 Irene Troy |
Canon 5D-Mark II TTL metering problem? Hi all – I recently upgraded my original Canon 5D to the newer Canon 5D-Mark II. The older 5D had a tendency to overexpose when shooting in high contrast situations and I learned to compensate by deliberately underexposing and bracketing important shots. However, with the new camera I’m having a different sort of issue and wonder if anyone else has encountered this issue and, if so, you may be able to help me master this problem. When shooting in many types of light, everything from dawn light to post-sunset light and everything in between, I’m noticing two things: first, while the histogram shows a strong spike toward the right (blown highlights) the actual image emerges badly under-exposed. Second: when relying upon TTL metering, the images often emerge badly under-exposed and/or with blown highlights. I know this sounds almost impossible – how do you have underexposure and blown highlights? If I set exposure for what the camera determines is “correct” I end up with blown highlights. If I deliberately underexpose – even by ¼ stop, I end up with images that are so badly underexposed they are unusable. Highlights are completely lost and shadows obscure areas of focus within the image. In short, I’ve begun questioning if the TTL meter is functioning correctly or whether there is some underlying issue within this particular camera. Hopefully, I’ve explained this clearly enough that someone will be able to help me identify the problem. Thanks!
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Hello Irene, I have not had this problem with my 5D2 but check your exposure settings to see if they are to your liking. I often times do shoot a tad under-exposed because I find it easier to correct/recover dark areas where as blown out highlights are usually not recoverable. I would take the camera through the paces with your settings. I hate to say it but you may need to take the camera in and have it checked out. I find my camera does very well when shooting contrasting dark & light images. I completely rely on TTL and I trust the meter in my camera as it is usually correct. Hope this helps, Carlton
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doug Nelson |
I also am new to the 5DII and find that after looking at my histogram I have to dial in some underexposure to avoid the "trainwreck to the right". Make sure you don't have partial or spot metering set. Center-weighted or matrix seem more likely to set a correct exposure for a complicated scene. Try metering gray rocks or green grass in shade with spot or partial metering to see what the histogram does. Compare with another camera known to give you decent exposures (same lens, same ISO!). For me right now, I check the histogram to see if I need to adjust the exposure. Also, when I shoot RAW, I find that a minor spike to the right of the histogram is easily dealt with in post processing. The scene in RAW isn't really overexposed, once you deal with the highlights with the exposure slider (Adobe Camera Raw).
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Irene Troy |
Hi guys – thank you for sharing your ideas and suggestions. After I got used to the original 5D I simply set my exposure to underexpose by a full stop under most conditions. However, the new 5D-Mark II is really challenging me to rethink exposure compensation. My biggest struggle is trying to understand why the on-camera histogram differs radically than the histogram in Adobe Camera Raw (CS5). The on-camera histogram will show a scene as wildly over-exposed, I’ll reset the exposure to underexpose and when I take the image into PS, I have a much underexposed image. I’ve been bracketing my exposures by as much as two stops, but the end image is still not correct. This morning I was out shooting well before dawn and decided, after shooting for a couple of hours, to shoot the same scene with my original 5D and the new 5D-II. The results have convinced me something is not right with the TTL meter in the new camera. The images shot with the 5D were correctly exposed, the ones shot with the 5D-II were way, way off exposure – same scene, same light, same ISO, same lens. I guess I have to truck on down to the camera store and see if they can help figure this out. Thanks again for the input! Irene
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doug Nelson |
Could it be that the 5DII's histogram readout is a bit hysterical? That readout may be based on some in-camera jpg processing, not on the full data in the RAW image. Is the histogram trainwreck to the right really all that bad? Does RAW post processing fix the "overexposure" with only specular highlights showing blown out (as they're suppose to)? You and I both have some experimenting to do as 5DII users. Photography is constant problem-solving. We have to see it as fun or go nuts.
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