blackest Loc: Ireland

But you don't put your camera in aperture priority mode and dial in f11 do you? i think thats the problem really the camera expects the lens to do as its told and sets the shutter speed based on there being x amount stops of less light coming in. If it thinks it is shooting at max aperture then the shutter speed will be correct.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

I agree. If using a manual / adapted lens I do not dial in an F stop value other than the max value. That would be pointless. I want the camera to either select the shutter speed, ISO value, or both based upon the light coming through the lens at the aperture I intend to use., or alternatively to let me set those manually and just provide an indication of the metering values so I can see which way to set the values to get the results that I want.

I can get good exposures with a T3i in either M - manual mode or Av mode but dialing in an aperture value other than the max value confuses the camera. I have just tested this with my old Helios 58 f/2 lens. In AV set the camera to f/2 and let it select other settings based on the light coming through the lens at whatever aperture is set manually on the lens. In M mode it is similar, but it's the 'moving needle' approach to getting the exposure value.

Do not dial in an aperture setting other than max for a manual lens, it will confuse the camera by telling it that it can control things that it cannot. It wasn't designed to work that way.

JPL

Here is a review of this kind of adapter that you are using from BH. I think it tells you what you need to know.

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Works as expected By Charles M

This is one of those things you shouldn't have to think about, you should be able to set it and forget it. Well, you can set this and forget it. It does exactly what it says. It mounts an M42 lens on an EF body and communicates the maximum aperture and focal length to the body.

Setting the aperture and focal length is a bizarre process, but it takes five minutes and you never have to futz with it again. Your camera will select shutter speeds appropriate for the focal length (faster speeds for longer lengths).

Note: The camera thinks the lens will stop down when you press the shutter. If you adjust the aperture setting in camera, it'll lengthen the exposure to compensate, because it thinks the lens will stop down during the exposure. For example, if I stop down my f/2.8 lens to f/4, and set my camera to f/4, it will overexpose by one stop. Basically, just always tell the camera your lens is wide-open and the metering will work correctly. If you really want the EXIF data to convey the aperture correctly, shoot in manual.

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graybeard

You suggest just what I was about to try. Will let you know what happens. Thanks

graybeard

No, it is not the adapter. I have both types and same thing happened on both. The programmable has a really pedantic and monotonous procedure for initial programming, so I dedicate the adapter to the lens. Really, they both seem to be about the same.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Regardless of mode you must us stop down metering and leave the lens at the aperture you are going to shoot at. Focus at full aperture then stop down and meter either manually or on AV mode. I have also used P mode with success stopped down.

vulture

I use my old CZJ and Takumar M42 lenses on EOS 500d and 550d, I started with a simple adaptor but later added a focus confirm chip. Using the "bare" adaptor I set the camera to AV and let the camera set the speed; the camera read and displayed the aperture correctly and adjusted the speed to suit. When I used the chipped adaptor the camera showed f1.4, and overexposed everything. I dug out my venerable Weston V, and reverted to full Manual settings, then somebody on the Hog described their use of the Auto ISO setting, so now on those old lenses I set to M with auto ISO. It works.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Thank God I don't have that issue when using my older manual focus Nikon mount & Nikkor lenses on my Nikon DSLR's. Stop down metering is a PITA. My lenses hold the aperture wide open until the shutter button is depressed & then stop down to the set aperture. I use my non Nikon mount MF lenses from other systems on my Olympus mirrorless cameras as there is no need for an adapter with glass in it to maintain infinity focus like they would on my Nikon DSLR's. The only time I have to use stop down metering is with older lenses that have the two aperture rings, one to open it up to focus & compose, then close it to the taking aperture & the other set to the taking aperture.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Try it on your 3xxx and 5xxx cameras and then brag.
Ha Ha.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

That is the reason I don't own any base model DSLRs...

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

My point exactly. This is a base model and it does work with old lemses. I use an old early 60's setup on my 7D and with my daughter's T1i with full metering and auto exposure.
PS a majority of DSLR users have no Idea what FD etc even means as that was 30 years ago.
Also with the Canon M5 you get full metering etc and infinity focus etc. in a great small lightweight package. So bring out all your lightweight FD, FL lenses and fully use them on the M series system of Canon cameras.

BebuLamar

I use them on the D70s which doesn't meter but I don't need the meter.

BebuLamar

That is not the reason I don't own the base model. I don't like the base model because they have only 1 command wheel.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Congratulations on your talent.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Hi,

It sounds as if the problem is getting accurate meter readings. But if the camera does fine with modern lenses, it must be you doing something wrong with the vintage lenses (assuming they don't have a stuck aperture or other problem)>

"I realize that the same amount of light is entering the lens regardless of the camera setting, but shouldn't the meter be measuring this accurately?"

While it's true that the amount of light ENTERING the lens is the same, the amount of light EXITING the lens and being metered changes when you stop a vintage lens down. To use your Mamiya/Sekor example, f/2 allows in half the light that f/1.4 does.... and f/2.8 lets in one quarter as much.... f/4 one sixteenth... etc. With fully manual lenses such as this, the aperture must actually stopping down any time you change the setting. You'll see your viewfinder dimming down. (This is not the case with your modern lenses, where the aperture is kept fully open until the very instant of exposure, when it momentarily stops down to whatever you've set using the camera or the camera sets using one of the auto exposure modes, then reopens after the shutter has closed.)

Vintage lenses call for "Match Needle Metering" when using manual control of lenses such as these on this camera. After setting the aperture you wish to use, you basically need to adjust the shutter speed and/or ISO to center or "0 out" the indicator on the metering scale, assuming your subject/scene is "average tonality". Camera needs to be in M or fully Manual mode when doing this.

It is possible to use Av or Aperture Priority auto exposure mode with vintage, manual aperture lenses.... But you cannot use Tv (Shutter Priority), Program or any of the Scene modes with this type of lens. If using Av, the camera basically takes care of it for you, adjusting the shutter speed as you change the aperture setting. (I don't think your T3 has "Auto ISO", which is another form of auto exposure, even when used with "Manual" setting.)

It also sounds as if you have some experience using various cameras, so you might already know...

Your camera has choice of several metering patterns. I'm not sure about T3, but many Canon offer: Evaluative, Center Weighted, Partial and Spot metering patterns. Evaluative is a modern method that meters the entire scene but puts the most emphasis around the active AF point, sort of assuming that's where your primary subject is in the image area. This mode works pretty well most of the time. Center Weighted is "old school".... similar in that it measures the entire area, but now just adding some emphasis to the center of the scene (sort of hoping that's where the subject is located and is what's most important). Partial reduces the size of the area being metered to the central 25% or 30% of the image area (exact percentage varies from model to model) and Spot Metering is even smaller.... usually between 1.5% and 3.5% of image area, if your camera has it. Partial and Spot can be useful with a backlit subject, for example. But the smaller the area of the scene being metered, the more precise any adjustments you make for subject tonality must be.

Which brings me to the other big consideration.... All modern cameras with built-in metering necessarily use a reflective metering system. This measures the light being reflected back at you from the subject and so is strongly influenced by scene/subject tonality. Reflective meters assume what they are seeing is "average tonality". This actually works out pretty well a lot of the time. But if the subject/scene is unusually bright the camera will want to under-expose... or if it's unusually dark, it will tend to over-expose. You might already be familiar with Exposure Compensation, which allows you to override auto exposure to correct what the camera is trying to do if you're photographing a bride in a white wedding gown in a snow scene (requiring some + E.C.)... or a black bear in a coal mine (needing some - E.C.).

But when you're doing fully manual exposure, as you might be with those vintage lenses, there isn't any E.C. (though your camera might use the same scale as a meter read-out, most Canon do). It only works in auto exposure modes. Instead if the scene or subject isn't "average" tonality you need to bias your manual exposure settings.

You might find Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" helpful. I know you are an experienced shooter, but even an old dog like me learned some new tricks from Peterson's book. It's a great "refresher course", if nothing else.

An alternative is to use a separate, handheld incident light meter. This type of meter measures the light falling onto the subject, rather than what's being reflected off of it. Because of that, when used right an incident meter doesn't need any correction for subject tonality and takes much of the guesswork out of setting an accurate exposure. It can be used to set up the camera and lens fully manually... or to double check that auto exposure is giving accurate exposures. As a bonus, many incident meters are also a flash meter, can be used to accurately set up multi-strobe studio arrangements or on-location multi-flash.

Finally, you mention that the adapter you are using on your vintage lenses is "chipped". All that does is allow the camera's Focus Confirmation to work (just be sure to set the camera to One Shot focus mode while there's still an autofocus lens on it). The "chip" might be programmable so that the lens being used is recorded in the EXIF data of images... but the chip doesn't offer any control over the lens aperture at all (nor auto focus, of course).