Canon 5D Mark III Light Leak?

[Canon Rumors]

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<strong>A light leak? Really?


</strong>A light leak issue in the 5D Mark III has been reported over the last couple of days. It seems the top side LCD may be to blame. I can confirm this is happening on at least one of the 5D Mark III’s I own (the rest are out for rent), I will look into the issue with more bodies in the coming days.</p>
<p><strong>Simple Test Procedure

</strong></p>

<ol>
<li>Put your body cap on the camera body.</li>
<li>Put the viewfinder cover that came with the camera over the viewfinder.</li>
<li>Set the camera ISO to 800 and put the camera in “P” mode.</li>
<li>Turn on the backlight for the LCD panel and watch the exposure change</li>
</ol>
<p>Below is a video showing the issue.</p>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=25Dgb2gbiwk
<p><strong>Other light sources cause the issue?


</strong>Yes, shining a flashlight on the top LCD causes the exposure to change, as does sunlight and bright overhead lights. All of which happen with the body cap on.</p>
<p><strong>Does this matter in the real world?


</strong>For the moment, I’m not sure. I haven’t noticed any issues with metering on the 2000 or so shots I’ve put through the 5D Mark III. I’m sure we’ll know more in the coming days.</p>
<p>Source: [<a href="http://fstoppers.com/news-5dmk3-light-leak-issue-surfaces" target="_blank">FS</a>]</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[Etienne]

Has anyone ever tested any other cameras in this fashion? The Mk II, D700 ?
Or is this a brand new "test" demonstrating normal behaviour from all DSLRs?

 

[omegavisuals]

I just tested this on my 1D Mark III and the same thing happens. Nothing new, I guess If you're a pro photographer, I don't really see a reason it would get in the way.

 

[yuxinhong]

Mine is doing same, but i don't think its a problem, in normal light condition, with lens on and cap off, i shine the flashlight on the LCD, no speed change.
for long exposure, just make sure don't leave that light on.

 

[Viggo]

Crap, mine does that too! So this would seriously affect bright sunny exposures also? That could explain the underexposures....

Edit: 5d2 of mine does the same thing, and that's always underexposing.

 

[tobiah]

It happens on both my mark 3's... would be interested to see how this develops but Im happy that the images are great...
It doesn't happen on my mark2's when tested.

 

[mrmarks]

Does not seem to affect mine in P mode or other exposure mode

 

[dmj]

I tried it on my 5DIII, it acted the same way. Tried it on my 5DII, it acted similarly.

Then I tried doing a 30 second exposure with lenscap on and covering the viewfinder in a dark room, only light was from the small display. No light have been leaked to the photo at least. If it can screw your metering I haven't tested enough to tell, but I think this might turn out to be a storm in a glass of water.

 

[Canon-F1]

lol... good that im not an early adopter.
i know why i don´t preorder stuff.

my 5D mk2 does not show this.

 

[hutjeflut]

so the main question is will the display turn off when taking a photo?
if it does there really is no problem as your not supposed to mess with the screen when taking a shot anyway.
if it takes a few seconds for it to turn off its rather sloppy on canons side but most likely fixable in a firmware update (disable top screen led when taking a shot)

 

[RichATL]

5d3 light leak...Thoughts?

so a buddy of mine pointed this out to me today...

http://fstoppers.com/news-5dmk3-light-leak-issue-surfaces

Tested my camera as described and got the same results... hitting the "backlight" button changed the exposure by 2/3rds .

I've noticed (in my one week of ownership) that the camera likes to underexpose everything by a stop or so... but I'm not sure how much (if any) this "light leak" issue really affects it.

What say you?

 

[Viggo]

so the main question is will the display turn off when taking a photo?
if it does there really is no problem as your not supposed to mess with the screen when taking a shot anyway.
if it takes a few seconds for it to turn off its rather sloppy on canons side but most likely fixable in a firmware update (disable top screen led when taking a shot)

I tried on both the 5d2 and 5d3 now, and had the display turned off, but used the torch of Iphone 4s to the display and it went from 10 seconds to 8 seconds, so it's a small percentage, but what it differs in bright light, I'm not sure. But I constantly keep at least a stop over outside....

 

[dmj]

I just tried taking some shots with and without the display on. It seems to be able to change exposure 1/3 of a stop when shooting in VERY dark surroundings (where the light should have most impact). So nothing that will screw anyone over. These shots would have been taken on a tripod using BULP anyway. I do however agree that Canon should just make it turn off the display light whenever you start metering/shooting to avoid.

 

[planetMitch]

Have read this thread and thread over on dpreview forum... people have not shown that it impacts the image in any way. I'm sure people will do more testing and maybe someone will find something.

but for me, so far, this is a non-issue. And Canon engineers may have accounted for this to begin with.

Wake me when something major comes along

 

[tasteofjace]

Non issue. Move along.

 

[unclemat]

Non-issue? Really? :

I just tried my 5D3. Yep, same problem.

I tried my 5D classic. No issue.

 

[altenae]

I can't believe how people call this is not a problem.
If you shoot anything but the Manual mode all your exposure readings will be incorrect.

For example.
Shooting portrait of my daughter.
She is standing under direct sunlight.
I am trying find a good composition so I move around a little.
And I happen to walk into a shadow area.
Although my daughter is still under the sunlight.
my exposure reading changes because I just walked into the shadow area.
And when I walk back into the sun lit area my exposure reading changes once again.

If you want to call this a normal behavior go ahead.
If you want to pay $3500 for such non-sense go ahead.

This not an issue the way you describe it.

 

[risc32]

so is the light leaking around the LCD from the outside, or is it the light from the LCD itself? I'll check mine when i can, but since i've had a pretty good time with the auto exposure system i don't know how worried about it i would be. But i do wonder how it might impact weather resistance if light is actually able sneak around the LCD.

 

[rushmore77]

This not an issue the way you describe it.

5d mark iii light leak

 

[tobiah]

looks like there is going to be a big recall... hopefully they will be able to fix them quickly