normally use. You do this when you are trying to photograph something that is above average brightness when the camera would under-expose the scene, e.g. a dark subject against a bright white background, the camera would take into account the white background and stop the lens down, result an under-exposed image, exposure compensation , as this is called, prevents the camera from using the "wrong" setting and you end up with a correctly exposed image, how much compensation you need to apply depends on the individual scene, i.e how much white is affecting the result, the converse is true for dark scenes where the camera will try to over expose the scene, in this instance you need to choose a minus exposure compensation value. Using flash is just part of the exposure, it is up to the camera to decide how much flash to emit depending on the chosen exposure saetting.

[anotheoldgit]

Thank you all for your answers, it would appear that it is all down to the exposure value setting, but I would have thought that with the flash set to auto the flash wouldn't kick in if my exposure was set too high.

[Fitzer]

Your exposure value of +2 is basically telling the camera that 'whatever exposure you come up with make it two stops more exposed', this will include settings for flash etc. One would normally do this when photographing someone in front of a bright window or suchlike, without the compensation the figure would appear very dark as the exposure is averaged across the scene and the camera would select a setting to allow an 'average' exposure across what it can see.

[anotheoldgit]

Thank you Fitzer