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

ampitup87
Contributor

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 😞

15 REPLIES 15

ampitup87
Contributor

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.

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.

"A skill is developed through constant practice with a passion to improve, not bought."

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 case11052475_1577560209164123_6866058506282406546_o.jpg

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

 

INGR28491 copy.jpg

 

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

 

INGR2831 copy.jpg

 

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.

"A skill is developed through constant practice with a passion to improve, not bought."

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. 11088872_1577560205830790_1294450014276267288_o.jpg

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.

by the way sweet photos

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.

"A skill is developed through constant practice with a passion to improve, not bought."

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


@ampitup87 wrote:

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 case11052475_1577560209164123_6866058506282406546_o.jpg


This shot was obciously done very late in the day.... If you use the same exposure settings (not to be confused with white balance settings) in broader, brighter daylight, you are going to get very over-exposed images.

 

I would suggest you get a copy of Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" ($18 on Amazon, last time I looked). Read it, study it, learn it. If you want to be a photographer, you need to learn how to control the camera rather than just haphazardly using the various, highy automated settings or just guessing at manual exposure settings (Hint: if  the camera was set to Auto ISO, you were not shooting manually. Also, AFAIK, you cannot apply Exposure Compensation to Auto ISO on a T3... so there's no way to fine tune the auto exposure the camera is using.)

 

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