topic Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

tomasese — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:56:17 GMT

I do residential photography for real estate. I shoot brackets of 5. Whenever I have a bright window that has to be in the center of the shot the light metering only seems to recognize the center. It doesn't matter how it is set, I get the same result. I can see out the window but nothing in the room I'm shooting. Anyone that can shed some light on this would be greatly appreciated.

Re: R5 Mark 2 Light Metering

deebatman316 — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 00:28:20 GMT

The light from the window is fooling the camera's light meter. If the light is bright it will cause the camera to underexpose the shot. Your camera's light meter sees stuff in gray and will always try to expose for this. So if the light is very bright the resulting picture will be dark. To prevent this from happening you will have to shoot in manual mode and overexpose the shot. Or you could you use one of the Semi Automatic Modes such as Av Mode and add exposure compensation. What mode are you shooting in if the ISO is set to Auto then the light meter will always be in the center. It will only move if you set exposure compensation.

Re: R5 Mark 2 Light Metering

kvbarkley — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 01:22:52 GMT

What metering mode are you set to?

Re: R5 Mark 2 Light Metering

tomasese — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:25:34 GMT

C3 AV mode all shots taken at F8 and ISO 400. 5 shots the center at -2/3 then -2 2/3 and so on for both + and -. Evaluative metering but that doesn't matter I can change that and it's the same result in all metering modes.

Re: R5 Mark 2 Light Metering

tomasese — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:26:19 GMT

It doesn't matter, I get the same result with all of them.

Re: R5 Mark 2 Light Metering

tomasese — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:27:45 GMT

I might also mention that this didn't happen with my 5D Mk 4

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

Waddizzle — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 14:02:38 GMT

“ Evaluative metering but that doesn't matter I can change that and it's the same result in all metering modes. “

I, too, wanted to know what metering mode and shooting mode that you were using. It makes a difference, depending upon what AF mode you are using and where in the frame the locked AF point is located when the shutter is fired,

Your R5ii behaves in the same way as the 5D4. The primary difference is the number of AF points. And, I don’t want to discuss the 5D4 any further. It’s off topic.

If you are capturing brackets from a tripod, is the lens still in AF mode? If so, have you checked to see where your active and locked AF point is located?

If the AF system is not active when the shutter fires, then the camera, and DPP4, will not display the AF point, and it will meter the scene from the center.

If you set the entire exposure manually with the lens prefocused and set to MF, then you would not be experiencing exposure issues. I believe the camera will vary shutter speed for the exposure brackets.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

tomasese — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 14:33:47 GMT

It's set to Expand AF area: Around. If I move it to outside the bright area it doesn't change anything. Yes it's on a tripod. Setting entire exposures manually isn't feasible. It does vary the shutter speeds, just not enough.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

Waddizzle — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:23:41 GMT

“ It's set to Expand AF area: Around. If I move it to outside the bright area it doesn't change anything. Yes it's on a tripod. Setting entire exposures manually isn't feasible. It does vary the shutter speeds, just not enough. “

How are you making the determination that the camera is metering at the center?

I already explained why it meters from the center. Have you checked to see where your locked AF point is located, if any? This should be the first thing to check. What did the camera actually do?

Depending on Metering Mode, AF Mode, AF System State (active or inactive), and the location of an active and locked AF point, it one was captured, the camera will meter a scene in different ways.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

Waddizzle — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 18:55:22 GMT

” C3 AV mode all shots taken at F8 and ISO 400. 5 shots the center at -2/3 then -2 2/3 and so on for both + and -. Evaluative metering but that doesn't matter I can change that and it's the same result in all metering modes. “

I do not understand your comment about not having enough range. Are you trying to adjust for 2Ev between shots and have the camera create the final image?

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

tomasese — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 20:23:48 GMT

No, What I am saying is that if I have my center focus point on a darker area of a room the picture is fine. If I change and center over a bright window all 5 are underexposed even if I move the focus point to the edge of the frame where it is darker. This happens in all metering modes. I use 3rd party software to merge them, It's not the software.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

kvbarkley — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 20:39:11 GMT

Do the exposures for all the shots vary by the amount you expect?

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

Waddizzle — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 20:43:28 GMT

You seem to not understand the questions. Or you are ignoring them.

Those displays don’t tell you where your locked AF point was located when the shutter fired. Only a captured photo can tell you that. The camera can show it to you, as well as the DPP4 app. It is also recorded in the EXIF metadata.

Can post a single RAW photo to public file sharing web site? We need to see EXIF data.

Again, if you don’t have an active and locked AF point when the shutter fired, then the camera will default to metering from the center of the field of view. If not there, then where?

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

Waddizzle — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 20:51:39 GMT

“ No, What I am saying is that if I have my center focus point on a darker area of a room the picture is fine. If I change and center over a bright window all 5 are underexposed even if I move the focus point to the edge of the frame where it is darker. This happens in all metering modes. I use 3rd party software to merge them, It's not the software. “

This sounds like it could be normal camera behavior, to me. I can’t see what you’re seeing. Please post sample RAW files that illustrate what you just described.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

Waddizzle — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 10:06:01 GMT

“ Do the exposures for all the shots vary by the amount you expect? “

I would expect that they would, ranging from way under to way over exposed. He has said that he cannot set the camera to achieve the range he wants. And then posts an image showing the setting is possible.

I am done here. No answers to basic questions. I think the camera is behaving as it should, anyway.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

stevet1 — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 15:15:28 GMT

Could it have something to do with using the Expand area focus instead of Single Point focusing method?

Steve Thomas

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

kvbarkley — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 19:36:57 GMT

My thinking is that it is exposing on the over exposure which is blown out. Even dropping a stop or two still blows out the highlight.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

Waddizzle — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 20:14:45 GMT

I think he wants to meter here but focus over there, or vice versa. In other words, he needs to either lock exposure, or focus, or set it manually.

Almost every metering mode meters from the center, except for Evaluative. But, Evaluative requires an active and locked AF point when the shutter fires.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

tomasese — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 10:36:41 GMT

I think I just need to adjust the stops on some shots. I'm getting used to this yet I guess. As with the view finder or screen that goes dark when I have a bridge spot in the center, even though I have the brightness set manually. This is a great camera but it does behave differently from the 5D4.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II Light Metering Only Recognizes Center of Image

untensan — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 10:30:38 GMT

Have you tried pointing the camera to the area that you want properly exposed, push on the shutter release half way to focus and set the exposure, then composing and pushing the shutter release the rest of the way?