Comments on: [News] 5dmk3 Light Leak Issue Surfaces

By: verbeelden

verbeelden — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:33:00 +0000

but even so, nobody’s shown that it impacts the photo being taken… maybe just gives the wrong exposure.

perhaps for those who use a lens cap to make it a pinhole camera?

By: verbeelden

verbeelden — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:56:00 +0000

but even so, nobody’s shown that it impacts the photo being taken… maybe just gives the wrong exposure.

Ehhm, perhaps that’s exactly what impacts the photo being taken: exposure is off by 2/3 – 1 stop. And yes: this is an issue when you’re in the right circumstances (images at night, photographing people at a reception when you’re just under a bulb, etc).

I agree that this won’t be a problem at your usual outdoor situation, but please do keep in mind that the 5d and successors are being used rather a lot by wedding photographers… If you are at iso6400 or higher and your exposure is 1 stop off you probably won’t like your result.

By: Calvin lin

Calvin lin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:34:00 +0000

Was just trying to be humble with “limited testing”. I pretty much tested mine from bright daylight to dark rooms at night. Any darker, you will probably have to go bulb mode. This light leak is only an issue when the lens is off, or the lens cap is on. I am not so sure who shoots with the lens cap on…

You are taking it out of context by comparing it to a heater fan of a car. A new car with a bad heater fan is more like a new camera with outer focus points that don’t work with wide angle prime. Sure, not everybody use a 24mm f/1.4(or the car’s heater), plus not being able to focus with a wide angle prime on the outer af points doesn’t affect the photo taking capability. I would agree with you if the light leak was causing issue with metering when the lens cap is on, but it just isn’t.

By: Dake Liu

Dake Liu — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:09:00 +0000

My concern is that if the light is in fact leaking onto the sensor, it would alter the colour of the picture as well, since the LCD light will most likely have a different colour temperature than the ambient light.

Throwing off the meter is one thing, and arguably minor (although still an issue for a $3500 camera), introducing artificial lighting to my photos is definitely intolerable. People would not be paying $1000 for a camera without an IR filter for astro-photography, if they are not looking for perfection. And a large portion of the people who are paying 3.5k are looking for the same perfection.

So yes, the problem would most likely be unnoticeable by most shooters, but it doesn’t change the fact that it could be a potentially significant defect. And it is up to reviews like this to help keeping consumers informed.

By: RUSS

RUSS — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:08:00 +0000

Does the exposure change if you are in direct sunlight, and then cover the lcd screen with a thick cloth?

By: miccullen

miccullen — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:06:00 +0000

This story is a perfect example of what happens when you need to reach “n” stories a day. They don’t have to be useful, they don’t have to make sense, they just have to exist.

By: Geoff Powell

Geoff Powell — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:45:00 +0000

Was this story sponsored by Nikon perhaps? ;)
While is seems to be an issue, it’s not a major one in the field it seems. As if there’s no small issues with lots of other cameras.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 08:45:00 +0000

3.500 US$ for that?

By: Rafal Jurczak

Rafal Jurczak — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:45:00 +0000

THIS LIGHT LEAK DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR METERING OR PICTURES IN REAL LIFE USAGE. At least from my limited testing.

good point: your limited testing :)

So lets wait for more complex and full test to confirm that. And this is strange that 5DMK3 has the problem and the other doesn´t like 60D hmm.

By: Calvin lin

Calvin lin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:30:00 +0000

Many who don’t actually own or use the 5d3 are getting overly excited on this light leak issue. Yes, it should not have happened for a camera $500 more expensive than the competitior. However…

THIS LIGHT LEAK DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR METERING OR PICTURES IN REAL LIFE USAGE. At least from my limited testing.

Yup, the metering is still affected by the light leak with a lens and lens cap on, as least mine does. However, once you take off the lens cap, no amount of light in bright outdoor or dark indoor is going to affect the metering, simply because the light leak is so insignificant compared to what is coming through the lens.

Maybe it MIGHT affect the metering in scenes like nightscape and cityscape, though mine doesn’t. However, unless you belong to the 0.01% of canon users who actually use the 1960s style viewfinder cover for a 15s exposure, it probably doesn’t matter the least bit.

Maybe it really does affect the metering in really really low light, perhaps something that requires a 5mins exposure. For such low light condition, you have to shoot in bulb mode which is not affected by metering…