Something is Wrong With My Camera. =(

I have a Pentax istDL and it's what I've been using for years. Now lately it's been taking very dark photos. Either I've inadvertently screwed up my settings, or something's wrong with my camera. It takes dark photos, no matter what mode I choose. No matter which ISO I choose. =( I get photos that look like this:




Here's the info I got off photobucket for each of those photos:
Photo 1
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 18.0mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm...
Exposure Time: 0.0029 s (1/350)
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO Equiv.: 800
Exposure Bias: 2.00
Whitebalance: Auto
Metering Mode: center weight
Exposure: Action program (based towards ...
Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

Photo 2
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 18.0mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm...
Exposure Time: 0.0056 s (1/180)
Aperture: f/6.7
ISO Equiv.: 400
Exposure Bias: 2.00
Whitebalance: Auto
Metering Mode: center weight
Exposure: program (auto)
Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

It's broad daylight outside. My photos should not be that dark. I'm really worried something is going out on my camera. If it is, I can't afford to replace it, and I will be without a camera for a LONG time. =(

So I'm really hoping it's something I've screwed up on, in my settings. Help?

On both settings, you have:

Try turning your exposure down to 0.00

EDIT: And Hi Cheetah, long time no see

*hug* It's good to see you again. =)

I turned down my exposure to 0.0 just now. Unfortunately, it didn't change anything. =(

Ok, try changing Exposure from Auto to Manual

K I changed it, but I'm not sure how to make it not dark from there. It's still the same. I can make the shutter stay open longer, but dogs like to move, and I like to take action shots. =(

Yeah, I'm mostly just trying to narrow down the issue to see where the problem might be and if it's fixable. Can you post the EXIF info of your most recent attempt?

Flash Used: No

Focal Length: 26.0mm (35mm equivalent: 39mm...

Exposure Time: 0.017 s (1/60)

Aperture: f/5.6

ISO Equiv.: 400

Whitebalance: Auto

Metering Mode: center weight

Exposure: Manual

Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

Ok, I've been messing with it, and I can get a decent amount of light now, but I can't put it in action mode or it's totally gone, and if the dog moves at all, it's blurred to crap. DX

EDIT: I meant this to be an edit, but I accidentally double posted. Sorry about that.

Eeek, hope you figure it out. Honestly, the majority of folks on here have really nice cameras and are taking really pretty pictures! I wish I could nab some good ones of Cameron and Duncan. Hopefully those camera savvy people can give you some more advice.

Man, I'm totally lost here, sorry I see nothing wrong with the exif's.

EDIT: Well there is one more thing. Have you done a thorough cleaning of the lens and checked the sensor if there's any dust on it?

Why is it set to autobracketing?

That should tell the camera to take three pictures using different exposure values. On my K100d, the first one is dark, then normal, then bright, if you only take one picture, you get the dark one. Hold down the shutter, you get three.

Now, on the K100d, it resets every time you turn off the camera, but your earlier model might not.

Oh yeah that's right! That could definitely cause this issue!

Thanks! Gonna go check that. O=

EDIT:
I checked, and that's not turned on so I don't know why the data is saying it is. I've never used that setting before, honestly. But I turned it on and back off to try and see if it would fix something, but nothing has changed. =/

I'll try and clean my sensor somehow...

The sensor appears to be spotless... I'm trying very hard not to panic... losing this camera is like losing a limb... =(

Hmmmm I've discovered another issue. My menu keeps shutting off when I'm in the middle of doing stuff... it just goes black and resets and I have to go back into it and start over. And the longer I mess with it, the more it seems to shut off. Now I'm pushing the menu button over and over again with it just shutting off right away every time... I guess it's time to find a camera repair shop... I hope they'll fix it for $100 or less cause that's all I have. =(

Not very helpful i know but do you have any small camera shops near you?

My camera went bad a few days before my vacation and i was so busy i didn't have time to mess with it so i dropped it off at the camera store and told them to save it and $30 later it was working just fine.

I'll be heading back home to Colorado for a week or so in a couple weeks, and there are tons of camera shops there. I'll have a $100 budget to fix it, so hopefully they can do it.

I know you said you went through the menu and it wasn't set to auto-bracket, but did you try holding down the shutter button just to see if it'll take a bracketed set of exposures? If the menu is acting wonky, maybe it really is set to auto-bracket despite it saying it isn't.

Yeah, I messed with it a lot. I went and turned it on to see what it does, and then turned it off again, and held it down, and it only took one photo. I think my camera just needs repairing... =(

It almost looks like it's metering off of something extremely light and adjusting settings accordingly, but the shutter speed doesn't seem incredibly short and the aperture isn't extremely small... I'm stumped. Sorry your camera has a boo-boo.