Is it me or time for service?

Today, while shooting in manual, I noticed that my shots were coming out over exposed. I was able to correct by shooting 2 stops under according to the meter. (I am glad I chimp, or I would not have noticed).

As a test, I put it in Av and took this picture.. Exposure compensation set to zero. Is there anything in the EXIF info that would lead anyone to believe that this is anything other than a camera in need of service (i.e., Am I making a mistake that I am not able to figure out).

Are there any reasons for this other than a bad meter.

This has happened to me before, and the camera corrects itself. Today, it reset itself after I removed the large and small battery... but it came back again later.

might help if you quote the exif data to make our life easier... can't see an easy way to get at it in FF...

According to the EXIF data it's nothing more than user error.
You've just overexposed the shot.
Not surprising at 1/25s

Data as follows

File name: attachment.jpg
File size: 83210 bytes (400x267, 6.2bpp, 4x)
EXIF Summary: 1/25s f/5.6 ISO400 35mm

Camera-Specific Properties:

Equipment Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 7D
Camera Software: Digital Photo Professional
Lens Size: 17.00 - 55.00 mm
Firmware Version: Firmware Version 1.1.0
Serial Number: 0270204614
Lens Name: EF-S17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

Image-Specific Properties:

Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand
Horizontal Resolution: 350 dpi
Vertical Resolution: 350 dpi
Image Created: 2010:05:09 13:19:37
Exposure Time: 1/25 sec
F-Number: f/5.6
ISO Speed Rating: 400
Lens Aperture: f/5.7
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash, Compulsory
Focal Length: 35.00 mm
Color Space Information: sRGB
Image Width: 400
Image Height: 267
Rendering: Normal
Exposure Mode: Auto
Scene Capture Type: Standard
Exposure Mode: Av-Priority
Focus Type: Auto
Metering Mode: Evaluative
Sharpness: Unknown
Saturation: Normal
Contrast: Normal
Digital Zoom: Unknown
Shooting Mode: Manual
Image Size: Large
Focus Mode: One-Shot
Drive Mode: Unknown
Flash Mode: Off
Compression Setting: Normal
Macro Mode: Normal
White Balance: Auto
Exposure Compensation: 3
Sensor ISO Speed: 65408
Color Matrix: 129

Other Properties:

Resolution Unit: i
Photographer:
Chrominance Comp Positioning: Centered
Exif IFD Pointer: 272
Compression Scheme: JPEG Compression (Thumbnail)
Horizontal Resolution: 350 dpi
Vertical Resolution: 350 dpi
Resolution Unit: i
Offset to JPEG SOI: 2916
Bytes of JPEG Data: 8622
Exif Version: 2.21
Image Generated: 2010:05:09 13:19:37
Image Digitized: 2010:05:09 13:19:37
Meaning of Each Comp: Unknown
Shutter Speed: 1/25 sec
Focal Plane Horiz Resolution: 5715 dpi
Focal Plane Vert Resolution: 5808 dpi
Focal Plane Res Unit: i
White Balance: Auto
GPS Info Version: 2.2.0.0
Base Zoom Resolution: 0
Zoomed Resolution: 0
ISO Speed Rating: Unknown
Self-Timer Length: 0 sec
Canon Tag1 Length: 94
Subject Distance: Unknown
Flash Bias: 0.00 EV
Sequence Number: 0
Canon Tag4 Length: 66
Image Type: Canon EOS 7D
Image Number: 000-0000
Owner Name:
Actuation Counter: 0
Actuation Multiplier: 0
Canon Tag93 Length: 52
Canon TagA0 Length: 28

I see EC of +3 in the data above? You must not have it set to zero as you think you do.

Is there any way, in Av mode, to have an Exposure Compensation of 3 while the needle
is centered? (I know the needle was centered)

In Av mode, with the aperture set to f/5.6 and the large dial used to set the needle to 0, there is no way I can see why I would over expose like this.. the 1/25 shutter was set by Av. The needle was centered.. I am 100% sure because the only reason I took that shot was to try to figure out why my shots were coming out over exposed. Two minutes earlier, I was shooting in manual, centering the needle, and ending up with similar shots.

Exposure Mode: Av-Priority
ISO equiv: 400
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure Time: 0.040 s (1/25)
Exposure Compensation: 3
Exposure Bias: none
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No

Exposure Bracketing?

evilr00t wrote in post #10150825
Exposure Bracketing?

Excellent thought!! I haven't used that for a while, so I just looked it up. Since the only way to activate bracketing is in the menu, and I haven't been in there for a while, I don't think that is it.

I am also wondering how philwillmedia got a +3 Exposure compensation.. I just checked the EXIF in the raw file using DPP.. Here is the info cut and pasted right out:

File Name IMG_2778.CR2
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.1.0
Shooting Date/Time 5/9/2010 1:19:37 PM
Owner's Name
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/25
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 400
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens EF-S17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Focal Length 35.0mm
Image Size 5184x3456
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode One-Shot AF
AF area select mode Spot AF
Picture Style Standard
Sharpness 3
Contrast 0
Saturation 0
Color tone 0
Color Space sRGB
Long exposure noise reduction 0:Off
High ISO speed noise reduction 0:Standard
Highlight tone priority 0: Disable
Auto Lighting Optimizer 0:Standard
Peripheral illumination correction Enable
File Size 35752KB
Dust Delete Data No
Drive Mode Low-speed continuous shooting
Live View Shooting OFF
AF Microadjustment 5
Date/Time(UTC)
Latitude
Longitude
Altitude
Geographic coordinate system
Camera Body No. 0270204614
Comment

Used the following EXIF Viewer.....
Direct cut and paste of the "Read me" file
I guess it's possible for there to be some errors.

EXIF Viewer
Version 2.7, released 8/28/08
By Ali Ozer, aozer@mac.com
——————————————————————​——————————————————————​—————
EXIF Viewer is a small Mac OS X application to display EXIF information in JPEG and THM (thumbnail) files. I use it to display EXIF info for images from digital cameras; it's not too useful for images from other sources.

To open files, drag and drop them to the application icon, or open them using the open panel in the app. The EXIF data will be displayed, followed a little later by a small version of the image.

The EXIF reading code in EXIF Viewer 2.x comes from Eric M. Johnston's exiftags package. Please see below for the exiftags copyright notice.

EXIF Viewer 2.x does requires Mac OS X version 10.2 or later — you can download version 1.3 of the application if you need to use it on Mac OS X version 10.1.

The application comes with no guarantees, use at your own risk!

If and when the app is upgraded, newer versions might be available at:
http://homepage.mac.co​m/aozer/EV/index.html
——————————————————————​——————————————————————​—————
History
1.0 (1/13/02) First release.
1.1 (1/14/02) Deal with Nikon D1X images.
1.2 (1/22/02) Report actual compression ratio (as JPEG quality tag isn't necessarily correct).
1.3 (1/2/03) Fix problem with Canon flash reporting.
2.0 (9/23/03) Switch from jhead to exiftags for extracting EXIF info. More accurate 35mm equivalent focal length. Text finding functionality (Mac OS X 10.3 and higher only). THM file support. Higher quality images.
2.1 (9/25/03) Rich text output, allowing clearer distinction between tag names and values.
2.2 (3/14/04) Allow open panel to accept upper case extensions ("JPG", "JPEG", "THM"). This was only a problem on 10.2.x and earlier systems.
2.3 (9/28/04) Switch to exiftags version 0.99.1, including support for additional cameras.
2.4 (10/3/05) Switch to exiftags version 1.00, including support for more cameras (and Nikon ISO settings in D70, etc).
2.5 (1/12/06) Universal (PowerPC and Intel) release; no other changes.
2.6 (5/27/07) Better handling of ISO in Canon files
2.7 (8/28/08) Switch to exiftags version 1.01, including a number of bug fixes and support for Canon 5D custom functions
——————————————————————​——————————————————————​—————
Copyright notice for exiftags - Exchangeable image file format (Exif) parser
Copyright (c) 2001-2007, Eric M. Johnston <emj@postal.net>
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display the following acknowledgement: This product includes software developed by Eric M. Johnston.
4. Neither the name of the author nor the names of any co-contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Thanks..
I still can't figure out what valid reason could exists for overexposing a shot like that in Av mode (unless I was shooting at the fastest shutter speed, i.e., Av couldn't go any faster.. clearly not the case).

Av should have pulled my shutter speed back to about 1/125 or 1/250.. I am pretty convinced my meter is bad.

I just checked on my 5D MK II - Exposure Compensation does not show in the light meter (needle in the viewfinder as you called it) - hence the only way to find out is select the exposure compensation and check.

DetlevCM wrote in post #10152743
I just checked on my 5D MK II - Exposure Compensation does not show in the light meter (needle in the viewfinder as you called it) - hence the only way to find out is select the exposure compensation and check.

Are you by any chance thinking of flash exposure compensation?

I took a look at the 5D MK II. The use of Av and the Quick Dial setting of exposure compensation, and its representation in the meter on Pg. 96 looks virtually identical to the 7D on pg 104 of its manual. If I had set exposure compensation to +3, the indicator (needle) should have shown +3.

Wow... Now I feel old. I first learned on cameras with analog light meters that used a swinging needle. And even though the new meters clearly retained (somewhat) the look of the needle as cameras evolved, I laugh at myself for holding onto the old terminology.

I am about 95% sure there is a problem w/ my meter or electronics. I can't think of anyway to get such an over exposed shot using Av on a picture with very flat lighting using the settings I had.

Just prior to that, I had taken some shots of a pond with a large spraying fountain; the water spray was bright white. For that shot, I took my meter reading off of the trees and grass in the background, and choose to over expose based on that by 1/3 stop; the picture looked white! So I adjusted the meter to -1 stop; the result was still over exposed. -2 finally gave a nice exposure, but made me think. That was when I set my Camera to Av and pointed it at kids in the shade; I also switched from spot metering to evaluative before taking the shot above.

Thanks

hairy_moth wrote in post #10153341
Are you by any chance thinking of flash exposure compensation?

I took a look at the 5D MK II. The use of Av and the Quick Dial setting of exposure compensation, and its representation in the meter on Pg. 96 looks virtually identical to the 7D on pg 104 of its manual. If I had set exposure compensation to +3, the indicator (needle) should have shown +3.

Wow... Now feel old. I first learned on cameras with analog light meters that used a swinging needle. And even though the new meters clearly retained (somewhat) the look of the needle as cameras evolved, I laugh at myself for holding onto the old terminology.

I am about 95% sure there is a problem w/ my meter or electronics. I can't think of anyway to get such an over exposed shot using Av on a picture with very flat lighting using the settings I had.

Just prior to that, I had taken some shots of a pond with a large spraying fountain; the water spray was bright white. For that shot, I took my meter reading off of the trees and grass in the background, and choose to over expose based on that by 1/3 stop; the picture looked white! So I adjusted the meter to -1 stop; the result was still over exposed. -2 finally gave a nice exposure, but made me think. That was when I set my Camera to Av and pointed it at kids in the shade; I also switched from spot metering to evaluative before taking the shot above.

Thanks

I think I did... result: looked at the MK II's manual...

And I found something:
(page 96 on the German one)

"if auto lighting optimizer isn't set to 3 'inactive' the image will look bright" (or something like that)

Is your auto lighting optimizer on or off?

Apparently it also links in to the Auto Exposure Bracket - but I don't think that's valid for you.

My auto lighting was set to "standard" which is the 3rd setting of 4. It is interesting that the note on the Av page refers to it as "disable", but I don't think that is one of the options. (I looked at it last night.... I don't have my Camera w/ we now to confirm).

Thanks!

hairy_moth wrote in post #10153391
My auto lighting was set to "standard" which is the 3rd setting of 4. It is interesting that the note on the Av page refers to it as "disable", but I don't think that is one of the options. (I looked at it last night.... I don't have my Camera w/ we now to confirm).

Thanks!

Well, from the manual auto lighting optimizer has to be off - and there must be an off setting - question is which one that is...

DetlevCM wrote in post #10153396
Well, from the manual auto lighting optimizer has to be off - and there must be an off setting - question is which one that is...

I will look at that again when I get home. I just looked at it quickly last night, but it looked to me like "standard" meant "no optimization" or off; I don't think I actually flipped it to see the other settings. But, this is a setting that I have never changed from its default setting of standard. So I don't understand why my results would suddenly become inconsistent.

I cannot believe that all Av shooters have gone in and changed the value of that setting before ever using exposure compensation. But then again, for this shot, my indicator was zeroed; so I don't think it should be an issue either way.