canon 6d - aperture lock and exposure compensation

[bergstrom]

Just got a 6d and haveing some problems already. Not completely happy with the high iso still having a lot of noise, the whole point of buying the 6d was to get good photos from 6400 or 800, but the pix i saw on the internet were obviously misleading me into buying it, because i don't see a major leap from my 5d2.

But my main questions are when i'm taking photos and f4, sometimes i take a few shots and look at the lcd and they're all dark, because the f stop has moved itself up to f14 or whatever, is there a way to lock the aperture or move the control from the dial at the back, so i don't accidentally or unintentionaly change it, as its damn awkward in niteclub situations when you take 2-3 photos and then it moves itself.

and the 2nd question, exposure compensation, on the 5d2, I just changed it through the top dial, but thats doesn't work on the 6d, anyway to fix that?

Thanks.

p.s this is while shooting manual.

 

[Loswr]

is there a way to lock the aperture or move the control from the dial at the back, so i don't accidentally or unintentionaly change it, as its damn awkward in niteclub situations when you take 2-3 photos and then it moves itself.

The switch on the back of the camera labeled "Lock" will deactivate the rear dial.

and the 2nd question, exposure compensation, on the 5d2, I just changed it through the top dial, but thats doesn't work on the 6d, anyway to fix that?

The 6D does not allow EC in manual mode. The 5DII doesn't, either – so I'm not sure what you were adjusting, but it wasn't EC.

 

[bergstrom]

whats under speed and aperture with 3-2-1-0-1-2-3

I thought that was ec. I could adjust it ayways with the top dial on 5d2.

 

[bergstrom]

and thanks for the LOCK tip. That will save me a lot of hassel now.

 

[Sporgon]

whats under speed and aperture with 3-2-1-0-1-2-3

I thought that was ec. I could adjust it ayways with the top dial on 5d2.

That's bracketing.

Regarding noise at high ISO, it sounds like you've discovered what the 6D is like without noise reduction - it doesn't look much different to the 5DII. However it reacts much better to noise reduction than the 5DII, so check your noise reduction settings, high ISO noise reduction settings etc.

 

[Loswr]

whats under speed and aperture with 3-2-1-0-1-2-3

I thought that was ec. I could adjust it ayways with the top dial on 5d2.

If you were seeing multiple marks, that's bracketing. If you were seeing one mark, that's exposure relative to metered (0 on the meter) as you change either the aperture or shutter speed with the main dial. In M mode on the 5DII and 6D, you either set ISO manually or if set to Auto it's fixed at ISO 400. There's no functional auto ISO in M mode, therefore there's no EC.

 

[Sporgon]

whats under speed and aperture with 3-2-1-0-1-2-3

I thought that was ec. I could adjust it ayways with the top dial on 5d2.

If you were seeing multiple marks, that's bracketing. If you were seeing one mark, that's exposure relative to metered (0 on the meter) as you change either the aperture or shutter speed with the main dial. In M mode on the 5DII and 6D, you either set ISO manually or if set to Auto it's fixed at ISO 400. There's no functional auto ISO in M mode, therefore there's no EC.

Yes indeed, I was forgetting that the 6D went to +/- 3 on the top LCD panel. I've now sold mine !

Regarding making EC on the 5DII with the top command wheel: this can only be done by switching the AF point selection to the Quick Control Dial ( Rear Wheel) in the custom menu. This dial then moves the AF point around, and to achieve EC you have to move the top command wheel whilst holding in the + button on the far rear right of the camera. To the best of my knowledge there is no other ways to make the top command wheel control EC. I can't remember if it is possible to do the same thing on the 6D as it is not something I liked.

It sounds to me like maybe you purchased a used 5DII and it was set up this way ?

 

[StudentOfLight]

The signal to noise ratio is very similar however the 6D has much less fixed-pattern noise than the older generation sensors. I noticed a marked difference with my astro images between the 5D-III and the 6D.

p.s. The behaviour of multifunction lock switch can be also be customized under one of the custom function menus.

 

[photojoern.de]

I am very happy with the ISO performance of the 6D, it´s a great landscape camera. Also for night photography - just take a look at what some night photographers do, marvellous pictures at ISO 3200, sometimes even 6400.
But any camera, including the 6D, deserves reading and studying the manual...

 

[Loswr]

Regarding making EC on the 5DII with the top command wheel: this can only be done by switching the AF point selection to the Quick Control Dial ( Rear Wheel) in the custom menu. This dial then moves the AF point around, and to achieve EC you have to move the top command wheel whilst holding in the + button on the far rear right of the camera. To the best of my knowledge there is no other ways to make the top command wheel control EC. I can't remember if it is possible to do the same thing on the 6D as it is not something I liked.

Except in M mode, there's no EC.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

There are no high ISO miracles, if you get 1/2 stop, that's great. The jpeg processing is getting better, so it can take a jump in ISO with lots of NR and look good, but in raw, you are seeing what the sensor itself can do, and 1/2 to one stop between generations is pretty standard. One stop gain is exceptional, I have not seen that in consumer cameras.

I think that most here would not recommend upgrading a 5D MK II to a 6D. You gain little or nothing and lose some features that outweigh any gain. If you were going to FF for the first time, a 6D is a good starter. The 5D MK II was a pro model, the 6D is a consumer model.

 

[Mikehit]

Regarding making EC on the 5DII with the top command wheel: this can only be done by switching the AF point selection to the Quick Control Dial ( Rear Wheel) in the custom menu. This dial then moves the AF point around, and to achieve EC you have to move the top command wheel whilst holding in the + button on the far rear right of the camera. To the best of my knowledge there is no other ways to make the top command wheel control EC. I can't remember if it is possible to do the same thing on the 6D as it is not something I liked.

Except in M mode, there's no EC.

Correct.

In Av mode, the camera sets the shutter speed it thinks is correct. When you spin the EC dial you are changing the shutter speed and that little linear measure is telling you how far you are deviating from what the camera thinks you should be doing.

In Manual you can set it so that the front dial changes the aperture. When you spin the rear dial you are changing the shutter speed and that little linear measure is telling you how far you are deviating from what the camera thinks you should be doing.

In the first instance it is called 'exposure compensation'.
In the second example it is called 'setting the shutter speed'.
In both cases the linear scale the camera is telling you how far you are doing it wrong.

 

[Gnocchi]

if your in m mode with aperture locked, aren't you compensating exposure by moving shutterspeed back and forth with the top dial ? Assuming you have locked your ISO.

 

[bergstrom]

thanks for the replies guys, ok, i checked my 5d2, it was the wheel at the back beside the lcd I was turning to go from -3 to 0 to +3. I got the 6d based on te reports that the iso performance would be better than 5d2 and it almost looks the same. I shoot raw also and am bringing my NR up to 50 as always. I was hoping to go beyond iso4000 for niteclub workmin low light, but i'm still hanging around the 3200 as i did on the 5d2. I'll probably stay with the camera for a while, save up and geta 5d4 after a year of its release when its come down in price.

 

[Zv]

There are no high ISO miracles, if you get 1/2 stop, that's great. The jpeg processing is getting better, so it can take a jump in ISO with lots of NR and look good, but in raw, you are seeing what the sensor itself can do, and 1/2 to one stop between generations is pretty standard. One stop gain is exceptional, I have not seen that in consumer cameras.

I think that most here would not recommend upgrading a 5D MK II to a 6D. You gain little or nothing and lose some features that outweigh any gain. If you were going to FF for the first time, a 6D is a good starter. The 5D MK II was a pro model, the 6D is a consumer model.

There's always going to be noise but going from the 5DII to 6D there's less of the ugly banding and color noise in the shadows. That was one of the main reasons I made the switch. Other than that I would say the noise around 6400 and above is not much different. However, less NR in post is needed with the 6D overall. I barely touch the NR slider now. What noise there is seems acceptable to me and disappears once you export to lower resolution.

 

[Frodo]

I think that most here would not recommend upgrading a 5D MK II to a 6D. You gain little or nothing and lose some features that outweigh any gain. If you were going to FF for the first time, a 6D is a good starter. The 5D MK II was a pro model, the 6D is a consumer model.

I beg to differ. I sold my 5DII for a 6D and ended up with a better camera in most respects. This thread is abut high ISO. Previously I shot landscape astrophotographs at 1600, maybe 3200 with the 5DII. With the 6D, I find that the diference is a full stop, with 3200 equivalent to 1600 on the 5DII and 6400 equivalent to 3200. I find that 3200 is fine for many purposes, but 6400 works better if there is detail to mask the noise.
The biggest difference is with pattern noise. With the 6D I can drag more detail out of the shadows long after I got dreadful banding with the 5DII.
Your mileage may vary, but for me the 6D produced an improvement in both high ISO performance of about a stop and improvements in shadows.
(And then there are other benefits such as silent shutter, GPS, wifi, etc. but that's a different thread.
I do agree with another poster's comment. When you get a camera as capable as a 6D, it is worth investing in reading the manual so that you are able to get the best out of it.

 

[rfdesigner]

I think that most here would not recommend upgrading a 5D MK II to a 6D. You gain little or nothing and lose some features that outweigh any gain. If you were going to FF for the first time, a 6D is a good starter. The 5D MK II was a pro model, the 6D is a consumer model.

I beg to differ. I sold my 5DII for a 6D and ended up with a better camera in most respects. This thread is abut high ISO. Previously I shot landscape astrophotographs at 1600, maybe 3200 with the 5DII. With the 6D, I find that the diference is a full stop, with 3200 equivalent to 1600 on the 5DII and 6400 equivalent to 3200. I find that 3200 is fine for many purposes, but 6400 works better if there is detail to mask the noise.
The biggest difference is with pattern noise. With the 6D I can drag more detail out of the shadows long after I got dreadful banding with the 5DII.
Your mileage may vary, but for me the 6D produced an improvement in both high ISO performance of about a stop and improvements in shadows.
(And then there are other benefits such as silent shutter, GPS, wifi, etc. but that's a different thread.
I do agree with another poster's comment. When you get a camera as capable as a 6D, it is worth investing in reading the manual so that you are able to get the best out of it.

+1

I went from a 30D -> 6D

My prime limitation, banding, that prevented me from going beyond ISO800 on the 30D has all but disappeared. I've got the AutoISO set to allow up to 25600 and I've had acceptable images at that ISO due to lack of banding. Once the colour noise is sorted a bit of even un-stripy grain is surprisingly film like.

 

[Khufu]

Aye, the 6D by design is an upgrade to the 5D II; I genuinely believe (and think others forget) that one of its reasons for existing was to steal sales that otherwise may have gone to second hand 5D II sellers... I hear stories of a much improved sensor (better than the 5D3?), WiFi & GPS, smaller, lighter; no contest! Absolute ingenious marketing strategy!

I went for the 5D3 and was(/am) kinda' jealous of all of the above noted features... Interest in the 5D2 was and is non-existent over here!

 

[captainkanji]

I upgraded to the 6D from the 7D (1). That jump was huge in image quality. AF not so much. I almost never use NR unless I get higher than 6400. Looking forward to seeing what th 6Dii offers. The 5D's have $1500 more "stuff" than I need.