7d Mark 2 light meter in manual mode

Just got my 7DMk2 yesterday and I noticed that in manual mode, the light meter is missing from the top LCD screen and in the bottom of the viewfinder. The light meter is on the right hand side of the view finder vertically and if you press the 'Q' button on the back, it shows on the main LCD screen. Any way to get this back to how it is on my 5DMk3's? Very frustrating that it is in a different spot than every other Canon camera I have owned. Its going to be hard to retrain my eye and hopefully doesn't make a big difference when I need to check the light in a hurry! The main reason I bought this was because it was the same button configuration as my Mk3's...now this makes it a little different and not seamless to use.

I looked into this myself and it appears there is no way around it. The bottom display is used to show exposure compensation. Even with auto ISO off the display dissapears completely if I remember correctly. The good news is that there is exposure comp in manual mode and you get used to the display position of the meter quickly.

I know I can probably get used to it...just wish there was a custom function to change it. Maybe a firmware update....anyone else have this issue or a problem with it? I just like being able to glance down and see all shutter speed, aperture, and where the meter is all at once without having to go to another part of the viewfinder.

Yes it took me a while to get used to it also. Now that I am, I like having the exposure meter in all modes. Not just Manual. So I have become happy with it. Another difference between the 7D and the 7D-II is with the Mark-II in Manual Mode you can leave the ISO in Auto and set Exposure Compensation. The camera will then adjust ISO accordingly. With the light meter you can see the effect. The 7D did not have Exposure Compensation in Manual Mode.

Mike

Interesting about the Auto ISO. What I use it for I could maybe get away with that if I find the RH exposure meter unusable for me. I don't use any other mode than Manual...ever...just a personal preference, so it really is going to be hard to get used to.

It has been out to the right since the dawn of the EOS 1. Simpler camera models have not had it there, but the 7D Mark II is now stepping up in level.

In manual mode the 7D has the light meter scale at the bottom where it is very visible. On other modes the 7D has the EV compensation meter at the bottom and no light meter. The 7D-II changes that.

Mike

I disagree with the notion that just because the 1D series cameras use the meter on the right, that makes it superior or stepping it up as you say. Seems like with all the customization options there are on our cameras now, it would have been easy to include that as a feature for those who want it and find it easier to use that way. I'm not saying the way I use my camera is superior, it is just hard to change after shooting this way for the last 10 years... Maybe why the 5Dmk4 comes out they will include the RH light meter...but I see that the 5Ds and 5Dr both have the light meter at the bottom...ugh...why Canon? Make up your mind!

Ok, I will quit whining about it now and buck up and deal with it until it either changes or I just get used to it!

Cameras like the 1DX have the scale out to the right for everything. Both metering in manual mode and exposure compensation in automatic modes. That makes space available at the bottom to include a counter for how many more images you can shoot as well, instead of a halfway redundant other scale, as in the 7D Mark II. I think they didn't dare going all the way with the 7D Mark II. But the scale out to the right has its ancestry since the T90, unless you also count the analog metering systems of the F-series.

You know it's not just Canon. I cannot think of nay 35mm SLR manufacturer that didn't put the TTL light metering/AE display down one side of the VF or the other. About the only thing the was ever in a different position was the set Aperture display, which as it was provided by an image of the actual aperture ring on the lens was usually at the top center of the VF. At least in those cameras that offered that option that I have looked through.

Alan

Hi All - I have posted on this topic many times on this forum. I have spoken to Canon about it - they say they have recorded my complaint and will see if they can make it display as in the older 7D. Good job I didn't hold my breath while waiting. It seems that very little thought was given to the positioning and also the exposure meter scale is not bright enough to be visible when shooting in daylight conditions - plus the fact that one has to screw one's eye to the correct angle to even see it - meaning one has to take one's eye off the picture. I normally use manual mode.

Canon has had 5 years to get this right since the original 7D was introduced and what's more the beta testers did not pick up on it. As far as I can see this is the only thing that lets the 7D2 down. I am hoping a firmware upgrade will be released soon that will improve the situation. Note - Canon must think they have got it right as they have not yet issued any sort of firmware update yet.

Ray,

I agree with you. It is not just the position that is hard to get used to, it is the fact that it is so dang hard to see in daylight and bright scenes. If you compare the 1Dx viewfinder, you see a big and bold looking meter with clearly marked stops. The 7D2 just kinda has a few dashes with no real scale to it. I was very disappointed and also complained to Canon. Hopefully they listen to the few who find this very hard to shoot with and release a firmware update.

Hmm, it sounds like I'll have to lay my hands on a 7D Mark II, too see what it looks like myself. I have no problem with the meter out to the right, as that's where it has been on cameras like the 1DX and T90 (electronic LCD scale) and EF and F-1 (mechanical needle). That has never been any issue. That it's at the bottom in other cameras I have I've simply thought was due to cost saving, as there's already one display down there.

apersson850 wrote in post #17471396
It has been out to the right since the dawn of the EOS 1. Simpler camera models have not had it there, but the 7D Mark II is now stepping up in level.

My AE-1, which I purchased in 1979, has the light meter on the right. This is tradition!

My Minolta XE-7 (first electronically controlled shutter with aperture-priority automation) also had the meter on the right. And for that matter, so did my 1967 SR-T 101 all-manual camera. In both, the aperture appeared at the bottom center via a small periscope which pointed at the actual aperture ring on the lens.