topic Re: EOS R6 Mark II light meter disappears when shooting on fixed ISO in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS R6 Mark II light meter disappears when shooting on fixed ISO

ImLMHK — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:12:32 GMT

Hello. I'm having a problem with my R5 II that I hope you all can help me with. I normally shoot on manual with Auto ISO. When I do that, my light meter can be seen on the bottom of the screen. See Pic1. But when I change from Auto ISO to a fixed ISO, the light meter disappears from the bottom of the screen. See Pic2. I’ve changed the VF vertical display (found under Shooting display info under the 9^th (last) tab of the Shooting (red) menu) to Yes and No and back again. Repeatedly. It doesn’t help. The only thing that I’ve found that makes the light meter reappear at the bottom of the screen is to switch the ISO back to Auto. But that's not always the setting I want to use. Can anyone tell me how to make the light meter stay on the bottom of the screen regardless of my ISO setting? Thank you in advance. Mary

The light meter is visible at the bottom of the screen when shooting on Auto ISOThe light meter is no longer visible at the bottom of the screen when shooting on fixed ISO

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

March411 — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 18:48:00 GMT

The scale you reference is exposure compensation and it is explained in great detail here: Exposure Compensation

There are several links in the link which will give you the information on Ex Comp for each mode. The Canon Knowledge Base for each camera offers an incredible amount of information.

From the knowledge base: Exposure compensation can brighten (increased exposure) or darken (decreased exposure) the standard exposure set by the camera. Exposure compensation is available in Fv, P, Tv, Av, and M modes. For details on exposure compensation when M mode and ISO Auto are both set, see M: Manual Exposure, and see Fv: Flexible-Priority AE for Fv mode.

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

ImLMHK — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:21:56 GMT

Hi Marc,

Thanks for the response!

I know all about exposure compensation and I use it frequently. I am actually a very experienced photographer. I've been using an r6 and an r6 II for years and DSLRs and film cameras before that. I just decided to upgrade to the R5 II. And my r6's show the gauge regardless of my ISO setting.

Whatever you call. it, that gauge is an indication of exposure. It is a light meter. It shows the exposure of the scene in the viewfinder. And without it, how am I supposed to determine how the lighting of the scene can be judged against what a light meter would consider neutral exposure? Yes, I can use the smaller light meter that shows vertically on on the screen, but that is so much smaller that it's just not that useful. And, yes, I could use the histogram but that is much more subjective.

So are you saying that the R5 II won't show that gauge on the horizontal unless I want to forever shoot on Auto ISO?

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

Jkarl — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:53:08 GMT

You need to have at one of your 3 exposure methods on auto for the compensation to work and your screen shot on the second photo shows full manual.

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

March411 — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:58:13 GMT

I'll go with light meter because I also use it to assist in setting exposure when using auto ISO.

I believe the reason it disappears when using manual ISO is because the camera doesn’t have any automated settings to calculate an exposure compensation value. When I shoot with this method I depend on ExpSim through the viewfinder.

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

kvbarkley — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:55:16 GMT

You have fixed Shutter speed, aperture and ISO. What can the camera adjust to get you the requested exposure compensation? I believe the exposure meter is on the right.

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

stevet1 — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 21:32:18 GMT

Mary,

Try pushing your Info button a couple times and see if it shows up.

Other than that, it may have something to with your metering timer. I have a T8i, and it might behave differently than yours, but if I half-press my shutter button, the light metering scale shows up, but only stays on for about six seconds and then it disappears, but that behavior occurs whether I am in Auto ISO or a fixed ISO.

Steve Thomas

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

Jkarl — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:06:35 GMT

If you look on the right side of the your photos you will find the exposure scale to be used when all settings are set as manual. This position can be modified.

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

jrhoffman75 — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:58:28 GMT

@ImLMHK wrote:

Hi Marc,

Thanks for the response!

I know all about exposure compensation and I use it frequently. I am actually a very experienced photographer. I've been using an r6 and an r6 II for years and DSLRs and film cameras before that. I just decided to upgrade to the R5 II. And my r6's show the gauge regardless of my ISO setting.

Whatever you call. it, that gauge is an indication of exposure. It is a light meter. It shows the exposure of the scene in the viewfinder. And without it, how am I supposed to determine how the lighting of the scene can be judged against what a light meter would consider neutral exposure? Yes, I can use the smaller light meter that shows vertically on on the screen, but that is so much smaller that it's just not that useful. And, yes, I could use the histogram but that is much more subjective.

So are you saying that the R5 II won't show that gauge on the horizontal unless I want to forever shoot on Auto ISO?

Are you sure your R6 showed the exposure scale on the right side of the viewfinder. I only have the bottom scale with my R6 Mark III.

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

Jkarl — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:55:56 GMT

John

I have the R6Mii and the exposure display is on the bottom. With the R5Mii it is by default on the right of the screen with a vertical orientation. I think that OP is used to seeing it in the bottom and it does look strange in the vertical mode.

Re: R6 Mark II light meter when shooting on fixed ISO

jrhoffman75 — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:18:09 GMT

My 1D DSLRs also had the right side vertical display.
The R5 has a higher resolution EVF so that may affect the ability to have the vertical display. Maintain familiarity with pro-level DSLRs.

I misread the original post.

Re: EOS R6 Mark II light meter disappears when shooting on fixed ISO

ebiggs1 — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:06:16 GMT

The light meter which measures the brightness of the scene is different than the exposure compensation meter which is a manual override setting indicator. The two are not the same and not interchangeable. They have different functions.

Re: EOS R6 Mark II light meter disappears when shooting on fixed ISO

kvbarkley — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 16:20:47 GMT

On some cameras, like my Rebel T6S, the same display fulfills both functions.

Re: EOS R6 Mark II light meter disappears when shooting on fixed ISO

jrhoffman75 — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:08:27 GMT

@kvbarkley wrote:

On some cameras, like my Rebel T6S, the same display fulfills both functions.

Same as for the R6. Higher spec DSLRs (5D and 1D series) had two displays.