topic Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

simcoxjohn — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 17:51:05 GMT

Hello

Mine is all set to auto, but when shotting inside in a light box forproduct photography, everything is grey, even when very brightly lit

any ideas? thank you !!

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

Danny — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 17:51:40 GMT

Thanks for letting us know what Canon product you've got. The EOS Rebel T6i is an older model which we have retired. While that means that Canon USA no longer offers direct support for it, your friends here in the Canon Community are welcome to offer suggestions!

You can also speak with a Canon Upgrade Program specialist to help you score a modern replacement that would meet your current needs at a discount. You can reach them weekdays and Saturdays at 1-866-443-8002.

Hope this helps!

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 19:49:03 GMT

If white objects are coming out grey, you will have to increase exposure compensation in the camera settings. The camera tries to make everything expose to grey, which works for many objects, but not bright, white objects. Are you using evaluative metering in the camera settings?

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

simcoxjohn — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 22:09:02 GMT

The T6 is a piece of crap, prove me wrong....

EVERY image comes out grey when set to auto with product in a light box, and EVERY video comes out with a dark background

this cannot be edited, it is too dark, my POS apple phone takes better video and photos!

wtf???

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

Waddizzle — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 22:22:12 GMT

The reason for the grey tones, instead of white, goes to the basics of how a camera works. As suggested above, the camera will try to shift everything towards grey. The reasons for this are long and a little complicated. I’m not sure if exposure compensation will do the trick because the camera will still try to compensate towards grey. A bracketed exposure might help a little, but it is not the solution.

https://youtu.be/P6Z8f3PcZxg

You are probably going to need to do some image editing to the look that you want. I did a search on YouTube for “product photography white background”. This the first “hit”.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

simcoxjohn — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 23:23:27 GMT

no idea what that means or how to change it.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Jun 2023 00:14:49 GMT

Look up "Exposure Compensation" in the manual, it is covered there. It is accessible in the Q menu. Setting it on the plus side will increase the exposure, which is what you need according to your description of your problem. I would try the Program Mode (P) to start. Spend some time in the manual learning to use your camera. Auto mode is not going to work in your situation, and you won't have access to EC in auto.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

deebatman316 — Sun, 11 Jun 2023 02:07:57 GMT

Your camera will try to shift every thing to gray. That's how your camera "sees" everything. With bright white or reflective objects the camera will underexpose the picture. This is because your camera believes that it's too bright. But this isn't the case at all. Full Auto has limits and can be fooled like how you describe. I suggest that you learn the exposure triangle. This will help you understand the relationship between settings. Canon also provides an electronic copy of the manual free of charge. As @5DIV said you will need to move out of Full Auto mode to add exposure compensation. Or you may need to use a bracketed exposure like what @waddizzle suggested. A bracketed shot is where you take 3 pictures. At different exposures and combine them together to get a properly exposed shot. We don't know what you're trying to accomplish without pictures. Sometimes Exposure Compensation works. Other times you will need to do exposure bracketing. We can't tell fully tell you what to do without pictures. Please post pictures of the problem you have.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

simcoxjohn — Sun, 11 Jun 2023 20:30:55 GMT

thanks a lot, I expected a point and click experience on simple shhots like product shots in a white light box....I am gonna sell this garbage and get a Nikon. I have the bag, extra lens (close up), charger, lens cover etc. thanks

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Jun 2023 20:44:42 GMT

A Nikon DLSR will be the same. You need to learn how to use the camera. These are not point and shoot cameras.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

deebatman316 — Sun, 11 Jun 2023 20:46:19 GMT

Going with Nikon won't solve your problem either. I shoot both with Nikon and Canon DSLRs. When your dealing with product shots. Auto Mode will NOT help you the camera will underexpose. All cameras are adverse to blown highlights. To avoid blown highlights the camera will underexpose. If your dealing with bright white or reflective items. You'll need to use exposure compensation or you'll have to use manual mode. For your shooting circumstances "point & shoot" won't work well. The pictures will always be underexposed. No camera in Full Auto can compensate for this. I've used Sony & Pentax too they all fail with that type of environment your shooting in.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

amfoto1 — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 05:22:43 GMT

Cameras are just machines that need input from their users.

When set to an auto exposure mode the camera relies upon the built-in metering system to determine exposure settings.

All built-in metering systems have to "assume" the world is "average tonality". This is often referred to as "18% gray". And it often works out pretty well because the typical subject or scene will have a wide range of tonalities that average out nicely.

But when you put an automated camera into a situation where tonalities are unusually bright or unusual dark, it is fooled into making incorrect exposures. This is where the user needs to override the automation and adjust things a little to get the exposure they want.

When a scene is dominated by very light tonalities, auto exposure will tend to underexpose and the user needs to increase exposure to make it correct. When a scene is dominated by very dark tonalities auto exposure will want to over expose, so the user needs to reduce exposure.

This happens with ALL cameras. Better cameras provide a method for the user to easily make these corrections to auto exposure. This is usually called "Exposure Compensation". I don't have a T6i, but I'm sure it has means of making these adjustments. Another response suggested using the Q button, which gives "quick" access to many of the camera's controls, including Exposure Compensation. But, before you can adjust it be aware that you cannot use Exposure Compensation in the camera's most highly automated modes... the scene modes (like "sports" or "landscape") or in the Auto+ mode (the "green box", which also prevents you from using some other features of the camera... it's basically a "point n shoot" mode, for folks accustomed to using their phones to take photos).

For the most automation with Exposure Compensation you might use the "P" or "Program" mode. In this you select the ISO and the camera sets both the lens aperture and the shutter speed. If you are using flash, the shutter speed will be limited to 1/200, so you may need to adjust the ISO accordingly. Exposure Compensation also works on Av (aperture priority), Tv (shutter priority) and M+ ISO Auto modes. These are all auto exposure modes... hence the Exposure Compensation to be able to override them. Exposure Compensation does not work in M (fully manual, no ISO Auto) exposure mode. If you think about it this makes sense, since there's no automation to override

Take a test shot after your set up without making any adjustment to Exposure Compensation. Then press the Q button and look for the Exposure Compensation scale on the camera's rear monitor screen. Move the indicator to the right 1 full stop and take another test shot. Repeat the process and move the indicator to the right an additional stop, for 2 stops of added exposure, then take another test shot. Now check out the images and see which you like or if you need to add more or fine tune the settings. There are 1/3 stops in between the full stops, which you can use if you wish to make more precise adjustment.

There are more details about using Exposure Compensation beginning on page 159 of you user manual. (If needed, the manual can be downloaded from the Canon USA website, in the support are for the T6i.)

Another "tool" your digital camera provides is a "histogram". This is a chart showing the tonalities in an image. The left side is the darkest tones, while the right side is the lightest. In most cases you don't want the histogram to be "piled up" against either the right or the left side. Ideally it will just barely reach both, but it's okay if it falls a little short of reaching one or the other side.

You don't need to use the histogram if you don't want to. You can tell much the same by viewing the images on your computer monitor. But learning to use the histogram on the camera allows you to better check your exposures in the field, so you can retake the shot, if needed.

Another thing you might find useful is Exposure Bracketing. Here you set up the camera to take a series of shots with some compensation you have pre-planned. For example, in a situation like yours where the unusually bright scene is causing under exposure, you can set the camera to take the first shot with no adjustment, a 2nd shot with one stop of + exposure and a third shot with two stops of + exposure. You aren't limited to full stops... can use +2/3 and +1-1/3 stop, if that gives sufficient increase to correct the under exposure. Later when reviewing your images, instead of just one per set up you will have a series and can choose the best exposure. The problem with this is it will fill up your memory cards and computer disks a lot faster, plus it takes time to prepare the camera for each series when there's a big difference. Oh, and don't forget to cancel it after each use, or you'll end up bracketing all your shots when it's not wanted.

People often use bracketing when they simply aren't sure and will set it to make one under, one unadjusted and one overexposure. In a case like yours where you know that underexposure is the problem you can combine bracketing with Exposure compensation and make the additional shots all over exposure, each with additional increment of increase. It can be 0, +1 and +2.... or it could be 0, +2/3 and +1 and 2/3. If you have the camera set to single shot you'll need to press the shutter release three times to take the bracketing shots. If you have the camera set to continuous shooting mode, you only need to press the shutter release once. The camera will automatically stop making exposures after the third is taken.

There's additional info about Bracketing on page 160 of the user manual.

I imagine this all sounds complicated, but it becomes easy once you learn to do it.

I hope this helps!

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2), EOS M5, some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

Tronhard — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 08:38:33 GMT

Beautifully put and exhaustively covered Alan. Completely agree with your explanation.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

ebiggs1 — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 15:10:06 GMT

"The T6 is a piece of crap, prove me wrong...." ... ".I am gonna sell this garbage and get a Nikon."

You actually think a guy that has the OP's attitude reads the manual or will read your protracted reply?

"I have the bag, extra lens (close up), charger, lens cover etc. thanks"

Obliviously one of those worthless Amazon grab bag camera packages.

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Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

ebiggs1 — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 15:13:18 GMT

"... this cannot be edited, it is too dark, ..."

I bet it can especially if the file is in raw format and not jpg. Oh wait that would require some reading and learning photography.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

normadel — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 19:25:36 GMT

Let's hope the OP keeps us apprised of how much better his Nikon does 😊.

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

normadel — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 19:28:40 GMT

If you want a point & click experience, get a point & shoot (click) camera.

Did you jump from a bike as a child right into a car and know how to operate it?

Re: EOS Rebel T6i Producing Grey Photos in Brightly-Lit Light Box

kvbarkley — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 19:36:19 GMT

I think it was Ken Rockwell that said if a Nikon sees something "whiter than white" it assumes that it is snow/sand and adjusts exposure accordingly.