Specifications
Metering system
63-zone Dual-layer Metering Sensor
The EOS 7D features a completely new metering sensor - the iFCL
sensor – to capture perfectly exposed images time-after-time. FCL
stands for ‘Focus, Colour and Luminance’ and hints at the fact that
the metering system not only measures colour and luminance data,
but also uses information from the AF system.
The metering sensor has 63 measurement zones and is a Dual-layer
design with each layer sensitive to different wavelengths of light.
Exposure sensors in general are more sensitive to red light. This
means when photographing subjects with lots of red in them – skin
tones for example – the sensor receives a stronger signal as it only
detects brightness levels. This can lead to the wrong assumption
that there is more light than there really is. The dual layer system
overcomes this by having one layer sensitive to red/green light and
one layer sensitive to blue/green light. Both these layers measure
the light in their respective spectra and the metering algorithm then
combines the two to provide an accurate light reading.
To complement the new metering sensor, the EOS 7D also has a
newly designed metering algorithm. During the exposure reading
the EOS 7D looks to see which points, in addition to the selected
point, have achieved or almost achieved focus. This information lets
the camera know which part of the image is the subject. It then takes
metering readings from the zones corresponding to the AF points
that are over the subject and combines them with readings from all
the other zones. This allows for consistent shot-to-shot exposure,
even in complex situations – where there are reections from a
model’s glasses for example.