# Canon 600d manual exposure not working



## ry3 (Mar 9, 2014)

I have a problem with my Canon 600d manual exposure not working.


When I set the camera to M, set the ISO, Aperture and shutter then hold the button half way down to activate the info set, I then look at the meter scale -3 to +3 and there is a square at the -3 end of the scale.  



From the  link below and other google searches all I need to do is move the main dial to change the shutter settings and this scale should start to move towards the 0, but it doesnt, nothing happens on the  meter scale the square remains at -3 no matter if I increase/decrease the shutter or aperture. This is on both screen and viewfinder



I'm fairly new to the SLR world and my canon 600d and can not figure out where I am going wrong with this can anyone advise please?



http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1721158&seqNum=7


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## jaomul (Mar 9, 2014)

Take the lens cap off. 
Seriously though this implies the scene is more than 3 stops under exposed. Likely you shutter speed is way to high and your aperture is way to small. You will have to significantly adjust your settings before you see the bar move


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## ry3 (Mar 9, 2014)

Hi

Thanks for reply, yeah the cap is off

I have tried changing the setting at both end of the scale shutter low aperture high and vice versa and also both high and both low, also a 50/50 and also moving the ISO


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## jaomul (Mar 9, 2014)

Set your camera to av and pick a setting. Point it at something and see what shutter speed it indicated. Now change to m and set the aperture and iso to same as when on av and set shutter speed to one indicated in first step. Point camera at same thing and see if indicators are correct


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## ry3 (Mar 9, 2014)

Thanks that is working now

The setting were 1/4  f7.1 ISO 400   the lowest I actually went was 1/60 I guess I never had it that low against the other setting, least I know its working and can now play about with it.

Thanks again


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## jaomul (Mar 9, 2014)

Others differ but I recommend you use aperture priority and shutter priority for a while until you get more familiar. Manual can be a bit daunting at the start. Enjoy


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## vimwiz (Mar 9, 2014)

jaomul said:


> Others differ but I recommend you use aperture priority and shutter priority for a while until you get more familiar. Manual can be a bit daunting at the start. Enjoy



This. Shutter priority is a good way to learn what sort of shutter speeds are appropriate in what conditions i.e. when handholding, with a moving subject, and apature priority is a good way to learn about things like DOF. Master each of these modes, and you will know what to set in manual.


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## ry3 (Mar 10, 2014)

I thanks, yeah I will be using the P, TV an AV settings first I was just looking at the M settings with the meter and couldn't figure it out....punching above my weight 

One thing I have noticed on P setting is that this auto sets aperture and shutter for you but you can also alter these, but the dot on the meter guide always stays at 0 should this be the case?  I also thought in P mode you could adjust aperture and shutter or is it simply adjusting both at the same time when you turn the dial left or right to what aperture/shutter is available and will work together?

e.g this is how I think it works on P mode you work on ISO and WB settings for your photos and the the aperture/shutter auto sets to the cameras way, you can then move the dial right for a faster shutter speed and this selects the correct aperture in sync with the shutter, and if you want a different aperture you left on the dial and again selects the shutter speed in sync with the aperture?

I am going to be at a wedding in a couple of week, so great chance to have a play about, I think I am better to be in P or AV for this?


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## vimwiz (Mar 10, 2014)

ry3 said:


> s it simply adjusting both at the same time when you turn the dial left or right to what aperture/shutter is available and will work together?



Thats normal, P mode just lets you say whether you want it wider ("wide,  tries smaller apature for greater DOF, at expense of shutter speed") or  faster ("tele", which priorities speed over sharpness (larger apature)). It will pick  (for me 7 valid,  composed of 3 wide, 3 tele, and 1 normal) apature and shutter speed combinations which allow for those  types of shots. Thats how it it on my old film canon at least, never really used it on my DSLR.

At a wedding apature priority will allow you to try and get some nice DOF effects for portraits, but Tv will allow you to freeze the action (dancing). Take a tripod and a good flash, as it may be dark! (Also for video at any reception)

Dont be afraid of using the more automated modes though. At such events I shoot everything in the default Psetting (semi-auto) to not miss the action changing settings!


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## Derrel (Mar 10, 2014)

The P mode is a lot like the "Green Box" mode, with the exception that the P mode allows the user to quickly "shift" the speed/aperture combinations. As a result, P mode is sometimes more descriptively referred to as *shiftable programmed mode. *P mode is pretty handy when you want to try differing shutter speeds, to see how that affects the image. Conversely, it's also handy when you want to see what opening the lens aperture to a wider opening, like say f/3.5, does to the final result, as opposed to say a mid-sized aperture like f/7.1.

Say for example, you're outdoors in beautiful spring, summer, or autumn lighting and you wish to take an environmental portrait of a person standing 10 feet away from the camera, with the ISO set to 200. In P mode, let's say the default exposure is f/11 at 1/200 second. You have the lens set to the 20mm setting, to show some of the beautiful location behind. You shoot a few frames, but find that the background is a bit too-much in focus for your liking. SInce you're using P mode, you can simply take the thumb wheel and click it a few times, until you see f/4 indicated in the viewfinder. Since the aperture value and shutter speeds are linked together in P mode, you'll see that at f/4, the shutter has automatically been sped up from 1/200 second at f/11 to 1/1600 second at f/4.

On what are called "one-button" cameras, such as the Canon Rebels and the Baby Nikon models, using P mode is actually more-convenient and I think less-confusing for beginning shooters or people not intimately familiar are truly USED TO the way a single-button camera works. 

On the Baby Nikons, using P mode also has the added benefit of eliminating the all-too-common accidental setting of + or - exposure compensation by *hitting the wrong button* and then spinning the rear command dial.


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## ry3 (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks for the info.  I had a play around with it in P mode and I understand now what the camera is doing. I don't have external flash or tripod at the moment, just starting out so only 600d and 18-135mm lens.

Its just my friends wedding and photos are not dependiant on me thankfully haha. I am just going to use it as a chance to play about, and hopefully get a few shots, but its more to learn than have great shots.  I think I'll use P mode and maybe av for some outdoor shots of the couple hopefully its a nice day.  By the time the dancing comes the beer and wine will have flowed so I'll more than likely be back to the basic pre loaded modes for those.

vimwiz - At such events I shoot everything in the default Psetting (semi-auto)... do you mean just setting camera to p mode and setting WB and ISO to auto?


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