Canon Rebel T1i issue with exposure level indicator

[barb_white]

<p>I recently purchased the Canon Rebel T1i - I think it's a great camera so far, however, I'm frustrated with the exposure level indicator - rather than a single bar, there is usually a double bar that moves back and forth to just under perfect exposure or just above perfect exposure as I'm holding down the shutter button. I'm shooting in manual but when I change aperture or shutter speed, it still moves back and forth, but rarely stops in the middle. When the exposure is as it should be, there is a single bar that stops in the middle, however it doesn't go to the center very often so my photos are being taken at slightly under exposed or over exposed. What's the deal with the double bar and why is my exposure more often than not either under or above the center exposure level? Is there a setting in the camera I can change? It's frustrating the heck out of me. My Rebel 300D did not do this. I hope I explained this well enough. <br>

Thanks for any help you can give me. I may be calling Canon tomorrow - this just doesn't seem right to me.</p>

[PuppyDigs]

<p>Most people use M mode so they can ignore the meter and set exposure according to experience. If you try to zero out the exposure according to the little meter you might as well use Av or Tv mode. I normally use M mode in spot or partial mode, meter a medium toned object or a gray card, set shutter and aperture and fire away. Realize as you move the camera, even slightly, the reading changes with the different tonalities of the scene. It doesn't matter as the setting you have chosen will still render the object you metered as a medium tone.</p>

<p>I don't have a Canon Rebel T1i, but my XTi, 40D, 50D and 5D all have a single pointer on the M exposure scale. The auto bracket mode uses the multiple pointer on the same scale.</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>You probably have shutter/aperture steps set to 1/2 stop. The bar is calibrated in 1/3 stops.</p>

[barb_white]

<p>thank you both for your replies. I may be fooling myself shooting in Manual mode. What have I been doing all these months, making sure the exposure level indicator is centered? Wow - I need to play around more. I'm taking a class again this summer so I will learn about Manual mode and spot metering. My previous camera did not have spot metering, so now I can play with that feature and can do as you suggested, Puppy Face.</p>

<p>Thank you, Bob! I checked and I do have it set to 1/2 stop. I changed it to 1/3 stops and that appears to have corrected the problem. </p>