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Blown out whites on FF Canon

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Larrylee

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I am on my sixth digital camera, and my fourth SLR, first full frame. Canon factory has my camera again for repair. In all pictures with whites in them, the whites are over exposed, even a white flower in deep woods shots. My White adobe buildings in sunlight are blown away - overexposed. I am using the same lenses I used on my small sensor SLRs. Is anyone else having this problem? On a recent photo trip to to Big Bend Nat'l park, my wifes Casio EX-750 out diid my $8,000 outfit in most shots. Using full Auto is out of the question, using Program three stops down helped a little.

Larry
 
A bet. The next message will be 'please post an image, with exif-data'.

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wild images and such at my website
http://www.x32.nl
 
First of all, read the manual. If you have exposure compensation set to add exposure, you'll over-expose.

What happens when you shoot in manual? What if you set the camera to evaluative metering in manual mode and use the camera's recommended setting?
 
You might check and make sure custom function 00 is set appropriately for the focusing screen you have installed, as that affects metering.
 
Larrylee said:
On a recent photo trip to to Big Bend Nat'l park, my wifes Casio
EX-750 out diid my $8,000 outfit in most shots. Using full Auto is
out of the question, using Program three stops down helped a little.
Click to expand...
That Casio sounds like a good buy over $8k worth of Canon.

Trade in your Canon and you should be happy.
 
I'd be interested in a few things.

Mainly, what kind of files are you capturing? RAW? JPEG? If RAW, what are you converting them with? DPP? ACR? Something else? Are you finding that you are unable to correct or recover the highlights during RAW conversion?

I'd also be interested in why you were unable to determine you had a problem "in the field". While I personally have been a bit surprised that the full RGB histogram on the 5D somehow does a worse job at telling me when I'm blowing channels than my old luminance Nikon histogram did, I still rarely manage to completely miss the mark the way you're describing.
 
I use manual virtually all the time, so if there's an exposure problem, I'm to blame. Sounds like you need a calibration. Good luck.
Larrylee said:
I am on my sixth digital camera, and my fourth SLR, first full
frame. Canon factory has my camera again for repair. In all
pictures with whites in them, the whites are over exposed, even a
white flower in deep woods shots. My White adobe buildings in
sunlight are blown away - overexposed. I am using the same lenses I
used on my small sensor SLRs. Is anyone else having this problem?
On a recent photo trip to to Big Bend Nat'l park, my wifes Casio
EX-750 out diid my $8,000 outfit in most shots. Using full Auto is
out of the question, using Program three stops down helped a little.

Larry
Click to expand...
--
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Kabe Luna

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kabeluna/
 
Larrylee said:
Using full Auto is
out of the question, using Program three stops down helped a little.
Click to expand...
I'd be interested in hearing how you did this, seeing as the maximum exposure compensation available on the 5D is + - two stops. If you've gone three 'clicks' down, that's only one stop.

Blown whites are a result primarily of your exposure settings, plus to some extent your image processing parameters. Without knowing these, it's difficult to diagnose the problem. A few possibilities could include:
Shooting at ISO 50 can decrease the dynamic range a bit

Using a picture style with high contrast will result in more clipped whites; try switching to Faithful, or simply shoot RAW

Inappropriate metering technique (e.g. spot metering shadows, as for B+W film) will cause problems; treat the sensor like transparency film, and meter specifically for highlights you want to preserve.
Inadvertently using high ISOs in bright light could also cause problems.

As requested already, posting examples with EXIF information is the best way to identify the issue.
Andy
 
Several people who've reported this issue later discovered they had reset the exposure compensation. I did the same myself. This is specifically addressed in the manual.

--
Galleries at http://www.pbase.com/garyp
 
Thanks for everyones input, I still would like the 5D's finished product to turn out to be as good or better then its predecessors which I have owned, ( D60,10D and 20D ) They all did super jobs in Full auto. I thought it might be a full frame issue and the 1Ds users might be experincing the same phenomenon with ff over smaller sensor units. I don't mind using Prog, AV or TV, but I shouldn't have to all the time, Anyway thanks again, I still hope Canon factory service can help.

I really have enjoyed DP review over the past years in my review and purchase of new equipment for me and my friends.

Larry
 
But it also seems a little strange to buy a 5D and complain that when you use it as a point and shoot it doesn't work as well as a point and shoot.

Maybe yours has a specific problem, but most users find the 5D blows away other cameras we've used.

As others have said, it's hard for anyone to really give the most useful advice without you providing an image, with EXIF, to illustrate the issue.

--
Galleries at http://www.pbase.com/garyp
 
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