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Archive 2013 · Canon 5D light metering problem?

  
 
hamims
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


Hi, I have bought a used 5D 2-3 days back. It was not until today that I got enough time to play with it. I mostly used AV mode during the day. The metering was all over the place. I am uploading two samples. Same aperture and ISO, and almost similar framing, but see the difference in exposure.

Can anyone comment on it? Is it characteristic 5D or just something faulty inside, any idea? I have used quite a few crop bodies (T3i, T4i and 60D), but rarely faced this kind of issue. Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.





Well lit shot with f/4 and 1/1600s







underexposed, f/4 and 1/8000s




Jun 07, 2013 at 01:43 AM
Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


Check what screen your metering is set to . If its set for the wrong focus screen then that messes up the metering .


But also you need to remember that shot 1 has little sky in it and the ground is grey which is nearly like having an 18% grey card to meter off . But shot 2 contains a fair bit of bright sky , so the body could well be just metering the sky



Jun 07, 2013 at 02:20 AM
dhphoto
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


f4 and 1/8000th !

Something wrong there, although for some reason you have the ISO set to 1600.

Go somewhere with decent daylight, stick the camera in P mode at about 400 ISO with Exposure compensation and set to zero, evaluative metering and shoot 20 shots of different things, let the camera make all the decisions to take any human error out of it and see what the results are like.

If possible use more than one lens in case you have a sticky aperture

Edited on Jun 07, 2013 at 02:37 AM · View previous versions



Jun 07, 2013 at 02:28 AM
hamims
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


Thanks to both of your for your comments and suggestions.

@Ian.Dobinson: The focusing screen was set to Ee-A (default one C.Fn 00-0). So, I think that's not the case.

@dhphoto: I forgot to change the ISO. I will do a little bit of experimentation tomorrow following your advice and let you know what happens.



Jun 07, 2013 at 02:36 AM
dhphoto
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


hamims wrote:
Thanks to both of your for your comments and suggestions.

@Ian.Dobinson: The focusing screen was set to Ee-A (default one C.Fn 00-0). So, I think that's not the case.

@dhphoto: I forgot to change the ISO. I will do a little bit of experimentation tomorrow following your advice and let you know what happens.


I just added - ensure the camera is also set to evaluative metering, the others can be more unpredictable.

FWIW on all the 5D's I have ever owned (four) I always needed +1/3 or +2/3rds exposure compensation to get the correct exposure on a 'normal' subject, in fact I've found this on virtually every Canon



Jun 07, 2013 at 02:38 AM
hamims
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


I took few pictures yesterday and today. For the first 3 images, I used P mode, ISO 400, evaluative, 0 compensation.

For the last two pics the ISO was again at 1600. Forgot to change last nights setting.

Though I don't know why for backlit portraits it is sometimes exposing correctly and sometime underexposing, I think the camera is okay. What do you guys think?




























Jun 08, 2013 at 07:49 PM
scalesusa
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


Backlit images can really mess up exposure, particularly if the settings were off.

Do a complete reset of the camera to get any weird combination of settings out of it, and try some more. I avoid backlit subjects wherever possible, its a sure fire formula for under exposed faces.



Jun 08, 2013 at 08:41 PM
mttran
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


Your 5D might have a sticky mirror ...remove the lens and check the mirror bounce...verify it in different frame rate. Your lens might also has sticky aperture blade as well, try different lens. Should be one of them.


Jun 08, 2013 at 09:08 PM
Peter Le
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


mttran wrote:
Your 5D might have a sticky mirror ...remove the lens and check the mirror bounce...verify it in different frame rate. Your lens might also has sticky aperture blade as well, try different lens. Should be one of them.


Could be........But naaaa.....just get used to the 5D and learn how it meters. All the shots he posted are ether back lit or have very bright sky and deep shadows. He just has to practice and learn how the 5D meters.......it is one of the best cameras Canon has ever made......just a little funny in some ways. Don't get him going on a wild goose chase with sticking mirrors and aperture blades.......just has to learn the camera.....
OP: I know 1600 was a mistake but why are you even shooting at 400 on a bright sunny day?



Jun 08, 2013 at 09:23 PM
morganb4
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


I have found 5D metering to ok but every so often it does hand me a nice hot cup of WTF.


Jun 09, 2013 at 08:32 AM
hamims
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and suggestions. I will keep learning about the camera and keep shooting the way its going right now. Next week I am going for a long family vacation. Hopefully, I will be able to take some good pictures.


Jun 09, 2013 at 11:52 PM
Jefferson
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


Do you know how to set the focal on your 5D to the center focal point and put your camera in Spot Metering mode...?


Jun 10, 2013 at 12:01 AM
hamims
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


I use the center point for focusing almost all the time. Never used the spot metering before. I know how to do it, but never did. Is there any particular time when spot metering works better than evaluative?


Jun 10, 2013 at 12:09 AM
Jefferson
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


Select the center focal point… select spot metering… put the camera in “M” for manual mode… this is how you will get your exposure… in bright sun, set your ISO to 100… set your shutter speed to maybe 400… and aperture to say f/11… put the center focal point on your subject and take a shot… Look at the Histogram… go for the middle to middle right curve.

Adjust your shutter speed or aperture (background and sharpness) as needed to get the curve on the histogram… you’ll know it when you see it…

In morning or late afternoon early evening light… adjust the ISO up in increments like 100… 200… 400…, but with the 5Dc, I wouldn’t push past ISO 800…



Jun 10, 2013 at 12:23 AM
melcat
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


This is a 21st century camera - it has a meter and aperture priority, they do work and it's not necessary to mess with M mode. I rarely went near it in the 4 years I shot with this camera as my main body. The histogram is nice to have, but as the rear LCD is almost unusable in sunlight hardly a solution.

hamims wrote:
Never used the spot metering before. I know how to do it, but never did. Is there any particular time when spot metering works better than evaluative?


If you are asking this, then you shouldn't be attempting the use of spot metering - but I urge you to get a book about exposure and read it. At the moment, you do have to trust in evaluative.

I usually used centre-weighted metering on this body, so can't comment on how well evaluative works.

What I think your problem might be: In Av, the large control wheel on the back controls "exposure compensation". The camera doesn't make this very obvious when it's off zero., and it's stupidly easy to bump. Use the camera in the "ON" rather than the hockey stick position, and instead use the dedicated exposure compensation button on the top plate if you need it.

EDIT - I just realised I could check EXIF with the software I have on this machine, did so on two of your very dark shots (slanted one in the first post, and fluoro guy in background) and saw "Exposure bias 0" - so I now think that theory is wrong.



Jun 10, 2013 at 12:54 AM
hamims
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


@Jefferson and melcat: thanks for the tips, going to try and explore spot metering a little bit in coming days. Its early to say, but I think I like this camera than any other I have previously used.
Will share few photos once I come back from the trip. Thanks again.



Jun 11, 2013 at 02:09 AM
morganb4
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


melcat wrote:
If you are asking this, then you shouldn't be attempting the use of spot metering

but I urge you to get a book about exposure and read it.

At the moment, you do have to trust in evaluative.



Why? Why cant he experiment and play? I'm not sure the OP shouldn't attempt anything he/she/it wants- its only electrons. Nothing will explode. A book on exposure (or specifically, the book called "Exposure") would be a good idea when you are ready to learn more.

Spot is simple. It meters only for the specified area (I dont remember how big that area is on the 5D, google it). The uses of spot are vast. If ever Eval is giving me weirdness I switch to spot and use the exposure lock button (big star button) to meter the specific bit Im after and then dial in compensation to taste.

Look up Ansel Adams zone metering to get an idea of ball park compensation for use with spot. Here I did it or you: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/zone_system.shtml but the basic strategy is to spot meter and then decide where on the scale your metered object should be? Is it a shadow or a highlight? Then when you have decided what it should be, you dial in an exposure compensation using the big wheel and send the exposure higher or lower depending on your decision. Try it, its so simple, logical and totally liberating. Spot meter + exposure compensation = ability to place any given tone in whichever zone you want (within practical limitations of the camera).

More than anything though, enjoy.



Jun 11, 2013 at 06:14 PM
melcat
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Canon 5D light metering problem?


morganb4 wrote:
... I switch to spot and use the exposure lock button (big star button) to meter the specific bit Im after and then dial in compensation


I very much agree that this is the easiest way with this camera to handle the 10% of scenes that don't meter correctly using your usual metering mode (in my case, centre-weighted rather than evaluative).

Look up Ansel Adams zone metering to get an idea of ball park compensation for use with spot. Here I did it or you: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/zone_system.shtml ...

Book or online resource, I think we're actually singing from the same score here. I read Adam's original books back in the 1980s, when I only had a fully manual OM-1. The main thing is to understand the principle.

I have to say that I think centre-weighted would have nailed all of the OP's sample shots except maybe for fluoro guy. It still isn't clear whether there's some defect with his 5D - is evaluative really so bad on the 5D?



Jun 12, 2013 at 03:26 AM





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