Solved! - Bizarre Canon 60D metering issue - I think I know the solution

[1981eagle]

I have the most bizarre Canon 60D metering problem

So - to start with - this is a spare body, but I like having it. It is not lens specific, and happens no matter which lens is on it.

If I use the viewfinder in M, AV, and TV ... and I press the shutter button half-way - the meter at the bottom of the viewfinder shows that the photo will be more than 5 stops under exposed. If I open the aperture or slow the shutter until the meter indicates that the photo will be properly exposed, then take that photo, it is like a polar bear in a snow-storm ... wildly over-exposed. However, if I immediately compose the same scene with the same lighting, but using the back LCD screen to focus and compose (also on manual, AV, or TV) the meter displayed works properly and the exposure of the resulting image is just fine compared to the final image.

I've checked all the setting I know to check and I think the solution is to toss this body and get a different body to use as a spare.

Before I start shopping - has anyone seen something similar to this difference in metering between the LCD and the viewfinder?

 

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day mate

As you say .... bizarre

I'm sure that you, being skilled with settings could do some mental shifts with the v/f settings to compensate for this error ... but I can also see that it would drive you nutz as well

Q- what happens when you're in Full-Auto mode? -- does it do the same odd things?

Phil

 

[1981eagle]

G'day mate

As you say .... bizarre

I'm sure that you, being skilled with settings could do some mental shifts with the v/f settings to compensate for this error ... but I can also see that it would drive you nutz as well

Q- what happens when you're in Full-Auto mode? -- does it do the same odd things?

Phil

Same thing happens in P and the dreaded 'green box' mode. It's funny that you asked- as I never shoot in those modes ... nor do I shoot in any of the 'weighted modes' for 'scenery', 'portrait', ' or 'sports'

So I took the camera, put it to my eye and let the camera decide the settings ... it gave me a half second at f/4 ... then I immediately used the LCD and it gave me 1/250 at f/4 for the same scene and composition.

I think I need a new spare body

 

[Ozzie_Traveller]

Yeah matey .... 7-stops difference between the two screens certainly suggests that 'something' is up the spout!
I suggested the 'auto' options just as a second-set of checking -- and it confirms the other issues

Sounds like you need both a new spare body plus (if you're game) a hand-held meter like we used "in the old days" and then you have a third body for special occasions

Phil

 

[1981eagle]

Solved but not fixed ... I picked up a Canon T3i
It's also an 18MP camera and has a really low shutter count of just 727. So that's it -
All lenses and exposures work as they should.

 

[wilt]

Have you checked the 60D to see if you have dialed in Exposure Compensation (EC) inadvertantly?
What you describe brings that to my mind as the first thing to check!

 

[1981eagle]

I did- I checked literally everything- manual, priority modes, and program modes.
I tried using the exposure compensation to, well … compensate… for the weird results I was getting but in the end I decided a new used camera was in order