Metering Problems With Manual Lenses - is there a solution? Help!

[julian_fletcher]

<p>Dear All, <br />I'm hoping that you can help me? I have an EOS 5 and 33, and a load of manual lenses - Contax, Oly, Takumar, Zeiss ZF etc. Some of my shots are a little out on exposure and I'm told that there is a metering problem on these bodies - and its non linear, so I cannot always apply the same compensation. <br /><br />I've heard that the EOS 3 might be OK - does anybody have any experience with this body? Do you know which Canon bodies will be OK? I need to sort this out as its driving me crazy!<br /><br />Many Thanks <br />Julian</p>

[digitmstr]

<p>The problem is not necessarily with the bodies but, with the lens/adapter combo. I have used many manual lenses with adapters, from Nikon, Pentax, Zeiss and others with my EOS3, 10D, 5D, Xti and XSi - luckily I only had issues with one lens combo which was under-exposing by about 1/2 stop, consistently.</p>

<p>If your issue is not consistent (with the SAME lens) then the problem could be something different.</p>

[peter_ferling]

<p>Without knowing your specific exposure issues (i.e. indoor, outsdoor, flash, etc), and in cases where I can't trust exposure (when using manual lenses with mechanic adapters), and I don't have a light meter handy, I follow the sunny 16 rule.<br>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_16_rule</p>

[jcolwell]

<p>Many of my alternative lenses meter differently on my 5D as you change the aperture . In many cases, they meter accurately when nearly wide open, but get increasingly underexposed as you step down the aperture. I rarely remember which does what, and so I generally check the histogram for the first few shots.</p>

[kasperhettinga]

<p>I have similar experiences as James: very reliable metering with aperture wide-open and increasing problems on stopping down. With all my Zuiko lenses (only manual lenses I use), I have about 1/2-1 stop of overexposure at f/4-f/5.6 going to 2 stops overexposure at f/8-f/11.</p>

<p>Two solutions:<br>

1. learn some rules of thumb (I usually shoot my manual lenses either wide-open or at f/5.6-f/8. Wide open I leave EC at 0 and at f/5.6-f/8, I set EC to underexpose 1 stop).<br>

2. Most reliable way: use M-mode, meter wide-open, and adjust shutter speed for the stopping down of the aperture (so for a 50/1.4 giving good exposure at 1/4000, I set shutter speed to 1/125 when stopping down to f/8, ignoring the exposure-indicator in the viewfinder).</p>

[dogbert]

<p>This should help<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00JJNb">http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00JJNb</a><br>

Mark U and Adam Maas' responses are accurate AFAIK.</p>