EOS 1D Mark II exposure problem

I bought a 1D MkII and the 580EX flash unit a couple of weeks ago. I'm having a little problem with exposures using the flash. Everything is coming out underexposed unless I press the FE L button. Pressing that fixes the exposure. So while experimenting with it, I bumped the flash up 1 full stop and that gave me a good exposure, but if I press the FE L button with the flash increased, the pictures are overexposed. I took the camera back to the shop where I bought it, and they were puzzled too. They said the latest firmware was supposed to have corrected these problems. Has anyone else been seeing this with your 1D MkII? BTW - it does the same thing with my 550 EX flash.

Dear kndreyn,
I face same problem with 550ex and 1D MKII. Search the forum, you'll find lot of thread about this problem and also lot of explanation on how to expose correctly. There also very useful explanation about Canon EOS and flash coupling, exposure and technical details.

Ciao
Dome

I am having great success but I did have to do the firmware update. Let me ask a stupid question, did you do the firmware update or confirm that the body already had it? I know it's silly but sometimes things like that can make a difference.

I just tried the same thing on mine and my results for the most part were opposite to yours. In other words, when using FEL, my images were underexposing compared to the normal flash. But neither your camera nor mine have anything wrong with them. When shooting in normal flash mode, ie ETTL-II mode, the flash exposure is computed by measuring the pre-flash output over the entire frame and then applying ETTL-II logic. Unlike ETTL, AF point is not really taken into account in ETTL-II mode.

However, when using FEL, it seems as if the pre-flash reading is taken only from the area within the spot metering circle of the frame. So, depending on the refectivity of the area used as the target for FEL, you may get the exposre just right, under or over.

As for the general consensus that flash expsure with ETTL-II on the 1DmkII always leads to underexposure, that was my initial assessment, too. However, after taking several test shots, I've come to the conclusion that ETTL-II is working as advertised. What I did to get around what seems like extreme underexposure when viewing the LCD display is the increase my LCD brightness to 4 (from the default 3). The histogram also seems to show that the exposure is not as far right as it could be but again, when I analyzed the image in PS, I found there there were very tiny hot spots that would have come out blown had I increase the the flash compensation.

But, of course, this is just my personal view. I, for one, like to have my flash pictures coming out as natural as possible to the setting I was shooting in.

There is an extensive discussion of underexposure in ETTLII in the EOS Flash Sticky. It seems to be Canon's way of preventing flash overexposure. If the underexposure is consistent, dial in what FEC works for you. In addition only by using Manual Metering Mode on the camera can you prevent the Automatic Reduction of Fill Flash programmed into the camera for all modes except M. I use Manual Metering on the 1D Mark II and ETTLII on the flash.

Scott

The EOS Flash Sticky was the first place I went looking for information on this. It came up with a thread about projectors. I tried searching for answers but didn't really find anything there. It could be there were still glitches in the new software when I tried. I'll try again later. Sorry for being so hasty with my question.

I don't know why the two links aren't working right now but the bottom line is that all metering modes other then Manual (camera), cause the camera to use Automatic Reduction of Fill Flash when the flash is in ETTLII or ETTL. To get more consistent flash exposure, put the camera in M and the flash in ETTLII and use whatever FEC you need. In addition, some people get more consistent flash results switching the flash metering to averaging from evaluative in Cf.N 14.
Scott

Hi Scott,

I tried that today and had much better success. I now have a full day's worth of shooting my granddaughter, and the pictures are incredible! I have so much to learn, and I know the answers are here somewhere. I just need to figure out how to find them. Thanks for the help.

Regards,
Keith

Your welcome!
Regards,
Scott