Canon 5D Mk ii light performance

Hi guys,

 

I recently purchased a second hand 5D ii online and it arrived today. I took a few shots and I had a feeling that the images were quite dark for the setting that I was using. The camera I upgraded from is the Canon 700D. I did a little shoot-off, obviously adjusting for the crop and making all the settings on the 2 cameras the same, and I found that the 5D ii pics are quite a bit darker than my 700D.

 

Has anyone experienced this before when upgrading to a 5D ii? I didn't go too indepth on setting up the 5D ii for the test as I haven't customised it yet (set ISO, SS, AF, WB, & metering all the same as 700D), so could small internal adjustments make such a big difference to light? Or could it be that something is wrong with the camera?

 

Thank in advance for the help guys.

Are you sure the parameters are at default?

Just for clarification, did you set both cameras on manual and use the same shutter speed, aperture, ISO and same manually set WB on both cameras? Are you evaluating the files on a computer using the same photo editing software or by looking at the images on the camera screen? It would probably make sense to reset the 5D to all its default setting and make sure exposure compensation is set to zero on both cameras (though that would not change exposure in M mode).

As Ken says set them both manually to the same ISO, shutter speed and aperture. My old 5DII is as close to identical exposure setting as my other Canons (and even other brands). You should also check to make sure you have exposure compensation off - set to zero.

What mode are you in? Is the EV dial at zero?

Thanks for all the replies guys. At the time, I had just looked at the pics on the cameras and realised that it could affect light slightly. I have just done a more comprehensive test and viewed them on my laptop with the same program and it seems in low light, the pics are considerably darker on the 5D Mk ii, but in good light (day light) they are much more even. I reset both cameras to default and set ISO, SS, AF, WB, and metering all the same. I also set exposure comp to 0 on both. I used manual mode for all shots. Used the same lens (24-105mm f4 L) on both.

 

So clearly by all your messages this is not normal. Should I take it to a camera shop to get checked out??

So this was shot in good light. As you can see, there is only a slight difference in light. Left is 700D and right is 5D Mk ii.

This light was quite a bit worse and shot with ISO 1600. The difference gets quite a lot worse when the shot is underexposed. Left is 700D and right is 5D Mk ii. All of the settings for both cameras were the same in both comparisons.

Do you think this difference in light doesn't matter, or should I take it to a camera shop to get checked out?

Well, it does matter. You don't want to underexpose, since that adds noise when you correct the EV. If it were mine, I'd just dial in +EV. I'm guessing it's around +1.33EV. It's an old body and you'll pay for any repair. Since this is so easily compensated for, I'd just compensate. Don't ignore it, since that under-exposure is too much.

There is usually some variation between camera bodies. I think a third of a stop such as you are seeing here is not unusual. Sometimes the metering systems are slightly different. This is what the exposure compensation is for. I find I would use +2/3 on the 5d2 and now I use only + 1/3 on the 5d4. On the rebel 7ti we use only +1/3: so this rather bears up what you are finding. I don't think it matters, just compensate accordingly.

By default, I left my 5D2s on +2/3 - that was from a week after I bought them. This kind of variance is normal for all the 5D s I have ever owned (mk1 +1/3, mk3 +1/3, mk4 n/a) Never had a 700D, but it looks a little dark too. But then it's all subjective anyways right ;)

As far as I understand, you are metering the scene, separately, through each of the camera's TTL Meter . . . in which case you are not really identifying which TTL meter is closer to "correct" or if both are a little bit out: for example the 700D's meter might be the (more) whacky meter and overexposing in daylight and over exposing more in dark scenes. So if you want to get a better handle on what is happening then you need a controlled (know value) light source, for which you can manually reckon a 'correct' exposure

 

That stated, I also have used many Canon DSLRs and I note that the TTL meters in those cameras do seem to have differences, even when set to the same Metering Mode : typically up to two thirds of a stop - but I also agree that the difference that you are getting is more than 1 stop: but, again another point is that I can get about 1 stop difference between my earlier model 20D and 30D and my later 5DMkII - and I note like you, that these differences were greater at scenes of lower EV.

 

If you are viewing the JPEG files for your comparisons, then the added variable is the in camera JPEG processing (know as "Picture Style"): I can bet a Mars Bar definitely, that these will not be the same for the 700D and the 5D MkII.

 

You mention that you are adjusting for the 'crop' and using the same lens (a zoom lens), I assume that means you are FRAMING both images the same. To do this you can use the zoom or you can move the camera. However, from my similar testing of the exposure differences between my APS-C and 135 Format cameras, (especially in some outdoor scenes), in certain circumstances I can get (slightly) DIFFERENT exposure differences by moving the camera position AND using the zoom to achieve the same framing - so that is yet another variable that is impossible to contain.

 

My simliar testing of each of my cameras was about how each camera's TTL Meters functioned (mainly in EVALUATIVE and SPOT MODES) and always against an hand held light meter and the purpose was NOT to know what was the "correct exposure", but rather to quantify as my final outcome a good understanding of how much headroom that I had in typical lighting scenarios, so I could push the exposure as far the right as possible.

 

I would be less worried about any TTL metering discrepancy between your two cameras and more focused upon testing if the meter (in each) was supplying you representative and consistent information so you can maximize ETTR (Expose To The Right) effectively, consistently and intuitively for the typical Metering Modes that you use.

 

WW

Yes I left that last picture quite under-exposed to show how the difference in light increases. That is all very helpful information, and it's nice to know that this amount of variation can be considered normal. As you say Marcus, it could also be the 700D that is out. I'll adjust the EV to find a sweet spot that I'm happy with.

 

Yes I see what you mean about the framing being a variable and unable to totally control it.

 

Thanks for all the great advice, I really learnt some new things here.

 

Justin North