Can a lens cause a camera to underexpose?...

PVO_Dave

PVO_Dave

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Might sound like a weird question, but seem to be having a bit of an issue with my Canon 10-22..

Havent really used it a look, so took it out with me yesterday to take some landscape type shots, but they pretty much all came out under exposed? I expected that with some of the shots with the sun shining in the same direction as the camera, but with the sun behind me looking out to the landscape and they still came out under exposed? :shrug:

Not sure if it's me being a numpty (I checked and exposure compensation was untouched), or the lens playing silly buggers, unfortunately I didn't take any other lenses with me for comparison (which I will do next time)

Thoughts?

Dave.
 
Without waiting to see others reply I am gonna stick my head out and say yes... I just bought a canon 35mm f2 and it under exposes for sure... easy enough to compensate but not when rushing :(
 
Interesting... thanks!

Be interesting to see if anyone else thinks the same?! - This lens is fairly new, so I guess I could take it back if it's deemed to be a lens issue

Dave.
 
I'll be watching this thread with interest. I bought an 85mm prime that I thought was underexposing, however I dismissed it as just me being silly..however when compared to my 35 and 50 mm primes it is definitely darker, on manual settings.

Is it even possible that a lens can have this effect?:thinking:
 
with landscapes it is rather easy to get poor metering if you use centre weighted average. Usually it comes under exposed due to the bright sky, etc. If in doubt use the spot meter over several points, take into account their relative brightness and make your own decision, then check the histogram and readjust if necessary. For long exposure you absolutely must use manual.
 
daugirdas said:
with landscapes it is rather easy to get poor metering if you use centre weighted average. Usually it comes under exposed due to the bright sky, etc. If in doubt use the spot meter over several points, take into account their relative brightness and make your own decision, then check the histogram and readjust if necessary. For long exposure you absolutely must use manual.
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well thanks but some of us know how to expose :) and still the lens under exposes.. thats the problem.. the problem isnt people not being able to meter :)
 
Yes

However the root cause isn't a fault with the lens - the camera metering is simply fooled. This is quite common with wide angle lenses, as there can is so much in the scene - the metering can often be rather conservative.

Some lenses also are simply brigter or darker than others - the different between an f-stop and light transmission, t-stop. Not all lenses marked as f/2.8 for example have the same t-stop.
 
My Sigma 24-70 underexposes by approx 1-1.3 stops, I will send it in at some point to get it sorted, As said all I do is dial in +1ev when using the lens.
 
seriously they're saying on the SAME settings it under exposes

its not something I have come across but it seems similar
 
PVO_Dave said:
Might sound like a weird question, but seem to be having a bit of an issue with my Canon 10-22..

Havent really used it a look, so took it out with me yesterday to take some landscape type shots, but they pretty much all came out under exposed? I expected that with some of the shots with the sun shining in the same direction as the camera, but with the sun behind me looking out to the landscape and they still came out under exposed? :shrug:

Not sure if it's me being a numpty (I checked and exposure compensation was untouched), or the lens playing silly buggers, unfortunately I didn't take any other lenses with me for comparison (which I will do next time)

Thoughts?

Dave.
Click to expand...


This may sound like a daft question, but when the sun was behind you, was the viewfinder covered?

I had a similar problem, when I was taking a landscape shot with the sun behind, I had the camera set fairly low (waist hight) so used the top LCD to give me my meter reading on manual mode, while I was stood to one side of the camera. Shot was underexposed. Tried again on Av mode, dialed in the aperture I wanted, then stood back and hit my shutter remote. The shot was underexposed.

I did some reading on the net, and apparently, Canon's light meter is in the veiwfinder prism area, and if not covered (either by your eye or something else), light will get in from the viewfinder and give you a false (brighter) reading, hence the underexposure seen. In the manual, it also says to cover the viewfinder when shooting the camera remotely to stop this from happening (or words to that effect!) Hence why they supply a little rubber viewfinder cover on their straps!

Does that situation sound similar to what you did?

I don't know about specific lenses, as I have never noticed it on any of mine.
 
Yes!

I have an old telephoto lens which is a bit of a b****r to use. It's a prime 135mm, so it can produce sharp pictures (IF I manage to nail the focus :D) but the age of the technology shows, and I have a feeling it wasn't exactly 'pro' glass when it was new, either. I have to underexpose (on the exposure meter) sometimes a whole stop in order to produce what I deem to be acceptable images. It also produces images that are quite washed out sometimes, and really lacking in contrast - this can be fixed in PP, but is annoying.

I also hear that the nifty fifty 1.4 (Canon) is a persistent offender and overexposes by 1/3 of a stop.

TBH, I don't pay the exposure meter that much attention, it doesn't work so well with lenses that have manual aperture control, and unless you're meterting off light grey card, it's usually 'off' anyway. It only really serves as a guide.
 
Thanks for all the replies - was pretty sure this was lens specific, as I've not had this issue before (apart from when I knew why it under / over exposed of course :))

gembobs said:
This may sound like a daft question, but when the sun was behind you, was the viewfinder covered?

I had a similar problem, when I was taking a landscape shot with the sun behind, I had the camera set fairly low (waist hight) so used the top LCD to give me my meter reading on manual mode, while I was stood to one side of the camera. Shot was underexposed. Tried again on Av mode, dialed in the aperture I wanted, then stood back and hit my shutter remote. The shot was underexposed.

I did some reading on the net, and apparently, Canon's light meter is in the veiwfinder prism area, and if not covered (either by your eye or something else), light will get in from the viewfinder and give you a false (brighter) reading, hence the underexposure seen. In the manual, it also says to cover the viewfinder when shooting the camera remotely to stop this from happening (or words to that effect!) Hence why they supply a little rubber viewfinder cover on their straps!

Does that situation sound similar to what you did?

I don't know about specific lenses, as I have never noticed it on any of mine.
Click to expand...

Not a daft question at all, in the opening to the thread I did say I hope it's not me being a numpty :gag:, it's looking increasingly like it's not though :), my eye was covering the piece as this thought did go through my mind :D

Dave.
 
PVO_Dave said:
Thanks for all the replies - was pretty sure this was lens specific, as I've not had this issue before (apart from when I knew why it under / over exposed of course :))



Not a daft question at all, in the opening to the thread I did say I hope it's not me being a numpty :gag:, it's looking increasingly like it's not though :), my eye was covering the piece as this thought did go through my mind :D

Dave.
Click to expand...

Fair enough! Hope you get it figured out!
 
It's more likely to be a metering problem, especially with a landscape subject.

Any difference between f/number and T/stop would automatically be compensated by a (very slight) adjustment to shutter speed.

You could be seeing some vignetting, especially if you're shooting at 10mm and lowest f/number. Always a problem with super wides, but less so on crop format.

Easy enough to check against another lens, using manual, and a plain subject like a wall.
 
Use aperture priority and check the exposure at full aperture compared to say, F8. If they are the same, it's probably your metering, if the full aperture exposure is ok and the one at F8 is underexposed then the lens aperture leaves are wrongly set.
 
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