New 5D....need help with exposure question

[austinjames]

I just got a new 5D and 24-105mm lens. Out shooting today and every picture seems to be to bright and overexposed. Shooting mostly on P, some on Tv and Av...but all seem overexposed and bright. Maybe even a hint of too much blue in the picture. I compared pictures with the same lens on my 20d under same conditions and the 20D is rendering much more natural colors and the exposure I would expect. I have tried the different picture styles but it does not seem to change anything that I can tell in terms of to much brightness. Any thoughts or suggestions???

By the way....the lens is rendering an incredilbly sharp image....just to much light it seems.

[nburwell]

Are you shooting in RAW? You can correct your WB in PP. Although I don't own the 5D, I'm sure it has the custom WB where you can set it your own specifications. As for the overexposure of the shots, you can set the exposure compensation to -1 to purposely underexpose the shot. That's what I would personally do. I'm sure there will be others that can offer other suggestions to help you.

[drparker]

I just got a new 5D and 24-105mm lens. Out shooting today and every picture seems to be to bright and overexposed. Shooting mostly on P, some on Tv and Av...but all seem overexposed and bright. Maybe even a hint of too much blue in the picture. I compared pictures with the same lens on my 20d under same conditions and the 20D is rendering much more natural colors and the exposure I would expect. I have tried the different picture styles but it does not seem to change anything that I can tell in terms of to much brightness. Any thoughts or suggestions???

By the way....the lens is rendering an incredilbly sharp image....just to much light it seems. I don't have a problem with mine. What metering mode are you using? Post a sample shot.

[twotimer]

You did not accidentally dial in a couple of stops of exposure compensation, quite easy to do by turning the quick control dial.

Gerhard

[Roy Hernandez]

one thing to think about is your metering on the subject, if it gives you a little bit dim or darker then your background is lighted up of course it will give you over exposed scene, remember... you have 2 different kind of camera therefor both of them have different kind of aspects regardless on how it operates.

[Hawg Hanner]

Are you making this determination by looking at the photo on the LCD alone? If so, photos on the 5D's LCD screen appear brighter than those on the 20D because it is larger. It is also true that while I always have to increase the exposure compensation one tick on my Canon 20D, my Canon 5D is always spot on, so I think there can be a difference. It might also be due to the fact that you're using a different metering method than what the 20D would otherwise allow due to its technical limitations.

Lastly, I would recommend reviewing images on your 5D's rear LCD with the use of the histogram, especially until you get used to your new camera. If the images are within the histogram's proverbial 'sweet spot' you should have nothing to worry about. If, on the other hand, the images do not sync with the histogram on the camera then you may very well have a problem.

You could also post an example here and I'm sure there will be plenty of experienced photogs who will offer their two cents.

[steveathome]

Dont just rely on the in built meter, view the histogram after the first shot, and adjust accordingly, your exposure will then be spot on.

[SuzyView]

Have you taken the images to your computer and compared?

[Hellashot]

Which metering mode? If you're in evaluative, remember the exposure for this metering is linked to the AF point. So if you are focusing on a darker portion in the frame it will expose for that darkness and make other areas bright/too bright. Similarly if you AF on a bright/brightest point in the frame it wil expose for that and make the rest of the frame darker.

There is no exposure linkage in partial, spot, or centerweighted metering to the AF point used.

[George Chew]

Greetings,
This combo on mine is spot on. As suggested, double check your exposure compensation, if not, send it back to canon. Enjoy...

[austinjames]

Here are a couple of typical pictures from today....all of them seem to be like this. I have checked all the settings as far as I know how....I appreciate the advice and help.

[SkipD]

Here are a couple of typical pictures from today....all of them seem to be like this. I have checked all the settings as far as I know how....I appreciate the advice and help.No photos.

Like others have said, check your EC - Exposure Compensation - setting as well as FEC - Flash Exposure Compensation. It's fairly easy to get them set wrong without realizing it, especially if you don't know what they are and how to set them.

[austinjames]

sorry here they are

[twotimer]

Aside from not being necessary to shoot ISO 400 I see nothing obvious in the EXIF data to point to the cause.

Gerhard

[SkipD]

The slight color shift can be corrected by judicious use of White Balance settings.

The exposure problems appear to me to be caused by the method of metering and the fact that the two scenes are somewhat tricky to meter.

The first shot has a very bright center and a rather dark surround. Using the metering in fully automatic "pattern" mode, the camera could easily have mistaken the dark background as being something you were really interested in. The second shot is similar in that the face is bright but the rest is not.

Shots like these demand CONTROL of the exposure measuring method because the camera (and its generic programming) cannot possibly know what you want in any particular situation. To do shots like these, I would use a handheld incident meter to measure the light falling on the subject. To use the camera's reflected light meter to do the same thing, you could read a standard 18% gray card to get the exposure settings. Locking the exposure settings into "M" (manual) mode makes a lot of sense in this kind of situation. Then, because you have determined and locked in the exposure settings, all you need to concentrate on is focusing and framing.

[austinjames]

Thanks to all....I will keep working on it. The forum is a great help.

[drparker]

With the meter set to evaluative and in either Tv or Av see what it sets shutter speed and aperture to for given scene. Now switch to spot metering in full manual mode set the same shutter speed and aperture. You can now compare what was selected automatically to the exposure meter reading as you pan around the scene with your camera. Hope this makes as much sense on paper as it does in my head:D

[JohnJ80]

I agree with Skip. You would benefit greatly from reading "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

I tend to leave my WB on 'Cloudy" on my 5D. I like the warmer tones that this provides. That all being said, careful attention to the WB setting will probably deal with most of the color cast issues.

Try shooting with RAW and then adjusting this in post processing to see how that works for you. You'll get a better idea of what white balance does for you.

Also, avoid shooting in Auto - the camera is making all the decisions and it will not always make the right ones (in point of fact, most probably won't).

J.

[AdamJL]

The slight color shift can be corrected by judicious use of White Balance settings.

The exposure problems appear to me to be caused by the method of metering and the fact that the two scenes are somewhat tricky to meter.

The first shot has a very bright center and a rather dark surround. Using the metering in fully automatic "pattern" mode, the camera could easily have mistaken the dark background as being something you were really interested in. The second shot is similar in that the face is bright but the rest is not.

Shots like these demand CONTROL of the exposure measuring method because the camera (and its generic programming) cannot possibly know what you want in any particular situation. To do shots like these, I would use a handheld incident meter to measure the light falling on the subject. To use the camera's reflected light meter to do the same thing, you could read a standard 18% gray card to get the exposure settings. Locking the exposure settings into "M" (manual) mode makes a lot of sense in this kind of situation. Then, because you have determined and locked in the exposure settings, all you need to concentrate on is focusing and framing.

I agree Skip, but you sure love to pimp the incident meter! ;) :lol:

Why not just spot meter for the brightest part of the scene and dial in the appropriate level of EC?

I tend to avoid using matrix metering (or whatever it's called) in contrasty shots.

[SkipD]

Why not just spot meter for the brightest part of the scene and dial in the appropriate level of EC?Why not? I wouldn't do that because I am also interested in the shadowed areas. Were I to use a spot meter, I would measure the brightest and the darkest areas of interest in the scene and calculate the difference. If the difference were no more than 5 or six stops, I would set the camera for the mid-range value between the extremes. If the difference between the extremes was greater than 6 stops, I would set the camera to favor the extreme of most interest.

Automated exposure control - as well as using a handheld meter in the reflected mode and merely grabbing a single reading from the scene - does not provide me with enough control to KNOW that my exposure will be adequate. By using the tools that are available to me, I seldom have an exposure that isn't quite close to optimum.

I've always had a penchant for accuracy (in anything I do) and learned photography with manually operated tools. I just continue to work in much the same way, even with the modern cameras. My results, however, are as good as they always were.