topic Canon 6D Underexposed Images in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Canon 6D Underexposed Images

catz — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 12:49:02 GMT

Canon 6D

24 - 105mm f/4L IS USM

Raw

All of my photos are coming out dark and underexposed. I'm using the light meter inside the view finder after pressing the shutter button half way. It'a always to the left in the negative. I adjust to Zero but the settings seem ridiculous.

Is my camera damaged? I just bought it three weeks ago so perhaps something is wrong with my body.

I'm getting better images when using Creative Auto than in Manual with same settings.

My T5I is getting better images than the new 6D.

Something feels wrong

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

cicopo — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 12:57:41 GMT

We'll need a better explanation of how you are shooting. Mode, conditions etc.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

jrhoffman75 — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 13:37:04 GMT

Agree on needing more info. Can you post a shot with EXIF data so we can see the settings?

Try resetting all camera function to factory default. Its a menu option.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

ScottyP — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 16:08:54 GMT

For what reason are you shooting Manual? Do you use Tv and Av mode and if so do they work? It seems unusual to exclusively use 2 settings as different as full Manual and then Creative Auto.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

Bryston3bsst — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 20:15:10 GMT

I always shoot manual with my 6D too and have found it takes some getting used to to get the exposure right under certain conditions. I have heard the same thing from other 6D owners as well.

You mention the meter is to the left so you adjust it to center and the "settings seem ridiculous". What does that mean? Are you using center point focus or all?

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

ebiggs1 — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 16:09:46 GMT

"I'm getting better images when using Creative Auto than in Manual with same settings.

My T5I is getting better images than the new 6D.

Something feels wrong"

It is! You don't have the proper exposure set. Also make sure you didn't dial in any exposure comp. Reset the camera to factory defaults and go at it again. Remember you must set the aperture, shutter and ISO and have exposure comp set to 0.

This is manual mode.

BTW, the focus points have nothing to do with this.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

Bryston3bsst — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 21:34:50 GMT

BTW, the focus points have nothing to do with this.

================================================================================================

Duh! Of course they don't. I was thinking center weighted or evaluative.........no idea why I wrote focus points.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

TCampbell — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 21:49:21 GMT

When you shoot using Manual mode the camera will meter using it's internal "reflected" light meter and it will offer advice on the exposure but it will not change exposure settings for you.

This means that, depending on your metering mode and subject, you'll point the camera at the subject, half-press the shutter, and take a meter reading. The scale at the bottom of the viewfinder window. It is marked with a -3..2..1..0..1..2..3+ with a "-" side and "+" side. There's an arrow indicating what the camera thinks of your exposure. For example if the arrow is under the "-1" side, then it means the meter believes you are underexposed by 1 stop. You can either adjust the aperture, or the shutter speed, or the ISO until the meter is indicating the "0" position ... that's where the camera thinks you'll need to be to get a correct exposure.

But these meters are just tools and they can be fooled (and it's not a defect.)

In "Evaluative" mode, the camera analyzes the the light in several "zones" all around the frame and tries to indentify the best exposure based on those zones.

In "Center weighted" it works exactly as "Evaluative" (all zones are metered) but it gives much stronger "weight" to the meter readings from the zones near the center of the frame and much less weight to the zones outside the center area.

In "Spot" metering mode the camera meters only in an area near the center AF point (it does not follow your selected focus point ... it uses the center point regardless of your selection.) No other points are considered. This means if your camera was in "spot" mode and you metered a bright object at the center of the frame, the camera would like underexpose your shot because the bright object makes the camera believe it needs to reduce light intake and since the camera isn't allowed to factor in any other zone, the camera will not realize that the images is underexposed in other zones.

Bright or mostly "white" subjects will fool a reflected light meter into underexposing the shot. This is because the meter is designed to anticipate an average level of reflectivity (I think it's about 12% for your camera) but some objects will reflect considerably more light back to the camera's light meter than other objects (white reflects quite a bit... black doesn't reflect much). The camera doesn't "know" what it's metering... it only knows how much light is being reflected back.

In situations where you really want more accurate exposure, you would visually look for the brightest area in your composed frame and also the darkest area in your composed frame and you would use "spot" metering to manual meter both points... and then use the exposure halfway between those two metered points (there are hand-held light meters that do this automatically.) A portrait photographer using a hand-held "incident" light meter doesn't just meter the subject's face... they meter the "shadow" side of the face and the "highlight" side of the face and use both readings to find an exposure that captures the range needed.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

catz — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 02:37:50 GMT

Meaning my ISO is at 400 or above no matter what and it's driving me crazy. I should be able to shoot some things at 100 but it's always dark. The only way the light meter stays in the center with 100 ISO is if I bring my Shutter down to 30 or 40. I'm trying to shoot animals and I need my shutter at like 200 or above. I'm hating this camera.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

catz — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 02:32:50 GMT

I was not using center focus. I was using Multi point.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

Waddizzle — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 10:43:42 GMT

@catz wrote:
Meaning my ISO is at 400 or above no matter what and it's driving me crazy. I should be able to shoot some things at 100 but it's always dark. The only way the light meter stays in the center with 100 ISO is if I bring my Shutter down to 30 or 40. I'm trying to shoot animals and I need my shutter at like 200 or above. I'm hating this camera.

That's easy to fix. Raise your ISO. Don't shoot at 100. Shoot in Tv mode, dial in a shutter speed, and let the camera figure out the ISO automatically for each photo.

BTW, where is your F/STOP during all of this? I would think a setting between f/4 and f/8 should be adequate, for either stationary animals of moderate size, or even if they are moving not too quickly.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

TTMartin — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 14:18:42 GMT

@catz wrote:
Canon 6D
24 - 105mm f/4L IS USM
Raw

All of my photos are coming out dark and underexposed. I'm using the light meter inside the view finder after pressing the shutter button half way. It'a always to the left in the negative. I adjust to Zero but the settings seem ridiculous.

Is my camera damaged? I just bought it three weeks ago so perhaps something is wrong with my body.

I'm getting better images when using Creative Auto than in Manual with same settings.
My T5I is getting better images than the new 6D.

Something feels wrong

What you seems 'ridiculous' is most likely the correct exposure.

Why do you think they are 'ridiculous'?

Take a shot in green square mode and see what the results and settings are.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

TTMartin — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 14:38:44 GMT

@catz wrote:
Meaning my ISO is at 400 or above no matter what and it's driving me crazy. I should be able to shoot some things at 100 but it's always dark. The only way the light meter stays in the center with 100 ISO is if I bring my Shutter down to 30 or 40. I'm trying to shoot animals and I need my shutter at like 200 or above. I'm hating this camera.

No reason to 'hate' the camera.

The camera isn't creating the lighting and required exposure.

Getting a different camera isn't going to change the lighting and the required exposure.

The amount of light you have determines the ISO, shutter speed and aperture required for a given exposure not the camera.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

Bryston3bsst — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 14:56:26 GMT

Catz: You mentioned that you're using center point focus. What focus points you're using have nothing to do with exposure and it was my mistake asking you this. As I said I was thinking of center weighted metering and I wrote center point focus. So, I'm sorry for adding more confusion.

I can tell you though, I came from a 600D (T3i) to the 6D and I have found the same underexposure concerns that you are having. From talking to other 6D owners this is not uncommon and the camera does take some getting used to, especially in this regard. I simply started using the 6D as I was using my 600D and I discovered you cannot do that. It takes much different technique especially when shooting in manual.

I don't know what kind of light you're shooting in but you say you have to be at ISO 400 much of the time. So......be at 400 if that's what it takes to keep your shutter speed where it needs to be for the situation. Heck, I was indoors shooting where no flash was allowed and I was at 12500. That's one of the great things about this camera. You do that without compromising the picture.

As others have requested, I'd like to see some of your pictures that you think you're having problems with. You're also not the first person I've heard say that they hate this camera.

It's not a T5i. You can't shoot it like one and expect good results.

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

TCampbell — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 19:37:14 GMT

@catz wrote:
Meaning my ISO is at 400 or above no matter what and it's driving me crazy. I should be able to shoot some things at 100 but it's always dark. The only way the light meter stays in the center with 100 ISO is if I bring my Shutter down to 30 or 40. I'm trying to shoot animals and I need my shutter at like 200 or above. I'm hating this camera.

Exposure is a combination of ISO, Aperture value (aka f-stop), and Time value (aka shutter speed).

You can certainly shoot at ISO 100 when in brightly lit situations (such as outdoors on a sunny day.) In dimmer lighting, you'll need to boost the ISO to avoid long exposure times (especially if you want a higher f-stop for broad depth of field.)

There isn't any issue with the 6D in general (there are a lot of happy 6D owners out there and I don't hear about this issue from other owners) and given that your camera seems to do ok if in other modes, I'm wondering if you might be confused by some aspect of manual exposure.

If you are struggling with aspects of manual exposure then you might want to pick up a book such as Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure".

You can also always post a photo and we can check the camera settings -- but make sure you include the EXIF data which is normally embedded into the image by the camera. Some software strips that data out (or at least has an option to include/remove the info.)

Re: Canon 6D Underexposed Images

ebiggs1 — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 20:59:00 GMT

"I'm hating this camera."

Exposure is exposure. It doesn't change or switch camera to camera. It is a constant. f4 @ 1/125, ISO 100 is exactly the same amount of exposure no mantter what camera you have.

Like Tim Campbell, I have not heard of any complaints about the 6D exposure wise. I have other issues with it but exposure is not one of them.

Posibly a sample with exif attached would clear up some stuff. Can you offer one?