Evaluative metering vs. Spot metering (1 Viewer)

[mikenott]

Had an interesting discussion with a colleague whilst photographing in the gloomy weather recently. Reading comments by most "competent" bird photographers, they nearly always advocate evaluative metering as their preferred option. But thinking about it, a lot of them seem to get very close to the birds and the bird comprises a significant proportion of the frame making evaluative metering appropriate.

On the other hand, my local UK reservoir often requires record shots at some distance where the bird may only fill 5-10% of the frame. Similarly, the birds on top of trees are often silhouetted. I know you can use over/under exposure controls to compensate, but in these situations isn't spot metering an alternative (better?) tool to help? I do know that a lot of people go fully Manual in exposure settings, but I haven't quite got that far yet (but it is a change I am moving towards)

I suppose another question is what part and size of the sensor is used for spot metering?

Interested in others thoughts and approach to this.

Michael.

 

[jalethbridge]

If the bird is miles away and is going to be dot, who cares?!

 

[Hottentot]

The spot is pretty big so the bird would have to fill a lot of the center metering point for it to work. Its not going to work at all with dark birds on a distant tree against a light sky.
When all is said and done you may as well learn how to go manual as it is just easier IMO.

PS
I think most competent bird photographers would be using manual for most situations, especially birds moving against a variable background.

 

[Roy C]

I rarely use spot metering myself Michael although it has its uses. I think it best to get used to one metering mode (I use evaluative) and exposure compensation.
The 'silhouette on top of trees' scenario is typical of photographers who do not understand the Camera metering - dark bird, small in the frame against a light sky and the Camera is mostly going to meter for the sky which means an underexposed bird.
It all comes down to experience as to how much compensation you need in any particular situation but after a while it becomes second nature to quickly access the situation and apply the right amount of Ev comp.
Manual is another option but that still requires an understanding of the tone of a bird and how much to tweak the settings (usually shutter speed) to correctly expose the bird - I often use this for flyers when the bird could be flying against differing backgrounds, the advantage being once you have set the correct exposure for the prevailing light then the bird will always be correctly exposed regardless of the background it is flying through.

Just my 2ps worth!!!

 

[Tim Taylor]

Increasingly I'm using just manual metering. If the light is fairly constant - eg grey skies! - I meter off some pale grass or similar on AV, then look at the shutter speed offered for the ISO and fiddle with ISO on AV until the shutter speed seems reasonable for the situation I am anticipating with the target eg flight vs static. I shoot wide open apertures almost all the time. I then copy the settings onto manual and snap a picture of the target bird and check for 'blinkies' on the back of the camera. Further adjustments made to just eliminate blinkies on the bird and then I relax knowing that exposure for the bird in the setting you describe is likely to be right whether the bird is in the water, on the reservoir edge or on the top of a tree. If the light changes significantly, I adjust accordingly. Using this method, spot vs evaluative metering becomes pretty irrelevant but for what it's worth I always use evaluative as I'm used to how it behaves.

If none of this makes any sense to you, stick to what you know or look for a better answer!

EDIT: I see Roy has chipped in with something similar while I typed.

 

[Roy C]

EDIT: I see Roy has chipped in with something similar while I typed.

Yep, sorry about that Tim B

I went through a period when I was shooting manual all the time, my method is to set the aperture and ISO I want and then aim the Camera at something around 18% grey (med grass, roof tiles or even pavements but in the ambient light) and set the shutter speed so that the meter is zeroed. It is then just a case of altering the shutter speed to suit the tone of the bird against 18% grey -decreasing the shutter speed for a dark bird (+ Ev) and increasing it for a light bird (-Ev). After a while you get used to just how much (how many 1/3 of stop clicks of the wheel) was needed for any particular bird and could change very quickly - the big thing I find is to always go back to the base zeroed setting after snapping a bird so that you know exactly where you are for the next bird that pops up. After that it is just a case of reassessing if the light changes.
When I had the the 400/5.6 I mostly used f5.6 and ISO 400 and you could almost always guess what the prevailing light was even without metering something - really good light was going to be around 1/1600 sec whereas overcast might be 1/800 sec.

 

[GYRob]

Yep, sorry about that Tim B

I went through a period when I was shooting manual all the time, my method is to set the aperture and ISO I want and then aim the Camera at something around 18% grey (med grass, roof tiles or even pavements but in the ambient light) and set the shutter speed so that the meter is zeroed. It is then just a case of altering the shutter speed to suit the tone of the bird against 18% grey -decreasing the shutter speed for a dark bird (+ Ev) and increasing it for a light bird (-Ev). After a while you get used to just how much (how many 1/3 of stop clicks of the wheel) was needed for any particular bird and could change very quickly - the big thing I find is to always go back to the base zeroed setting after snapping a bird so that you know exactly where you are for the next bird that pops up. After that it is just a case of reassessing if the light changes.
When I had the the 400/5.6 I mostly used f5.6 and ISO 400 and you could almost always guess what the prevailing light was even without metering something - really good light was going to be around 1/1600 sec whereas overcast might be 1/800 sec.

This is just what i do and nearly always set it on mid grass or bushes then i take a shot and make a minor ajustment if needed.
this is then the starting point often for 2 or 3 hours then just do it again .
Rob.