Silvermeteor Loc: South Carolina, USA

I have a viewfinder extender attached to my T3i. I also wear glasses. The extender moves me farther back from the back of the camera allowing me to take photos without rubbing my nose all over the view screen. Unfortunately it also makes the image in the viewfinder much smaller.

Because of this, I tend to frame a pic and press the shutter down to activate the light meter. Then I remove the camera from my eye and use the view screen to make adjustments to shutter speed, aperture & ISO.

Unfortunately, the light meter reading on the back of the camera turns off after about three seconds. Much too short a time to allow me to make all the adjustments I might want. As a result, I have to recompose and go thru the process again.

Is there any way to make the light meter display on the view screen remain on longer?

rocketride Loc: Upstate NY

On most Canon cameras, there's a setting for that in one of the menus.

Silvermeteor Loc: South Carolina, USA

It would appear that the setting you mention only applies in Live View.

I am looking for a way to keep the meter reading on longer when in regular use.

George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

This may sound totally inane. On the sensor by the view finder, try blocking it with something like tape, it thinks your face is Close. I think this will do the trick for you.
Good luck,
The "G"

Silvermeteor Loc: South Carolina, USA

Do you mean the little circular area with holes in it on the upper right back of the camera?

I remember my cell phone having that type of sensor but I have not heard of it in a camera.

George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

On my t2i they are the two little rectangular sensors above the screen and below the eyepiece. In your owners manual they are identified looking at the back of the camera. Contact me if there is anything else you may need concerning our cameras.

The "G"

Silvermeteor Loc: South Carolina, USA

I appreciate your help George but there are not any sensors in that location on my T3i.

I have attached images of both cameras just in case I have missed something.

Rick

Canon T2i


Canon T31

rocketride Loc: Upstate NY

Likewise on my T4i. Except it's a single window above the viewfinder and below the hot shoe.

Silvermeteor Loc: South Carolina, USA

Looks like they had to sacrifice something to make the screen articulated and those sensors bit the dust.

George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

No! I believe you'll find them above the view finder. There must be a way to shut the view finder off when removing your face from the view finder. The sensor is there someplace, it has to be.
the "G"

Silvermeteor Loc: South Carolina, USA

George, my screen only goes off when I press the shutter release. I can put my face to it all day and it will stay on as long as the camera is on unless I turn it off or press the shutter release half way down.

George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

I just found this;

T3i Overview
Design
Operation
Optics
Exposure
Performance
Samples
Gallery
Video
OperationViewfinderLive ViewModes & Menus
Canon EOS Rebel T3i Viewfinder
The Canon T3i features a digital SLR design, so the optical viewfinder offers a true, through-the-lens (TTL) display. A dioptric adjustment dial accommodates eyeglass wearers, letting them adjust the viewfinder optics between -3.0 to +1.0 diopters. Coverage is rated the same as the preceding Rebel T2i model at 95%, but magnification is just a touch lower, at 0.85x for a 50mm lens and -1 diopter, versus the T2i's 0.87x magnification. The viewfinder eyepiece has an eyepoint of approximately 19mm from the eyepiece lens center, a little tighter than we'd like for eyeglass wearers, but unchanged from the T2i.

One feature removed since the T2i is the pair of horizontal infrared sensors that lay just below that camera's viewfinder. These were used to detect your eye as it approached the viewfinder, thereby allowing the T2i to deactivate its LCD information display automatically. The T3i lacks this capability, and so the display must either be disabled manually, or can be automatically disabled when the shutter button is half-pressed.

Like the Canon T2i, the T3i viewfinder uses a pentamirror design. The advantage of a pentamirror is that it is lighter and less expensive; however, it also delivers less light to the viewfinder eyepiece, thanks to less efficient internal reflection than can be achieved with an all-glass pentaprism design. As a result, the Canon T3i's viewfinder image is not as bright as the EOS 50D, which at around $1,100 is Canon's lowest-priced model to use a true pentaprism.

The illustration below (courtesy Canon USA) shows all the elements in the Canon T3i's viewfinder. The extensive information available appears beneath the image area in a small strip, and reports all of the major camera settings, such as shutter speed, aperture, flash mode, EV compensation, etc. The information display is unchanged from that of the Rebel T2i.

George II Loc: Fayetteville, Georgia

I was wrong, sorry!

Silvermeteor Loc: South Carolina, USA

Not a thing to be sorry about! You were trying to help and that is all that matters.

I just wish there was some way to make it last longer on the view screen. Three seconds is not enough for me!

Thanks George.

Rick

rocketride Loc: Upstate NY

I get the impression that the T3i was intended as a transitional design between the T2i and the T4i. (With the corresponding non-i models following a similar trajectory.) Never mind that the T4i wound up being an even more transitional model (i.e., shorter model 'life') due to issues with the rubber of the grip surfaces on some bodies going "funny" and Canon's wanting to update the design to match sensor and UI tweaks introduced with the SL-1. The T5i wound up being exactly that.

So maybe they just didn't think through the idea of not having the sensor on the model quite well enough.