AE Lock Canon 5D Mark ll

[Dirtsmith]

I have set up my 5D mark ll so the the AF back button does the focusing and the shutter button the metering. To get AE lock I either press the shutter button or the '*' button, but in both cases I have to hold in order for the meter reading to remain locked. Is there a way to lock the meter reading and not have to hold the button down and being able to canel it when you want to?

[ebiggs1]

Canon 7D w/grip, Canon 5D Mk II w/grip, 10-22 EF-S F3.5-4.5, 17-40mm F4 L, 24-105 F4 L, 70-200mm F/2.8L IS II, 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 L Canon zoom lens. 35mm F2, 50mm F1.4, 100mm F2.8 Macro Canon prime lens, Sigma 50-150mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM.
Photoshop CS6, Adobe RAW 7.3, Canon Pixma Pro 9000 Mk II, HP Photo Smart.All EOS camera models have a button on the back of the camera that’s marked with an asterisk or star icon. This is the AE Lock button. Pressing it when you’re in any “creative zone” auto exposure mode "P, Av, Tv" will immediately lock exposure in-place, and you’ll get an asterisk icon in the viewfinder.

Aim the camera at the part of the subject or scene that’s most important for you to meter accurately. Press the shutter button half-way. Then press the rear AE Lock button. An asterisk will appear in the finder, so you know exposure won’t shift as you move the camera to re-compose the shot. You do need to keep pressing the shutter button half-way to keep the meter locked  if you pull your finger totally off the shutter button, the camera will turn the meter off in about 4 to 6 seconds.

[Dirtsmith]

Thanks for that. Yes, that happens just as you describe, but only when the shutter button does both the focusing and the metering, but I have separated the two functions so that the AF-On buitton does the focusing and the shutter button the metering. The AE-Lock now only works so long as I have the shutter button pressed halfway down or the asterisk button pressed down. I haven't discovered a setting that will give me the same AE-Lock function as before while I have the two functions separated. Regardless, it is a pity that the AE-Lock does not keep its setting longer than 5-6 seconds which I understand the Mark lll model does. Is there a setting I need to change that will give me the 5-6 second AE-Lock hold while at the same time having the focusing and metering functions separated as I have at the moment???

[ebiggs1]

" Is there a setting I need to change that will give me the 5-6 second"

Not anywhere I know of.