5D underexposing badly in bright sunlight

I have noticed this in my 3rd wedding now (done loads) but only recently started noticing this really badly.

Basically, when say shooting formals with sunlight shining from behind me on to the people, if anything i assume it will over exposue not under?

Its even worse with black suits, which understandable, but when underexposing a stop to compensate, its even worse, pics come out even more black!

But generally, my 5D with 24-70mm lens tends to under expose a hell of a lot more than my 20D with 70-200mm lens shooting the same field of subject.

I have to overexpose roughly +1 constantly and a bit of fill flash just to guarantee a shot.

Even overcast, it seems to underexpose a fair bit. Not sure if its the camera or just me

I mean indoors, with window light, the 5D is a godsend, such a nice range of colours.

Anyone else get this issue with their 5D?

You haven't mentioned the metering mode you use, nor your technique. More info, please.

rowdyred94 wrote in post #3936948
You haven't mentioned the metering mode you use, nor your technique. More info, please.

And an example photo would be useful as well.

I just shot an outdoor wedding last weekend with my 5D and didn't have any exposure issues.

Mark

Any time you have a back lit situation your meter is reading all that bright light and trying to make it 18% gray. Any subject in that situation will come out very under exposed. My advice is either move in close and spot meter the subjects face not letting any of the bright light hit the meter open on stop if they're white folk beck up and shoot. Your background will probably be gone (overexposed) but your subject will be good. Or you can meter for the background and crank you flash so the light hitting your subject will expose your subject at the same or close level that your background is.

I wonder whether you’re using evaluative or spot metering?

Depending on light, background and how peaople are dressed, correct exposure can indeed be a bit tricky.

To get reliable results, you might want to use spot metering, meter on something white (e.g. wedding dress) and make the shot with exposure locked (e.g. by pressing the * button in the default configuration of the camera) and about two and a half stop overexposure, i.e. + 2 ½ EV exposure compensation set.
If light is fairly constant over the time, you could meter once, add the required stops (2 ½) and set the exposure manually, only metering and setting the values again if light conditions change.

If even the above mentioned method fails, than I would expect the camera to be at a fault.

Yella Fella wrote in post #3936892
Basically, when say shooting formals with sunlight shining from behind me on to the people, if anything i assume it will over exposue not under?

A camera is just metering for around 18% gray. It's always going to reach for that....not lighter or darker. Now the thing is you have different metering modes for selecting the amount of the scene that the camera meters for. Spot being the sharpest and evaluative being one of the broadest. If you really think your camera is off, you could check the exposure by taking a test photo of a grey card. If it comes out as close to middle gray, then you know it's your shooting style instead of the camera.

i suppose with 5D its covering more area, especially how wide 24mm is on that cam, compared to 20D crop with my 70-200 lens...

im using (not sure on name), but always use the one with dot and circle round it for exposure, maybe i should try something different next time?

davesrose wrote in post #3937012
A camera is just metering for around 18% gray. It's always going to reach for that....not lighter or darker. Now the thing is you have different metering modes for selecting the amount of the scene that the camera meters for. Spot being the sharpest and evaluative being one of the broadest. If you really think your camera is off, you could check the exposure by taking a test photo of a grey card. If it comes out as close to middle gray, then you know it's your shooting style instead of the camera.

haha now that u mentioned it... i did however noticed when shooting the B&G today next to a grey BMW M3... exposure seemed perfect just gonna check my RAW's now

think im gonna blame my light metre then, its off! lol

That would be partial? Sounds like a back light problem. The 24 is much wider than the 70- 200. Try what I recommended. It should help. If the information in the background in not important meter the subject and let it blow out. If it is important then you'll need to use a flash and a pretty powerful one if the light is real bright to balance subject with background.

which is best exposure system to use? I have always used (i guess) partial then, hmmm...

I use spot and shoot manual. But I've been doing it for YEARS. If you use spot the meter only uses the info thats in the circle in the center of your viewfinder. It takes a little getting used to and you have to have an idea of how much reflectance the object you are reading is actually reflecting. 18% gray is about blue skies no clouds with the sun behind you. Grass is also about 18% gray (what your meter reads). Caucasian skin is open on stop. If you have a situation thats severely back lit you will need to compensate.

I think you should try spot metering. I use it most of the time. I like the results.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #3937201
If the information in the background in not important meter the subject and let it blow out.

A good point. Over and over on POTN you hear that blown highlights mean a worthless picture.

If the highlights don't matter, especially if they don't have any detail anyway, let 'em blow. A few months ago I took some pics in the snow on Mt. Lassen - I exposed so the snow was, well, white. 255, 255, 255. In the sunlight, the snow was brilliant white to my eyes, too.

-js

Possibly a dumb question, but do you have your eye up to the eyepiece when it underexposes? Or do you cover the eyepiece if not?

Bright light into the eyepiece if you've got the camera on a tripod and are using a remote release (for example) will cause it to underexpose.

Mat Fitzsimmons wrote in post #3937696
Possibly a dumb question, but do you have your eye up to the eyepiece when it underexposes? Or do you cover the eyepiece if not?

Bright light into the eyepiece if you've got the camera on a tripod and are using a remote release (for example) will cause it to underexpose.

always to the eyepiece as im taking group shots outdoors