Setting the Camera's Light Meter: Which Mode?
Which metering mode have you chosen? Is it spot or center weighted average; perhaps, you've chosen evaluative or partial? These are the options on the Canon 7D. On the Canon G12, it is evaluative, center-weighted average, or spot. The options vary by camera, but in almost all cases, other than phone cameras, there are options. When I have posed the question about which setting a user has chosen, I am often greeted with a glassy eyed stare. Which to select, that is the question at hand.
Each of the options available on a camera determines the exposure using the 18% gray or 50% luminance measurement in a different manner (check the preceding blog post for more on 18% gray). Each one uses a different and complex algorithm to determine the exposure.
Evaluative (different manufacturers use different nomenclature, like zone matrix) is often the default setting on the camera. It measures a number of points as seen through the camera's viewfinder (if it has one) and calculates something like an average or weighted average of the readings on the points and the background. The camera's manual usually gives this option glowing reviews; it seems best for almost all cases if the manual is to be believed.
Partial metering measures the reflected light based on an area in the center of the viewfinder. In the case of the Canon 7D, this is a circle covering 9.4% of the viewfinder area, directly in the center. It does not consider any of the reflected light beyond this circle.
Spot metering focuses its efforts on a small spot in the center of the viewfinder. It considers only the light reflected onto this small spot. The spot on the Canon 7D is 2.3% of the viewfinder area.
Center-weighted roughly determines the measurement in the center of the viewfinder with a heavier weight given to the very center and less to the remaining area.
The question remains, which mode is best. That really depends on the type of subject and lighting conditions that one encounters. As for me, my favorites are spot and partial. More often than not, I'll aim the metering point at the subject area that I wish to be properly exposed. Normally, I'm shooting in the manual mode; so, the settings are made and then the final composition is completed. One could use the exposure lock, it can preserve this reading if you are shooting in aperture or shutter priority.
My suggestion to most people is take the time to experiment with each of the metering modes available on your camera. Then you can determine which works best for you. And yes, it does help to read the camera's manual.
Note: The illustrations are approximate representations of the modes as described in the Canon 7D manual.
Each of the options available on a camera determines the exposure using the 18% gray or 50% luminance measurement in a different manner (check the preceding blog post for more on 18% gray). Each one uses a different and complex algorithm to determine the exposure.
Evaluative (different manufacturers use different nomenclature, like zone matrix) is often the default setting on the camera. It measures a number of points as seen through the camera's viewfinder (if it has one) and calculates something like an average or weighted average of the readings on the points and the background. The camera's manual usually gives this option glowing reviews; it seems best for almost all cases if the manual is to be believed.
Partial metering measures the reflected light based on an area in the center of the viewfinder. In the case of the Canon 7D, this is a circle covering 9.4% of the viewfinder area, directly in the center. It does not consider any of the reflected light beyond this circle.
Spot metering focuses its efforts on a small spot in the center of the viewfinder. It considers only the light reflected onto this small spot. The spot on the Canon 7D is 2.3% of the viewfinder area.
Center-weighted roughly determines the measurement in the center of the viewfinder with a heavier weight given to the very center and less to the remaining area.
The question remains, which mode is best. That really depends on the type of subject and lighting conditions that one encounters. As for me, my favorites are spot and partial. More often than not, I'll aim the metering point at the subject area that I wish to be properly exposed. Normally, I'm shooting in the manual mode; so, the settings are made and then the final composition is completed. One could use the exposure lock, it can preserve this reading if you are shooting in aperture or shutter priority.
My suggestion to most people is take the time to experiment with each of the metering modes available on your camera. Then you can determine which works best for you. And yes, it does help to read the camera's manual.
Note: The illustrations are approximate representations of the modes as described in the Canon 7D manual.
nice blog...i like it
ReplyDelete