What Metering Mode do you use?

[cab1024]

What exposure metering mode do you use?

I switched to center-weighted after I got burned by the Evaluative mode exposing for the sky any time even a small piece of corner was in the frame. At least with center-wighted I know which portion of the scene the reading is coming from. But in the last couple of days I've been working in Spot mode.

The way I see it, using the Evaluative mode is just as "auto" as using an auto-exposure mode, like P or Av, except that it gets a much worse track record with me than using P or Av, center-weighted, and the exposure lock button to expose for the key parts of the frame.

[Overread]

hmm I must admit I have tended to stick with Evaluative mode, though I will admit that I don't really try the other options - its the mode that the camera came in so I think I am sort of used to it now ;).
Spot metering is something that I don't have access to, but is a mode that I have wanted to try and can see an application for in my work (exposing well for a bird in flight without having to reach forexposure compensation.)

Interesting that you say it always gives you a faster shutter speed because of bright points - mostly unless the scene I have is very bright overall I don't seem to get that problem (I think I am no expert ;))

[cab1024]

Interesting that you say it always gives you a faster shutter speed because of bright points - mostly unless the scene I have is very bright overall I don't seem to get that problem (I think I am no expert ;))

It could be just with the brain in my 40D, as for getting confused by the sky. But the main point is that with any camera's evaluative made you don't know where the camera is going to put the emphasis of the exposure.

For casual shooting I'm more concerned about where my meter is reading than the shutter speed and aperture settings assuming the exposure is correct. If I'm using a long lens or there is not much light then I will opt for Tv or Av. So, for me the most important thing is knowing that I have the correct exposure for whatever in the picture is the subject, and the only way I can assure that is by using center-weighted, spot, or strong center-weighted.

[Nikon Kid]

Short answer Spot

[Cristian Mihai]

Short answer: all.

[JohnZ]

Yet another short answer, Partial.

[DOC]

Short answer:Spot
Long answer: The bird is the main subject ( Unless shooting scenery photos with some birds in the BG |=\|) . Getting it exposed correctly will yield the best shot .
Spot metering in my hands lets me concentrate on the bird only . I meter the bird and get the exposure as spot-on as possible . The Bg and all other elements will be exposed accordingly ( usually very precise exposure ) .
For example : Shooting a black crow on a bright BG : I meter from the crow , wanting the exposure to be around ( -1) . I play with he shutter & aperture to achieve the wanted exposure . I get a beautifully exposed black , full of details .
If , on the other hand , I will meter evaluative - the camera will read a bright scene ( remember the BG ) , and under expose to correct it . This will evolve into a very Dark / pitch black / opaque crow . I will then have to post-process and S/H the crow to get some details on the black . No good .
Same goes for a white bird .

Examples:

[Roy C]

So long as you get the exposure right it does not matter a jot which mode you use. I personally use Manual mode and just change the shutter speed to suit the tone of the bird so in my case it is irrelevant which mode I use.

[Overread]

You lost me a little there Roy - whilst I agree that manual mode lets you control all the settings yourself rather than relying on the camera selected interpretations, even in full manual mode you are still using the incamera meter to select your settings. In the case of your shutter speed selection, lets assume you have afixed aperture and ISO you want to shoot at - then you use the shutter control and watch the camera meter bar in your viewfinder to then select the right amount for a correct exposure (taking into account any previous experisnces with good metering in the lighting condition your in).

If your in spot pointing at a dark bird in a bright sky your meter will tell you different than if you using a different metering mode.

[Roy C]

You lost me a little there Roy - whilst I agree that manual mode lets you control all the settings yourself rather than relying on the camera selected interpretations, even in full manual mode you are still using the incamera meter to select your settings. In the case of your shutter speed selection, lets assume you have afixed aperture and ISO you want to shoot at - then you use the shutter control and watch the camera meter bar in your viewfinder to then select the right amount for a correct exposure (taking into account any previous experisnces with good metering in the lighting condition your in).

If your in spot pointing at a dark bird in a bright sky your meter will tell you different than if you using a different metering mode.
The whole point of using manual is that you set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO, no matter what metering mode you are in nothing will change unless you manually change it.

What I do is to find the ambient light at my chosen aperture and ISO while in AV mode by metering off something around 18% grey (mid toned grass, grit, grey roof tiles .........). I normally use ISO 400 and f5.6 so if the metering off some thing 18% grey comes up at,say, 1/1000 sec then that is what I set in manual e.g. f5.6, 1/1000 sec and ISO 400.

Now anything that is mid toned in the ambient light will be exposed correctly no matter what the background is. (and no matter what the meter might tell you) no further adjustment is needed. All you do is shoot away.

For dark birds I just click the shutter speed thumb wheel down 2 or 3 notches (+2/3 to +1) in this case to 1/500 sec or 1/640 sec.

For very light birds I click the shutter speed thumb wheel up 3 notches (-1) in this case 1/2000 sec

The actual metering mode I am in is completely irrelevant, yes the metering needle might be wavering around a bit depending on what metering mode you are in but it does not make a jot of difference to the exposure that I have per determined.

I switched to this method almost a year ago and for me it has worked wonders, the number of duff exposures I get now is negligible to what I was getting before - I could never switch back now, I just find it so easy.
That is not to say it suits everyone but most people who try it and master the technique would stay with it that I am sure. Like I said in my first post, getting the exposure right is all that matters and whatever method suits you best is the one you should use.

BTW from what I have read this method is used by most Pro's and serious bird photographers for Birds in flight where birds are likely to fly through varying backgrounds even it they do not use it for perching birds.

P.S. if you use manual and set the exposure to what the metering mode shows then there is no point whatsoever in using manual as you get the same results as you would by using auto.

[DOC]

I would summarize what Roy C wrote , ( He's absolutely right ) :
Understanding exposure is CRUCIAL for getting best results .
If you understand exposure and metering -then you'll always get it right . No matter what mode you're in .
Metering a 18% grey in a given lighting situation is exactly what you should do in an effort to get the best exposures.

AS long as you're in manual mode - you can change the settings as to match your desired exposure , but the metering mode ( spot , evaluative etc ) will render a different reading with the same situation - ex: dark bird on a bright sky : spot metering will show EV at (-1.5) , while evaluative metering will show EV at (0) or even (+1) . Once you understand exposure - you can change the camera's parameters to suit your desired exposure in these two different examples .

The difference between me and Roy is that Roy will overexpose ( +1) a dark bird to get the right black colors ( in evaluative metering ) , while I will make sure the exposure is (-1) in spot metering .
I presume we shall both get almost the same result . :t:

That's why I use Manual mode & spot metering .

[Neil]

Roy's approach works for me and I've been using it for years with flight shots and more recently I've been using it for stationary birds in difficult lighting situations as well. As I'm mostly shooting waders and egrets there is a lot of white to be exposed for and the skies here are white/grey most of the time and the backgrounds are dark or white (water here is mostly white/grey color). Neil.

[GYRob]

Roys way is the best way imo.
Rob.

[Overread]

Ahh I understand you now Roy - thanks for the explaination!
I can certainly understand the basis for this method - though reading it I get the feeling that (for birds in flight) it works best when the bird is in a single lighting environment - that is to say no matter what background it ends up over the bird itself remains lit by the same/similar mount of light.
If it were to fly into a darker area or be in a situation say where shadowing itself and then being fully exposed to the main light source would it not be easier to switch to spot metering and an auto mode (av/tv) so as to take that into account since whilst in manual mode you can certainly compensate for changes in subject lighting the auto modes are quicker to make that change.
And as I wrote that I think I realised why you stick to manual - spot metering would require you to keep perfect focus on the subject to keep the exposure constant for it - if it then shifted away from your centre of focus you would suddenly get a background exposure -- its all starting to making sense! (I think;))

[cab1024]

What Roy described is also the way I shoot in manual mode -- but with center-weighted metering. I found that when metering what I wanted to be 18% grey, that unless I got the entire sky out of my frame with evaluative metering, it would throw off the meter. But with center-weighted I could just point the middle of the frame towards the grass or cliff side and not worry about stray light on the edges of the frame. And get my reading.

I also use exposure lock the same way with Av, P, etc. and every P&S I've used, to get my exposure.

But, I think I'm going to keep doing the same thing, but with spot metering to get even more precise control of what I'm metering. I just wish the evaluative metering on my camera was good enough to not be fooled by the presence of something as omnipresent as the sky.

[cab1024]

I recently put my old hand held light meter in my camera bag for shooting BIF in manual, but I haven't used it yet.

Anyone use a separate light meter anymore?

[hollis_f]

For example : Shooting a black crow on a bright BG : I meter from the crow , wanting the exposure to be around ( -1) . I play with he shutter & aperture to achieve the wanted exposure . I get a beautifully exposed black , full of details .
If , on the other hand , I will meter evaluative - the camera will read a bright scene ( remember the BG ) , and under expose to correct it . This will evolve into a very Dark / pitch black / opaque crow . I will then have to post-process and S/H the crow to get some details on the black .

This is what I would do with my 40D if the light was constant enough to shoot in manual, as described by Roy. However, with my 50D I think I may be changing to evaluative!

It's a common misconception that evaluative metering just takes an average of the whole scene and sets what it thinks is the correct exposure. That's more like the centre-weighted mode. What evaluative does is take a whole bunch of exposure readings from the whole scene and compares the results with a database of 'standard' images and sets the exposure to be correct for the standard image it thinks you're trying to shoot.

With the 40D that caused big problems, but with the 50D I'm beginning to suspect that Canon may have added some more 'standard' images to their database. That's because I'm finding that evaluative is actually giving good exposures for things like BiF that would totally stump the 40D.

I don't have my 40D at the moment, but I'll be picking it up sometime in the next week or so and then I'm going to try some tests to see if there is a substantial difference in the way that the 40D and 50D meter for BiF shots.

All this is, currently, speculation. The camera companies are highly secretive when it comes to their matrix/evaluative metering systems

[JohnZ]

I have just checked a few of my pics and come across "Average" and "Pattern" metering modes. Does anybody know what these are please.

[Roy C]

This is what I would do with my 40D if the light was constant enough to shoot in manual, as described by Roy. However, with my 50D I think I may be changing to evaluative!

It's a common misconception that evaluative metering just takes an average of the whole scene and sets what it thinks is the correct exposure. That's more like the centre-weighted mode. What evaluative does is take a whole bunch of exposure readings from the whole scene and compares the results with a database of 'standard' images and sets the exposure to be correct for the standard image it thinks you're trying to shoot.

With the 40D that caused big problems, but with the 50D I'm beginning to suspect that Canon may have added some more 'standard' images to their database. That's because I'm finding that evaluative is actually giving good exposures for things like BiF that would totally stump the 40D.

I don't have my 40D at the moment, but I'll be picking it up sometime in the next week or so and then I'm going to try some tests to see if there is a substantial difference in the way that the 40D and 50D meter for BiF shots.

All this is, currently, speculation. The camera companies are highly secretive when it comes to their matrix/evaluative metering systems
I think you are right about evaluative Frank, most of the 'big boys' seem to use evaluative with exposure comp and manual for BIF. I was reading an article a couple of days ago about just how good evaluative is and like you say, it is not just taking a reading from the whole of the scene and averaging it out. Although manual is fine for birds that are in the ambient light it still becomes a 'guess' when they are in the shade.
Before I started using manual I almost always used to shoot in Partial (and occasionally Spot) I am now learning the evaluative + Ev comp method myself.

This article (http://www.mikeatkinson.net/Tutorial-5-Exposure.htm)by Mike Atkinson is a superb read IMO.

P.S. I will be interested in your findings re the 40D v 50D Frank

[Roy C]

I have just checked a few of my pics and come across "Average" and "Pattern" metering modes. Does anybody know what these are please.
I believe Pattern is the same as evaluative John.

[Duke Leto]

What would evaluative be in other vendors kit such as Nikon or Olympus?

[DOC]

What would evaluative be in other vendors kit such as Nikon or Olympus?

MATRIX METERING

[Roy C]

Here is some info from wikipedia that explains multi segment (evaluative/matrix) metering a bit better and back's-up what Frank was saying:

"Many manufacturers are less than open about the exact calculations used to determine the exposure. A number of factors are taken into consideration, including the following: Autofocus (AF) point, distance to subject, areas in focus or out of focus, colours/hues of the scene, and backlighting. Multi-zone tends to bias its exposure towards the autofocus point being used (whilst taking into account other areas of the frame too), thus ensuring that the point of interest has been exposed for properly, (this often means the subject area being exposed for as a mid-tone). A database of many thousands of exposures is pre-stored in the camera, and the processor can use a selective pattern to determine what is being photographed"

[GYRob]

i would like a dedicated iso button that can be set to say iso 100/200/400/800 and just goes through the range and back to the beginning again .
That way a simple push of the button will keep the same Shutter speed AND Apeture yet ajust the exsposre very very quickly .
Rob.

[pshute]

What exposure metering mode do you use?

I use spot mode in aperture priority mode, but I keep an eye on the histogram. If the histogram is running off one end of the graph, I will lock the focus and aim slightly off the subject to get a bit more sky in if it has chosen an exposure too slow, or maybe at something else altogether if it's too fast.

It sounds a bit dodgy, but it's quick and seems to work most of the time. For a raptor in flight, I'd change to manual exposure if I have time, or maybe try the second trick above if I don't.

[hollis_f]

P.S. I will be interested in your findings re the 40D v 50D Frank

Not having a tame bird to pose for shots against a bright background I used a toy House Sparrow with a pencil shoved up its anatomy. Luckily the sky was cloudless so the light was unchanging. I used my 70-200 mm f4 at 90mm and 200mm (results were the same at both FLs, so only the 200mm shots shown).

I lined up the shots so that only the bird (and its pencil) were in the frame. Both cameras were set to Av, f8, ISO100, evaluative metering.

The results were not what I was expecting but still quite interesting. Both cameras chose a shutter speed of 1/500s. Damn, thought I, another lovely theory destroyed by an ugly fact. But then I looked at the pictures (both images resized to 2000 x 1333 then a 600x800 crop taken from the centre.

Despite having the same exposure values the 40D (left) looks underexposed. The 50D has done a much better job of getting the bird exposed correctly.

[Nikon Kid]

Thats interesting Frank, I have been shooting manual on Roy's advise and have been enjoying playing around with them wheels, and of cause over the last 3 days
trying to get Owl shots in fading light is pretty hard with a lot of wheel changing. I have been using spot metering in manual so to-night will try Evaluative and see what happens.

BTW, if you tested 40d v 50d manual mode Evaluative do you think the test would come out the same.

EDIT maybe setting the ISO at 400 which is what most of us use in the field, would that change anything.

[Roy C]

Not having a tame bird to pose for shots against a bright background I used a toy House Sparrow with a pencil shoved up its anatomy. Luckily the sky was cloudless so the light was unchanging. I used my 70-200 mm f4 at 90mm and 200mm (results were the same at both FLs, so only the 200mm shots shown).

I lined up the shots so that only the bird (and its pencil) were in the frame. Both cameras were set to Av, f8, ISO100, evaluative metering.

The results were not what I was expecting but still quite interesting. Both cameras chose a shutter speed of 1/500s. Damn, thought I, another lovely theory destroyed by an ugly fact. But then I looked at the pictures (both images resized to 2000 x 1333 then a 600x800 crop taken from the centre.

Despite having the same exposure values the 40D (left) looks underexposed. The 50D has done a much better job of getting the bird exposed correctly.
Hmm, Looks like the 40D is underexposing although I note that the shots were taken almost an hour apart and at different focal lengths!. Just one click on auto levels in PS and the 40D image is almost identical to the 50D shot.
I cannot say say I have ever noticed my 40D underexposing like this although if it was it is easy enough to cope with.
I think more test are needed Frank :t: maybe shot at the same time and focal length. It could be that you have got a underexposing 40D but I doubt it.

EDIT I guess one of the cameras has not been changed for BST which would explain the time difference.

[hollis_f]

Hmm, Looks like the 40D is underexposing although I note that the shots were taken almost an hour apart and at different focal lengths!. Just one click on auto levels in PS and the 40D image is almost identical to the 50D shot.
I cannot say say I have ever noticed my 40D underexposing like this although if it was it is easy enough to cope with.
I think more test are needed Frank :t: maybe shot at the same time and focal length. It could be that you have got a underexposing 40D but I doubt it.

EDIT I guess one of the cameras has not been changed for BST which would explain the time difference.

Yup, the time difference is because the 40D hasn't been used for a while.

Different FL is annoying, I must have moved the zoom while putting the second camera on. Next time I try with a prime lens. The problem is trying to get unchanging light.

[davem]

I tend to leave mine on centre weighted average and then overexpose accordingly using the thumbwheel when shooting aircraft or birds against the sky.