overexposure with canon 310xl

[guido]

I have a canon 310xl and I'm very pleased with it except for one problem: sometimes the exposure meter goes crazy and the picture gets 'burned'.
I can't figure out when it happens, sometimes even in the middle of a shot, with no changes in lighting. Of course, the exposure being automatic, there's no way to overcome the problem. Is this a known defect of this camera? Can anybody tell me if it can be fixed? Thanks

[Nigel]

Does that camera have a seperate battery for the meter? I have seen some cameras go crazy when their battery get low--that may be a simple low cost test to try first. Otherwise someone may need to operate on the camera itself. Good Luck

[puistot]

Just a guess: since 310XL measures the light through a separate window located over the lens... could it be that something, like your finger etc. could sometimes accidentally covers this window? If that happens, the automatic exposure control opens aperture wide open to compensate the lack of light.

How does that sound?

Anssi

[guido]

Thanks for your replies.
No, it's not a battery problem. The camera works with 2 AA's and it happened with a fresh pair, too.
It could be that something got in the way of the exposure meter, which is actually in quite a strange position... thanks for the idea, I'll be more careful.