Exposure Compensation settings

Your exposure compensation might not be set correctly. Just behind and to the right of the on/off switch you will see a small button with a "+/-" symbol. That is the exposure compensation switch. When you press it, you will see a number displayed on the LCD. If the number is positive, that is your problem. Positive numbers increase exposure and negative numbers decrease exposure. Set the compensation to 0.0 by turning the rear thumbwheel while depressing the exposure compensation button.

That depends on what you're taking a picture of. Normally, you'd want it on zero.

Use it if the exposure meter produces an exposure too light or too dark for the subject. The camera's meter is designed to render all scenes as a medium gray. If you take a picture of a white dog playing in the snow, the camera will try to render the scene as a medium gray. In this situation you want to use positive exposure compensation to render the scene brighter.

Conversely, if take a picture of a black cat sunning itself on a black car, the camera will again try to render the scene as a medium gray. In this case you want negative exposure compensation to darken the scene.

Yes, there is a setting called exposure compensation, which you may have altered.
Try switching the camera back to A (Auto) mode, and see if that fixes it.
In the manual setting modes, exposure compensation will look like this:
http://images.digitalcamerainfo.com/images/upload/Image/new/Photokina08/Canon/sd880is/photos/Canon-sd880is-menu-functionset-375.jpg
Make sure that you haven't set the exposure compensation to +2, for example. It should usually be set on 0.

When you change the exposure compensation setting, the camera will change the aperture, the shutter speed, or the ISO depending on the mode you're in and the shooting situation. That's what "compensation" means.

You can't. If the film cartridge has the DX markings then the camera will automatically set it to the correct speed. Without the DX markings the camera goes to ISO 100. You can adjust this by using exposure compensation. For example, if you have ISO 200 film loaded without the DX markings, set the exposure compensation to -1.0 and you will get the proper exposure.

You are exposure compensation in manual mode. If you want the shots lighter, either open up the aperture or slow the shutter. The exposure compensation feature is to override the automatic settings determined by the camera in the auto-exposure modes.

Check the exposure compensation setting to ensure it's set for +/-0. To do this, set the camera for Program mode. Locate the exposure compensation mode button - it's the button with a +/- on it immediately behind the on/off switch. With the camera on, hold down this button. If it shows anything other than "0", use the main command dial (the wheel on the back) to change to setting to 0.

The reason the camera works in the Auto mode is because the exposure compensation settings are not available in auto mode, but are available in Program (P), Aperature (A) and Shutter (S) modes.

Check your exposure compensation adjustment. If that is set high, then all your shots will be over-exposed until it is brought down to the "0" setting. A relative had this problem with a different camera, and all it took was resetting the exposure compensation to make things work correctly.

I often set cameras with a default exposure compensation of -0.3 EV since blown highlights are so distracting.

The exposure compensation stays where you leave it unless you do a full reset or a custom reset, and except when you're using scene modes. But you don't need to do a reset to cancel out an exposure compensation -- simply use the exposure compensation button to adjust the compensation back to 0.0EV.

The cause and solution may include one of the following: The flash is not needed. Change to Flash Off or decrease the flash compensation in any of the PASMC modes (certain cameras only). The subject was too close for flash. Move so that the distance between you and the subject is within the effective flash range. There is too much light. Decrease the exposure compensation. If you use flash, adjust the flash compensation in any of the PASMC modes (certain cameras only). Auto-exposure was not set. Press the shutter button halfway and hold. When the AF/AE indicator turns green, press the shutter button completely down to take the picture (most cameras).