7D Exposure Disappointment

Have been using my new 7D for a month now and have been disappointed with the performance of the new 63 zone metering, I seem to get blown highlights quite often especially in high contrast lighting conditions I was expecting the exposures to be spot on with this new metering system, has any one else experienced this problem with the 7D?

What mode are you shooting in?

been using aperture priority most of the time,

Metering Mode?

Sorry, Evaluative Metering Mode

Not Program Mode... Metering Mode.

Spot Metering, Evaluative Metering, Partial Metering, Center-Weight Average Metering?

Part of being a photographer is interpreting what is being metered and adjusting for the bias in a particular scene. The camera, even one as advanced as the 7D, cant decide your priorities in high contrast scenes. The camera is still trying to make things balance to a nice 18% gray, doesnt work well in a black and white scene.

gonzogolf i agree with your comments, but i get more reliable exposures from my 5D mk1.

It might be helpful if you could post the same scene shot with both cameras (preferably using the same lens) under identical conditions with the same focus point. That way people might be able to help diagnose why one camera is metering differently from the other, and what you might be able to do about it.

quadphoto wrote in post #10943974
gonzogolf i agree with your comments, but i get more reliable exposures from my 5D mk1.

There is an argument out there that the 5D1 has more dynamic range than even the newer crop cameras. So that may be coming to play to some degree. Sorry if I came off as condescending, its just that there were echoes of a common complaint amongst new users.

stsva dont have any same scene shots with both camera's at the moment, but will shoot a few in the morning.

The 7D certainly meters differently than other cameras; or at least differently from my 40D. Most scenes on my 40D require around +1 EC to be properly exposed, but on the 7D if I meter that way and make that assumption, I'll totally blow it. 7D, for me, is just about right on at dead center, with +/-1/3 or so EC in some strongly lit or contrast situations.

Is it just that sort of difference between the systems or are you seeing something that's you feel is truly wrong?

Also, are you comparing the same metering mode between both cameras?

To follow up on what Snydremark said, make sure you do your comparison images with as close to identical settings for both cameras as you can get. In particular, make sure you're using the same metering mode.

Try center-weighted average, then. The iFCL metering is a bit different in how it handles the relation between AF and light metering, but that's neutralized if you use center-weighted.

Snydremark, yes i am comparing the same metering mode between both cameras, and will shoot some comparisons, and i may be unjustifiably complaining about the new metering system on the 7D and need to some thorough tests with the exposure system.