6D Auto-Exposures are ALL OVER the Place?!?

[justsomedude]

I took advantage of the 6D package deal on B&H a few months ago, and have since moved the 6D into regular rotation as my primary backup/second body.  This was a position that was held by my 7D (now since sold) for three years, and it did a very good job at auto-exposing in the shutter/aperture priority modes.  However, I'm finding that the 6D is INCREDIBLY inconsistent in these modes, giving me images that vary +/- 2 stops or so, even in the vary same scene/composition!!  I can also see the metering indicator bouncing ALL OVER the meter between exposure checks, even without moving the camera or recomposing!!  WTF??

As a result, this requires a ton of extra tweaking time in post to get images to look right, and limits my ability to bulk-sync settings, since each image is always different from the next.  I've since resorted to using my 6D in manual mode only, but it kind of defeats the purpose of having a second body to grab and shoot with in certain instances when I just need a quick shot.  Basically, the aperture/shutter priority modes are completely unreliable.  This approach has me rethinking the versatility of the 6D in the field, especially since my 5D3 and 7D never experienced such irregularities between shots in these modes.

Has anyone else experienced this issue?  Will a trip to Canon Irvine solve it, or is this common across the body?  Is Canon aware of it, and is a firmware update planned?

I love the quality of the 6D images - when it works.  But spending needless hours to compensate for wonky exposures is quickly becoming infuriating.

[J.R.]

I'm assuming that you don't have the spot metering on for your TV/AV modes.

If that is so, it has to be something wrong with the camera. Mine works fine ... Even in the green square mode ... I've not had an exposure yet which was +-2 stops from what I actually did shoot. Send it out for a check.

The 6Ds aren't perfect ... Mine had a faulty AF sensor which was replaced.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Its pretty easy to check, mount it to a tripod in a situation where light is constant and take several images.  The exposure should be the same as long as nothing changes.  If it isn't, send it in for repair or exchange it.

[justsomedude]

I'm assuming that you don't have the spot metering on for your TV/AV modes.

If that is so, it has to be something wrong with the camera. Mine works fine ... Even in the green square mode ... I've not had an exposure yet which was +-2 stops from what I actually did shoot. Send it out for a check.

Its pretty easy to check, mount it to a tripod in a situation where light is constant and take several images.  The exposure should be the same as long as nothing changes.  If it isn't, send it in for repair or exchange it.

Thanks for the tips guys... I've tried numerous tests, including the tripod mount.  Exposure is still inconsistent.  Looks like she's headed back to Canon. 

I'll follow-up once I get her back.

[eninja]

I'm not sure if you considered this.
But in indoor lighting test, make sure your shutter speed is low enough to compensate the fluctuation of the florescent or light bulb. Since electric light actually is blinking only in a fast rate our eye can not notice.

[duydaniel]

This is true but if that was the case, then it should have happened with all other EOSes.

I'm not sure if you considered this.
But in indoor lighting test, make sure your shutter speed is low enough to compensate the fluctuation of the florescent or light bulb. Since electric light actually is blinking only in a fast rate our eye can not notice.

[Cali_PH]

I recently spent 3 days shooting thousands of shots for a timelapse video with my 6D. I mainly shot in aperture mode,
And the exposures remained consistent when the lighting did. Only problem was pre-dawn shoots when the balloons were shooting their flames on and off, but that's normal, I should have shot all manual at those times.