The photos taken by Pentax k5ii are very dark

The answer above is correct, but I don’t know if you can understand it... I have a simpler way of understanding.

Suppose the real environment is divided into 0-100 from the darkest to the brightest, and the camera can recognize 20-50, 25-55, 30-60 and so on according to the settings... Anyway, the camera does not care about your settings. It can only recognize a limited range. Which parts of the real environment do you need to be clearly displayed in the photo? This is the process of metering. For example, in your photo, if you originally wanted the color of the sky to be clear, then your metering will be accurate, and your photo will be correct. What you are measuring is basically the light in the sky, such as The sky part is the 70-90 part. According to your current metering, the part recognized by the camera is in the 60-90 range, and the reflection on the small pendant is only 55, so of course the small pendant is dark.

If you meter the light of a small pendant, for example, if your camera is set in the 40-70 range, then the small pendant will definitely be clear, but if the sky exceeds this range, some parts of the sky will become very bright. It was dazzling and white.

Only if you set it in a reasonable range, such as 50-80, can there be a balance point, the sky will have some details, and the small pendants will be clear.

This is just to help you understand. In fact, these numbers will not be displayed on the camera. Everything depends on your skills and experience.

For example, if the environment of your photo is really bright, then it is basically impossible for you to cover everything. If you want a sky, you have to have a black pendant, and if you want a pendant, you have to have a white sky, unless you have a flash. Can slightly darken the brightness of the sky.

If you must take a clear picture of the pendant and ignore the sky, please adjust the metering method on the camera to spot metering, and then meter the center metering point against the pendant to take the shot.

You will understand naturally if you take more photos.