Suddenly washed out photos!

[skysurfer]

I'm a newbie and non-techie with a Sony A5000 which has been working well.
But suddenly at an open air festival - lots of grass and sun - all the photos are coming out washed out and whitish.
I have to work very hard afterwards reducing the brightness to get any reasonable shots from the images.
I am using normal automatic settings but even the viewfinder image looks washed out and the movies come out exactly the same.
I'm unsure whether this is some fault or some setting I have inadvertently changed.
I will try to send a typical photo or two in case somebody can help explain what's going on

Really hope somebody can help because the camera is quite new
Sorry can't upload a file because it says each picture is too big and I don't know how to reduce them

[skysurfer]

I have now reduced the size of the sample photos but now I can't see a place to upload files....

[SpaceManSpiff]

HI skysurfer,

It sounds like a setting got changed --have you checked what the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture set to for these washed out photos?

[skysurfer]

Hi Space Man Spiff
Thanks for responding
I checked the readings on the skeleton photo and they were these:

ISO speed - ISO-125

Exposure bias +1.7 step

Max aperture 3.6171875

f stop  f1.1

Exposure time 1/60 sec

Contrast - Normal

Brightness - 9.4390625

Exposure program - Aperture Priority

Saturation - Normal

Sharpness - Normal

White Balance - auto

Digital zoom - 1

EXIF version - 0230
Hope this throws some light on the subject (excuse pun!)

I have posted two versions of this query - I think you might have seen the first one where I couldn't include sample photos.
They are on Suddenly Washed Out Photos - 2
Thanks

 

[SpaceManSpiff]

Didn't realize there were 2 threads for this, but Exposure Compensation looks like the culprit here @ +1.7.  Try some shots set back to 0, I bet it will do the trick,

 

 

Cheers!

[OldNoob]

Skysurfer

try a couple of things.

 

#1 Try popping up the flash and taking a few pictures. then put it back down and take a few more compare exposure differences ,, are the images being washed out in both modes? (possibly unrelated but Some have reported that using the built-in flash in daylight situations resulting over exposure )

 

#2  Turn off the camera and just to rule it out, take your lens off look for any dirt or corrosion on the contacts.  Re-seat the lens on and off a couple times. Take the lens off and turn on the camera with the lens off. then after it has booted up attach the lens and take a few shots. compare shots

 

#3 Reset the camera. directions for this can be found in the manuel. After resetting, take the battery out and leave it out for a good 5 minutes. Afterward put in a fresh fully charged battery and take some shots and compare.

 

#4 Finally set the aperture to the smallest setting, and lowest iso. then under a lamp turn the camera toward you and take a picture. Note if the lens aperture is closing to its limit when you take the picture. if you have the f-stop set to the smallest aperture  (like for example f22) then you should be able to see the lens aperture closing. If it doesn't close, or if it is slow then you may have a lens hardware or lens communication issue.

 

Try these things and post back with what you found. include lens info.