White, white, and more white :(

[michael_ziegler2]

One thing which wasn't mentioned was looking at the histogram.

After you understand the mechanics of how each camera function effects the exposure, Tv, Av and ISO, you must learn about using the histogram display. It is your friend for exposure.

[mls]

So I've been playing with it all night and the aperture doesn't go any lower than 4. At Av 4, the shutter speed still has to be more than a second to get any kind of image and it's impossible to get focus at that length of time handheld. Something just doesn't seem right at all. I should be able to adjust them so that I can have a "normal" shutter speed shouldn't I? Even in P it's setting the Av at 4 and the shutter speed at 8 seconds.

[michael_ziegler2]

Marissa,

 

The low end of the aperture is limited to the lens capability. You most likely have an f/4.0 lens on your camera. Look

at the front of the lens and it will tell you. What lens are you shooting with?

In low light, you will have to increase the ISO to say 800 or more to get an image. What is the light condition?

It is all about the amount of light hitting the sensor.

[scott_ferris]

Marissa,

 

You are getting such long shutter speeds because it is dark, in the daylight the shutter speeds will go up, a lot. f4 is a comparatively slow lens, lens speed is very important, there is a good reason people pay lots of money for a lens that is just 1 f stop faster than a much smaller, lighter easier to use one. The third variable is your iso setting, if you have to take a picture in a dimly illuminated space and you only have an f4 lens and you have to hand hold and don't have IS then the only way to get your shutter speed up is to raise your iso setting, but you will get lots more noise and less detail.

 

Keep going, Scott.

[mls]

I'm using a Canon EF 75-300 mm lens and the ISO is at 1600. I have every light on I have. I'll try it outside again today in the sun and see what happens. Thanks.

[chrisjb]

Hi, I have been watching this thread, seems a misunderstanding of basic, 1st ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor in simple term, normal light outside 100~200 bright sunlight dull day 400. Inside 400+ but when the shutter speed is below 1/30~1/50 you`ll need flash or a tripod. Av/Tv will meter ambient light so a slow shutter speed in low light. try pop up the flash while inside in `P` 800ISO or `M` mode speed 1/60 f4 800ISO be aware the flash is only good for bout 10 feet. Outside in sun 200ISO `Av` F8. should be in the ball park move on. Have you read the MAnual ? :)

 

HTH

[chrisjb]

I missed something, use the 18 55 for slow shots, your tele will be hard to hold still without support like tripod in low light :)

[jwalk]

yes you did miss something. This is not about focal length or blur. Her problem was overexposure. You are right about reading the manual though. They can be very helpful.

[kari v]

"I have every light on I have."

 

Normal room lighting is quite *dark*. Your eyes and brain work much better than the camera and f4 - 5.6 lens. And now you know why some people like f1.4 primes. :)

 

...which are not without their own problems.

[mls]

I have read the manual, and everything was fine until a couple days ago. Sorry if I don't know the lingo the adequately explain the problem....I'll try a picture with the settings used. :)

 

P, outside, mostly sunny, ISO 400, f/5.4, 0"3<div></div>

[15sunrises]

I think this is a metering issue personally, either a problem in the camera or a problem with the metering mode used. ISO 400 @ f/5.4 for 0.3 seconds seems like way way too long of an exposure for daylight. Try some shots in different modes (aperture priority for instance) and see if there is a change. Then try manual, decreasing the exposure as necessary and see how far the different settings are off.

[michael_ziegler2]

"P, outside, mostly sunny, ISO 400, f/5.4, 0"3"

 

Very unlikely you would be getting those readings outside in daylight conditions if the camera was functioning

properly.

 

Have you tried flash, just to add more information to this mystery.

I am leaning towards a trip to Canon by your camera. I don’t believe the meter is working properly.

 

Set the camera on M and use the settings above but change the Tv to 1/125. Tha should produce a decent picture.

[RobertChura]

Sunny 16 rule would work here. Use the manual mode. Set the iso at 100 and shoot at 1/125th or 1/100th sec with aperture at f16 on a sunny day. Aim at a normal view with a normal or slightly wide lens. Check the histogram or view the image. If it is too light like you posted then send it out for repair.

[cabbiinc]

I'd try a shot in full auto. If the pic looks "normal" or what you think it should look like when reviewing then hit info a few times until you get the screen that tells you all the info on the picture. It will display ISO, Shutter speed, and aperture. Use that as a base guide.

 

If in full auto mode your camera is still overexposing then you probably have a repair coming.

 

One last thing I can think of. Is the sun hitting the front of the lens? You may have a flare problem and need to shade the front of the lens.

[keith reeder]

It would be really, really, *really* helpful to have some in-image Exif to look at...

[chrisjb]

`yes you did miss something. This is not about focal length or blur. Her problem was overexposure`

 

Thankyou Mr Walker, I was fully aware the OP probs, The sample could well have been too high an ISO and night shots spot or partial metering the darkest point (no EXIF). If the camera does not function in the simplest basic task, then either a setting is out (EC or ? )or a malfunction. the use of the 18 55 far better to determine in low light than a 300mm. I have had this before when a diapham unit failed and remained wide open. To testwas to put on f16 and press DOF button VF should darken. I`d now suggest to visit a nearby trusted fhoto store :)

[nanette]

May I suggest to take a look at your lenses. It happened once to me with my lens that the aperture ring was stuck and all of my shots were over- and underexposed at various shutter speeds. If you take your lens off the body, there might be a small lever on the back of your lens that you can move. I just realized, however, that you probably won't have this lever, as I have just checked my own Canon lenses and they don't appear to have one but there was one on my Nikkor lenses. Not sure if there is something on the body that would control the aperture setting, as I am not certain of the mechanics of your camera. Maybe someone else could shed some light on that part, as it seems that you have tried all kinds of things without much success. Could be the mechanics, as this happened to me. I think there was some sand lodged in the lever. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

[chrisjb]

Nanette, its how I described using the DOF button while the lens is on body

 

Cheers :)

[josephbraun]

Take it to a camera store, and see if they can help you in person. If not, the camera is probably defective. happens more often

then you'd think.

[axel-cordes]

Hello, I did not read all the posts so I may repeat something here. I had the same problem a while ago and could finally debug the problem down to the damaged Sigma lens. The Aperture was stuck at wide open, so even the machine calculating f8 and some speed the real aperture was f2.8. Some of my images have been ok if I had a shooting situation which needed f2.8, all other have been overexposed.

 

Simga was fixed and now it's ok.

 

To debug I set manually f22 and looked in the lens for a test shot and saw that the aperture remained open while shooting.

 

Maybe that helps.

 

Regards Axel

[mls]

Sorry, I got caught up at work. I guess I'll take it in and have someone look at it. Thanks for all your help!

[philip_wilson]

Just reading a sample of these posts it sounds like either the lens it not stopping down to the correct aperture or the camera is not recognizing the flash gun (i.e. it is taking the photo as if there is no flash). this will cause overexposure if the flash fires. Do you get a flash symbol in the viewfinder

[pork_chop]

I had the same problem today, but after I put my XSI on live view it returned to normal. Not sure why.

 

Please keep us updated so that we know what recourse you had to make in order to fix the problem.

[rjkdds]

(P, outside, mostly sunny, ISO 400, f/5.4, 0"3)

 

I cant understand why the meter is reading so far overexposed.

With sunny 16 using 400 iso, her exposure settings should be:

f4 at 1/6400

f5.6 at 1/3200

f8 at 1/1600

f11 at 1/800

f16 at 1/400 all using 400 iso.

Maybe a bit longer shutter speed due to "partly sunny"

[alan_myers]

Hi Marissa,

 

You might want to simply reset the camera completely to factory defaults, see it that clears up the problem.

 

Here's how:

 

Remove the main battery. Look for and remove the little silver "memory" battery too. Leave the batteries out of

the camera for an hour.

 

Reinstall the batteries, set camera to P, ISO to 100 and go shoot something outside on a sunny day.

 

Doing this clears all the settings in the camera, possibly including something you've set by mistake.

Unfortunately it will also clear any Custom Function or other special settings you've made in the menu, and

you'll need to reset the date and time.

 

A "reboot" or complete reset of the camera like this is a good idea before sending a camera in for repair.

 

Also, if there is a local camera shop or you are part of a camera club, you could have someone take a look at it

locally before shipping it off. They might spot an incorrect setting you've missed.