Metz 58 in AV

Im having strange results using the Metz 58 in AV (ETTL mode) shooting at apertures from 1.4 to 2.0 : it overexposes 1 full stop at ISO100 and 2 full stops at ISO400
everything goes back to normal at 2.8 and up

anyone can please verify that to make sure that's not just my unit?

thanks

The Metz 58 is known to have problems with the 1DmkII and 1DmkIII (in wireless config mode, at least) so I'm not surprised that it may not be working perfectly with the 1Ds either. I don't have the 1Ds but I can check to see if my Metz 58 has problems with my 1D cameras at those apertures.

Thanks Leo!

I tried the 1DmkII and the 1DmkIII with the Metz 58AF-1 and all the pictures came out as expected. None of them were overexposed. As you indicated, the camera were set to Av mode and shot at f/1.4, f/2.0, f/2.8 and f/4. The test was done indoors where the lighting is not very bright.

Are you shooting in a dark place or someplace which is well lit? I'm wondering if the overexposure is not caused by the fact that in Av mode, the camera will expose for the ambient light as will the flash and combining both together is leading to overexposure.

I think it must be my unit...I'll clean the contacts on the shoe (camera and flash). I did a shoot in the dark yesterday @ 1.4 and it came out a bit "bright" LOL
Then I repeated the sequence at home and it came out bright again. After I did a reset of the flash it looks better but still bright. The funny thing is that at 2.8 everything looks fine...

thanks again!

Have you done controlled comparison tests against the 580EX II?

I'm wondering if maybe the minimum output (and thus minimum distance) on the Metz is greater than the 580EX II. If so, this would manifest itself at wide apertures.

the 580EXII is more "conservative" than the 580EX but still unpredictable in ETTL standard. (great with ETTLII)
The Metz is a stop brighter below 2.8 , and it gets even from 2.8 and up. I did more tests and the ISO doesn't play any particular difference. (my mistake from the few shots I did in a hurry before)

in AV it can be annoying (you want more ambient than flash) and the 580EXII does better. You are probably right about the minimum of the Metz.

But I still prefer the Metz for everything else

it is the same old story: canon flashes are very good in AV, no questions.

I heard rumors that there was an issue with the secondary reflector of the AF-1 58 not getting turned down enough and therefore overexposing. If you don't have firmware release 2.0 and the secondary reflector turned on, this may be what hit you ...