# EOS R metering all over the place



## techfan (Nov 10, 2019)

Hi All,
I am a returning Canon user after 15 year.
In our business my wife is the photographer, me the nerd and videographer and shooting stills also when we have 2 gigs at the same time.
Bought the EOS R because my wife has a hate-hate relationship with our Sony A7 III, and she seemed to get much better along with the EOS R.

We shoot mostly moving subjects, so use Servo with either Tracking and Eye AF or 1-Point. Our Sony A7 III or our Fuji X-T3 use absolute priority when metering on the focused face / eye, even 1-point AF is using priority on the focusing point, and it functions extremely well. In the very very rare cases when I can use single point metering, and then those cameras use the focus point exclusively for metering.
The EOS R seems to miss a lot with the metering, especially with on-camera flash (with shutter speed, aperture and ISO selected manualy and using E-TTL II) . Same subject shot 3 times in a row with same settings has following results: 1 overexposed (by at least 1 EV), 1 underexposed (by at least 1.5 EV) and 1 which is acceptable. Outdoors in Av priority this happens less often, but it still happens.

My question is: am I missing a setting, is my camera broken, or is this normal for the EOS R.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 10, 2019)

The camera links exposure to the focus point to a great amount. Move the AF point, and the exposure changes. This can affect exposures if you don't know what's happening.

You can see the exposure change on the lcd by touching a darker or brighter object to focus on that.

I seldom have AF issues, but don't use flash often. 

As for using flash and Av on a EOS R, it works differently, so be aware of that.









Fill-in flash works differently with EOS R and EOS RP


Canon has changed how fill-in flash works with the EOS R and EOS RP. This affects Aperture Priority (Av), Program (P) and Flexible Priority (Fv) modes. If you use a Speedlite on the EOS R or RP cameras, and use automatic exposure modes, P/Av/Fv then the camera controls fill-in flash differently...




www.p4pictures.com


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## techfan (Nov 10, 2019)

Can you please read what I am writing? Your reply has nothing to do with that.


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## Ozarker (Nov 10, 2019)

techfan said:


> Can you please read what I am writing? Your reply has nothing to do with that.


NIce way to express a disagreement or misunderstanding.  Snark is rarely helpful or apt to get you help.


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## Viggo (Nov 10, 2019)

Are you saying that if you shoot a consistent lit situation camera and subject stationary and you have three completely different exposure with bracketing deactivated?


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## Don Haines (Nov 10, 2019)

You say that it is worse indoors....

what is the lighting? Have you tried turning the anti flicker function on (or off) to see if that makes a difference? My kitchen has fluorescent lighting, I can’t see the flicker with my eyes, but my camera certainly can. With the anti-flicker turned off the exposure is all over the place, with it on I get consistent results


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## techfan (Nov 10, 2019)

CanonFanBoy said:


> NIce way to express a disagreement or misunderstanding.  Snark is rarely helpful or apt to get you help.



How should I reply? Teach me pls. I wrote that for flash I use manual ISO, manual aperture, manual shutter speed and I get a reply that Canon uses different Av and Tv with flash. I was pretty baffled.
Also I wrote that I do not get consistent results with metering on Canon, in same situation I get very consistent with Sony and Fuji. What is moving the focus point has to do with that? Of course metering is changing even on Canon when using evaluative and moving the focus point, but not enough and eratically.


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## techfan (Nov 10, 2019)

Don Haines said:


> You say that it is worse indoors....
> 
> what is the lighting? Have you tried turning the anti flicker function on (or off) to see if that makes a difference? My kitchen has fluorescent lighting, I can’t see the flicker with my eyes, but my camera certainly can. With the anti-flicker turned off the exposure is all over the place, with it on I get consistent results



Anti-flicker is turned on.


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## techfan (Nov 10, 2019)

Viggo said:


> Are you saying that if you shoot a consistent lit situation camera and subject stationary and you have three completely different exposure with bracketing deactivated?



Same subject, 3 shots taken with same settings on stationary subject one after the other, no bracketing, getting different exposure settings.


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## Viggo (Nov 10, 2019)

techfan said:


> Same subject, 3 shots taken with same settings on stationary subject one after the other, no bracketing, getting different exposure settings.


Firmware 1.4.0?


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## Kannon (Nov 10, 2019)

Can you post the pictures with exif data?


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## JoTomOz (Nov 10, 2019)

Erratic metering with this camera is my experience too. Even accounting for focus point (coming from 5d2 and 550d). I haven’t played around with metering modes other than evaluative- I just have exposure comp mapped to my control ring and use it frequently.


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## AlanF (Nov 10, 2019)

techfan said:


> How should I reply? Teach me pls. I wrote that for flash I use manual ISO, manual aperture, manual shutter speed and I get a reply that Canon uses different Av and Tv with flash. I was pretty baffled.
> Also I wrote that I do not get consistent results with metering on Canon, in same situation I get very consistent with Sony and Fuji. What is moving the focus point has to do with that? Of course metering is changing even on Canon when using evaluative and moving the focus point, but not enough and eratically.


You may not understand the nuance of what you wrote - I am guessing that even though you write excellent English you may not be a native speaker. Reply like this: “Thank you for your helpful comment. What I really would like to know....” and then explain in a way that makes it clearer. Otherwise, your reply reads like you are telling the person who answered, who is in fact the most helpful and polite contributor to CR, that he can’t read English. I hope that is helpful.


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## techfan (Nov 10, 2019)

Viggo said:


> Firmware 1.4.0?


Yes, I bought it the day 1.4 came out, because I saw so many glowing previews about it. So first thing I did after turning it on was updating the firmware.
I shot since then over 12k photos.


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## techfan (Nov 10, 2019)

JoTomOz said:


> Erratic metering with this camera is my experience too. Even accounting for focus point (coming from 5d2 and 550d). I haven’t played around with metering modes other than evaluative- I just have exposure comp mapped to my control ring and use it frequently.


Exposure comp is OK, i have mapped it also, somewhere else though. But this works for Av mode for ex., not full manual and flash (AF servo on still, not manual there). Or am I mistaken?


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## techfan (Nov 10, 2019)

AlanF said:


> You may not understand the nuance of what you wrote - I am guessing that even though you write excellent English you may not be a native speaker. Reply like this: “Thank you for your helpful comment. What I really would like to know....” and then explain in a way that makes it clearer. Otherwise, your reply reads like you are telling the person who answered, who is in fact the most helpful and polite contributor to CR, that he can’t read English. I hope that is helpful.


Understand, OK, thanks. However the nuance of what I wrote, and the issue I generally have is that if I write more than 1 line, people cba to read it. Get it at work when suppliers cba to fully read an order or other emails and privately as well. And I had the impression that this was the case too.


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## YuengLinger (Nov 11, 2019)

techfan said:


> Understand, OK, thanks. However the nuance of what I wrote, and the issue I generally have is that if I write more than 1 line, people cba to read it. Get it at work when suppliers cba to fully read an order or other emails and privately as well. And I had the impression that this was the case too.


Actually, your first post was pretty hard to sort out. There was a bit of extra info that did not help us understand your issue. Please, you are just joining a community of Canon users who know their cameras very well and are willing to share our experience. We aren't tech support; we aren't paid; and in any language, being polite is the key to unlocking friendly responses. (Of course we know that people are sometimes fumbling on a smartphone, so don't feel like you are expected to be perfect! Just stick to the point and be polite, please.)

As for the R and exposure, I'm finding that it is a little better than my 5D IV, and much better than my 5DIII. It is also better than my 80D. So, in my experience, correct exposure in M or Av is no issue whatsoever--but remember that it is tied to the AF point, and in the R, the AF point can be placed much closer to the edge of the frame than in dSLR's.

Are you using AF Lock or AF Lock with Hold? (H or H*) These are very helpful. 

And you should be seeing your exposure before you capture the image. I find that in harsh sunlight I must brighten the EVF display to see a proper preview of exposure; but then when I go back into shade or indoors I set the EVF brightness back to the middle brightness. This definitely helps to see what my captured exposure will be.

Plus you can use the histogram displayed in the EVF. 

I mostly use spot or center-weighted, then lock in the exposure I want with AF Lock with Hold.

Try all the suggestions in this thread in a controlled situation and practice, practice, practice. If none work, you might in fact have a problem with your camera.


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## techfan (Nov 11, 2019)

Thanks for the time taken to write such a long reply *YuengLinger.*
As I already wrote, in same conditions Sony A7 III or Fuji X-T3 work perfectly.
I am not bound to Canon, and can chose from 3 different camera manufacturers.
Unfortunately the behaviour of the EOS R is pretty much a deal breaker for me.


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## techfan (Nov 11, 2019)

It seems like I was unable to make myself understood, so trying again.

Use the Canon EOS R with a person in a backlit situation. Somebody who should stand with the back to an outside window for example. That person comes totally underexposed by 1-2 stops, but highlights are not totally blown out. You can use 1 point AF or tracking with EYE AF in servo. Makes no difference.
Fuji and Sony meter the person perfectly, indiferently if Eye AF or single point C-AF is used, but they completely blow out the highlights then.
Personally I prefer the person perfectly exposed, instead of the window.

I hope this clears things up.


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## SecureGSM (Nov 11, 2019)

What type of metering is in use: evaluated, spot or weighted?

For backlit situations, spot metering would be more adequate.


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## techfan (Nov 11, 2019)

Spot metering works unfortunately for Canon (except 1DX) only for middle spot, not for focus point.
All other cameras I know are using the focus point.
And yes, it is evaluative.


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## SecureGSM (Nov 11, 2019)

yeah, AE-LOCK with the centre AF point and then re-compose.. spot metering mode.
other options: take metering with the centre AF point over the subject's face or wedding dress if that was important, then switch to M mode and use ISO, T and F values.
alternatively, continue shooting in the Evaluative mode but use exposure compensation:
in AV mode, take a spot metering with AF on the subject's face and then another one in evaluative mode. take note of the shutter speed values.
evaluative mode shutter speed could be up to 2 full stop slower. use the number you have found to set the exposure compensation correctly.
and the straight forward option: use a light meter..


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## YuengLinger (Nov 11, 2019)

techfan said:


> It seems like I was unable to make myself understood, so trying again...
> 
> Fuji and Sony meter the person perfectly, indiferently if Eye AF or single point C-AF is used, but they completely blow out the highlights then.
> Personally I prefer the person perfectly exposed, instead of the window.
> ...



Yes! You have made it perfectly clear! Either your technique or your camera is broken. Only you can sort it out!


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## techfan (Nov 11, 2019)

Thanks for all the answers and the time taken to post them.
Have helped me a lot to clarify that it is not working on Canon, and it is working on all other camera manufacturers.
Please close the thread.


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## SecureGSM (Nov 11, 2019)

techfan said:


> Thanks for all the answers and the time taken to post them.
> Have helped me a lot to clarify that it is not working on Canon, and it is working on all other camera manufacturers.
> Please close the thread.



doooh...


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 12, 2019)

techfan said:


> How should I reply? Teach me pls. I wrote that for flash I use manual ISO, manual aperture, manual shutter speed and I get a reply that Canon uses different Av and Tv with flash. I was pretty baffled.
> Also I wrote that I do not get consistent results with metering on Canon, in same situation I get very consistent with Sony and Fuji. What is moving the focus point has to do with that? Of course metering is changing even on Canon when using evaluative and moving the focus point, but not enough and eratically.


"Outdoors in Av priority this happens less often, but it still happens. "


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