why is my T3 taking white photos in Manual exposure mode?

[ampitup87]

I have a Cannon T3 that I have been using a lot for the past 3 years. I was at a huge event to take photos and my camera stopped working in M, AV, TV, and P modes and would only take white photos. All other modes where working just fine. I am aware of adjusting the ISo and that was on auto. My shutter speed was set to 1/30 to take a nice photo of a moving car. My apeture was at F2.8 to make my subject stand out more. My white balance was on AWB. The image setting was on portrait and the auto lighting optimizer was set to strong. I have never had this happen on any other of my previous shots I have used all the settings I have put down on this post. I checked the lens and made sure it was clear of obstructions and the lens itself was clean. It would take perfect photos on creative auto during this time it was taking white photos on the manual modes. Please help this photographer out. I lost some seriuos money over the weekend 😞

[ampitup87]

P.S. I used a different camera just to see if it was my settings. I used a T4i that my mother in law has and it worked just fine. I just thought to mention that.

[cicopo]

I'm betting you overexposed BIG TIME. When shooting in Manual you use the built in light meter reading to set your shutter speed & aperture. You don't just guess what might work, and f2.8 @1/30 sounds about right in VERY poor light. You are right in thinking a slow shutter speed will give the desired efect of showing movement BUT only if you pan smoothly as you shoot the photo.

[ampitup87]

https://www.facebook.com/AMPITUPPhotographyInc/photos/a.1576927852560692.1073741834.1567668060153338...

I used all the same settings on this photo in the link...I have done it a lot and yes there are room for improvements...I just have never seen this happen on these settings and did everything I could think of to change it. If you are unable to follow the link I figured to add a few photos just in case

[cicopo]

It's not what setting you've used before but what settings fit the current situation. Everything depends on the light at the moment you take the shot. Do you understand how to use the built in light meter? If not read your manual until you do because you MUST rely on it in Manual. Here are 2 shots I took many years ago along with the settings which tell me yours won't work.

ISO is 100. Shutter speed is 1/100, F stop is f10.0

This is at ISO 100, shutter speed 1/60 seconds and the F stop is f18.0 & it's overcast.

Which means there is absolutely no way I could have shot either at 1/30 sec @ f2.8 without a very dark neutral density filter.

[ampitup87]

I was partly cloudy and I did try to adjust the aperture to 4.0 I played with it for a while I am just not sure why it was doing it on so many different settings like M, AV, TV, and P.

this was at a different ISO and i was pretty sure that what it was at 1st but it just didnt want to take anything like this. I was just white several times even after adjustments. Not sure if its because I heavily use the camera and just need to replace it or if I need to update the software or something.

[ampitup87]

by the way sweet photos

[cicopo]

To prove to yourself it's the settings & not the camera go outside tomorrow with the camera set the same way, take a photo, change the f stop to f 4, then f 5.6, then f 8.0, then f 11, f 16 and go as high (nemerically as it goes) & watch the results change. ANY good photo is a balance of the ISO, f stop & shutter speed. 

EDITED to add

OR try the reverse shoot at f 2.8 & keep raising the shutter speed until you get a decent exposure because you may not in good light at 1/30 sec.

[ampitup87]

Thanks. I did try that but I will again tomorrow. Might be a sign to upgrade lol

[ScottyP]

that really does sound like what you say it looks like; major overexposure. The wide open f/2.8 and the slow 1/30th shutter sound like the correct exposure inside a dim restaurant, not outside in the daytime.

Manual will let you overexpose, but Av would have set you a fast shutter to counterbalance the wide f/2.8 aperture. Or TV would stopped down the aperture to work with that slow shutter.

What shutter did the camera select when you were in Av mode at f/2.8? In my experience that would have the camera giving you a shutter speed more like 1/640th or faster, even with clouds, definitely not 1/30th.

Could you possibly have about 2 or 3 stops of positive exposure compensation dialed in?

If the camera is still doing it next time look at your EC and make sure it is zeroed, try it in Av or TV instead of manual and if you still have problems try resetting your settings to default in Menu.

B/t/w, is the super slow shutter intentional? Are you panning, trying to get a lot of motion blur on wheels and background?