When to Use Which Metering Mode

[MarkBarbieri]

Evaluative/Matrix/multi-zone/segmented - It's called different things by different companies, but they all do basically the same thing. The camera looks at the entire picture and tries to pick an exposure that will work well for everything. When no one exposure will work for everything, it looks at things like the areas in focus to help determine the best compromise. For most people, this should be your default metering mode.

Center-Weighted - This is similar to evaluative/matrix metering, except that it always emphasises the center of the frame. I almost never use center-weighted, using evaluative/matrix instead. If there are some big center-weighted fans here, perhaps they can chip in on why they prefer it to evaluative/matrix.

Spot - Spot metering is sort of like the "manual" mode of metering. With spot metering, you put the metering spot (usually the middle of the frame) precisely over the object you want to meter off of. Rather than let the camera pick the exposure level by guessing at what is important, you tell it the exact spot to use. This is great on those occasions when you have a situation too tricky for evaluative/matrix mode. The downside is that if you forget and start shooting in spot meter mode without being careful, you wind up with exposures that are wildly off the mark because the thing in the spot happened to be much lighter or darker than the rest of the frame. Use spot metering when you need it, but it makes for a lousy "normal" metering mode.

Partial - Partial metering mode is like spot with a bigger spot. You could also look at it like very center-weighted. The difference is that it ignores everything outside the center region while center-weighted just gives more weight to the center region. It's useful when you want to meter off of what is in the middle of the frame but don't need or want the precision of spot metering.

What I Do
For me personally, I use evaluative 90% of the time. I sometimes switch to partial metering when I'm shooting a brightly lit subject with a dark background (like a Disney stage show). I've tried both partial and spot in those cases, but I find spot too difficult with rapidly moving subjects.

I use spot when I'm taking pictures in really tricky lighting and I want to be extra careful about my metering level. Most of the time I use spot metering, I also use manual exposure. I use the spot to work out the correct exposure level and leave it locked. I've found that leaving spot metering on in an auto-exposure mode often leads to too much variability.

Using Spot
Another good use for your spot meter is to examine a scene to see the relative light levels. You can meter the dark areas and light areas of the scene to see whether you can capture the entire scene with one shot. If you can't, then you can make your own decision about whether to blow the highlights or lose the shadow detail or to supply more light on your own.

Dark and Light Objects
One important thing to remember when using your camera's meter is that it is reading the amount of light reflected from the subject. Some subjects reflect a lot of light (snow, white clothing, clouds) and some reflect very little (dark clothing, black hair). Your camera's meter has no clue about dark and light objects. It assumes that everything is sort of middle grey and tries to make it look that way. If you let it have it's way, that snow will underexpose and look grey. That black tux will overexpose and look grey.

Exposure Compensation
To help your camera deal with dark or light subjects, you can use exposure compensation. That allows you to tell your camera that you want it to increase or decrease the exposure it thinks is correct. When spot metering off of something white, tell the camera to overexpose by 2 stops. When spot metering off of something light (pink, sky blue, yellow) tell it to overexpose by 1 stop. When spot metering off of something dark (forest green, dark brown, maroon, navy) tell it to underexpose by 1 stop. When spot metering off of something black, tell it to underexpose by 2 stops.

If you are using evaluative/matrix metering, your camera isn't quite as easily fooled by dark and light objects. Actually, it is, but these usually make up less of the scene, so they don't throw the overall exposure off by as much. When shooting a typical snow scene, I overexpose by about 1 stop.

Histogram
When in doubt, take a look at your histogram after you take a shot. If it runs up the right side, you have overexposed part of your picture. If it runs up the left side, you have underexposed part of your picture. If it runs up both, then the scene has more dynamic range than you can capture and you've got to decide what you want to expose well and what you are willing to lose.

Manual Mode
Once you get your exposure right for a setting, consider switching to manual exposure mode. If you've got the exposure right and the light isn't going to be changing, this will ensure that the exposure stays correct. It is especially useful if you are taking sequences of shots, like little Johnny racing down the field with the ball. The sequence will look better if the exposure is consistent.

Bracketing
If you aren't sure what exposure you want or you want to try different exposures, use your camera's auto-bracketing feature. Many cameras will take a series of shots (usually three, but sometimes five or even more) at different exposure levels. The hope is that one of the set will be correct.

HDR
If you really, really want to capture everything in one scene but the range from dark to light is too great, you have one more option. You can take those bracketed shots and combine them into one. Using HDR (high dynamic range) tools, you can combine the properly exposed parts of each picture into one picture that ranges from really dark to really light. This only works if your subjects aren't moving.

Summary
To summarize my advice - use evaluative/matrix mode almost all the time. Use spot metering if you want to meter something precisely (remember to adjust for the lightness of the object you metered from). Use partial if you want to use spot but your subject is moving too much for the precision of spot metering. When in doubt, bracket. When you've got the perfect exposure set for a scene where the light isn't changing, switch to manual and lock in those settings.

One last reminder...if you switch to spot mode or turn on exposure compensation, remember to turn it off before you go back to your normal shooting. I saw someone come back from a trip during which they left +2 exposure compensation on for a couple of days and overexposed almost every shot. They made the mistake of leaving it on and the mistake of never checking their shot reviews or histogram.

 

[Suburbanmom]

Great tutorial!!!!!! Thank you so much for the time you put into this site.

 

[MICKEY88]

One last reminder...if you switch to spot mode or turn on exposure compensation, remember to turn it off before you go back to your normal shooting. I saw someone come back from a trip during which they left +2 exposure compensation on for a couple of days and overexposed almost every shot. They made the mistake of leaving it on and the mistake of never checking their shot reviews or histogram.

was that someone anyone we know..??

 

[YEKCIM]

"Spot On" advice, Mark. Thanks for taking the time to put this together...along with the many other helpful tutorials you've so kindly shared with this forum.

~Ed

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I totally agree with Ed. Thanks Mark for all your tutorials! I'm totally going to have to print all these out and practice!:

 

[seashoreCM]

I am still a snapshooter with a point-and shoot as opposed to being a photographer.

I have used center-weighted a lot. At least for scenes with focus essentially at infinity, if I want to, I aim off center, at a darker or lighter part of the scene, to get the camera to meter differently. Then I press the shutter button halfway, re-aim and take the picture. Instead of pushing the tiny buttons to adjust the camera each time, I do this re-aiming for bracketing exposures, namely taking two or three shots of the same subject but with different exposure values.

Yes I have made the mistake of not resetting the exposure compensation after a shot needing it. Including once in the film camera days when I had the ISO set wrong for an entire roll which got badly overexposed.

Digital camera hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/digicam.htm

 

[manning]

If you are willing to spend money for a light meter able to take an incident reading you should consider doing it.

Why? It is the the most accurate way of metering for the majority of the pictures you take.

Here is a Kodak article that will explain it.

"USING INCIDENT-LIGHT METERS

To use an incident-light meter, hold it at or near the subject and aim the meter's light-sensitive cell back toward the camera. The meter reads the amount of light illuminating the subject, not light reflected from the subject, so the meter ignores the subject and background characteristics. As with a reflected reading, an incident reading provides exposure information for rendering average subjects correctly, making incident readings most accurate when the subject is not extremely bright or dark.

When taking an incident-light reading, be sure you measure the light illuminating the side of the subject you want to photograph, and be careful that your shadow isn't falling on the meter. If the meter isn't actually at the subject, you can get a workable reading by holding the meter in the same kind of light the subject is in. Because the meter is aimed toward the camera and away from the background light, an incident reading is helpful with backlighted subjects. This is also the case when the main subject is small and surrounded by a dominant background that is either much lighter or darker.

The exposure determined by an incident-light meter should be the same as reading a gray card with a reflected-light meter. Fortunately, many scenes have average reflectance with an even mix of light and dark areas, so the exposure indicated is good for many picture-taking situations. However, if the main subject is very light or very dark, and you want to record detail in this area, you must modify the meter's exposure recommendations as follows:

For light subjects, decrease exposure by 1/2 to 1 stop from the meter reading.
For dark subjects, increase exposure by 1/2 to 1 stop from the meter reading.
You will notice that these adjustments are just the opposite from those required for a reflected-light meter. An incident meter does not work well when photographing light sources because it cannot meter light directly. In such situations you will be better off using a reflected-light meter or an exposure table.

If the scene is unevenly illuminated and you want the best overall exposure, make incident-light readings in the brightest and darkest areas that are important to your picture. Aim the meter in the direction of the camera position for each reading. Set the exposure by splitting the difference between the two extremes."



http://www.kodak.com/cluster/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/af9/index.shtml#54503


I used to use a Gossen Lunapro until I couldn't get batteries for it. It used 1.3 volt mercury batteries. Replacements are 1.5 volts resulting in over exposure. I have just discovered there is an adapter for about $30.00 to bring the voltage down to 1.3.

 

[Groucho]

I seem to recall some photographers claiming that the meters in modern cameras often beat most any handheld meter, but I am no authority on such things. I would guess that the advantage, if it did exist, would be fairly slight compared to picking an appropriate metering mode - or, just bracket when you're in uncertain lighting. It'll be much faster and you'll probably pick up an acceptable exposure.

I do love the meter in my old film K1000 - a needle on the right side of the frame, which would swing up and down as you moved the camera around. It was basically spot metering, and a perfectly horizontal needle would theoretically indicate a perfect exposure, but it was easy to guess by moving the camera around a little what the perfect exposure would be. I almost never had shots that were too light or too dark. When picking your own exposure, the digital displays just can't match a good old fashioned analog needle for quick exposure readings.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I seem to recall some photographers claiming that the meters in modern cameras often beat most any handheld meter

That may be true, but that doesn't really replace an incident light meter. A camera meter is reading the light levels based on the light reflected by your subject. An incident meter is used by placing it in the light your subject is in and recording the light that hits your subject. By directly reading the light hitting the subject rather than the light reflected by it, you aren't easily fooled by dark or light colored subjects.

For "normal" photography, I can't imagine bothering with an incident light meter. It's so easy to check your histogram and to bracket shots with digital, that exposure problems are almost non-existant for people using an in-camera light meter that they understand.

The exception, and it's a big one, is if you want to start controlling the lighting on your subject, not just the overall exposure level. In those cases, determining the appropriate power and position of your lights and reflectors and the ratio between them almost demands an incident meter. I'm starting to play around with studio lights I can tell that I'm going to have to get an incident meter if I'm going to get any good at it. Then again, maybe it's just another excuse to buy another photography toy.

 

[Anewman]

That may be true, but that doesn't really replace an incident light meter. A camera meter is reading the light levels based on the light reflected by your subject. An incident meter is used by placing it in the light your subject is in and recording the light that hits your subject. By directly reading the light hitting the subject rather than the light reflected by it, you aren't easily fooled by dark or light colored subjects.

Very good point about camera meters only reading reflected light... I mean take the camera in spot/partial mode and under the same light point it at a white shirt, and then point it at a black shirt. Amount of light has not changed but the readings sure do.

 

[Groucho]

Well, except for the fact that if you're shooting something light, you're going to want less light than if you're shooting something dark. An incident light meter may give you a consistent reading but a consistent reading is not appropriate all the time. In a studio under consistent lighting, maybe... but not so much when you're out and running around.

 

[DVC Jen]

Mark thanks so much. You have a way of getting your point across - explaining things in terms that everyone can understand.

Now if you ever feel the need to write another of your wonderful tutorials - using a speedlight/hotshoe flash would make a great one.

 

[MICKEY88]

Then again, maybe it's just another excuse to buy another photography toy.

I think I found a typo in your post, I'm sure you meant to say tool...rather than toy...thumbsup2

 

[JohnW]

Firstly, thanks for the original post Mark, very helpful. This is a subject that I am coming to terms with. I thought it might be useful to post a practical example and let you guys comment.

So, I took this in Sea World and I used spot metering on the girls body to get the front of her "correctly" exposed. I think this was successful. However, the background has been totally blown. So, my thought process is that I used spot metering correctly but I didn't think through the result on the overall picture. It may be that is is impossible to illuminate her satisfactorily without blowing at least some of the background highlights. What I think I could/should have done is used exposure compensation to reduce the exposure and tried to find a balance between exposing the girl and the background.

Any other ways I could have exposed this better?

 

[SharonLowe]

Firstly, thanks for the original post Mark, very helpful. This is a subject that I am coming to terms with. I thought it might be useful to post a practical example and let you guys comment.

So, I took this in Sea World and I used spot metering on the girls body to get the front of her "correctly" exposed. I think this was successful. However, the background has been totally blown. So, my thought process is that I used spot metering correctly but I didn't think through the result on the overall picture. It may be that is is impossible to illuminate her satisfactorily without blowing at least some of the background highlights. What I think I could/should have done is used exposure compensation to reduce the exposure and tried to find a balance between exposing the girl and the background.

Any other ways I could have exposed this better?

I think this is a case for center-weighted but it is hard to tell. I think she is overexposed too - look at her arms. In reality, what you needed here was fill flash to get a correct exposure on her but you can't do that in these shows since your flash won't work that far away. As much as I hate it, this type of situation is a good time to use dodging techniques in PS to lighten her face while getting a decent background.

 

[SharonLowe]

The exception, and it's a big one, is if you want to start controlling the lighting on your subject, not just the overall exposure level. In those cases, determining the appropriate power and position of your lights and reflectors and the ratio between them almost demands an incident meter. I'm starting to play around with studio lights I can tell that I'm going to have to get an incident meter if I'm going to get any good at it. Then again, maybe it's just another excuse to buy another photography toy.

Yes, you will need a new tool - you can't really do studio lights well without a light meter. The newer ones are incredible - save your money for a Sekonic and you won't be disappointed. I also use mine for night photography but with the meter on my 1DsMkII, it isn't necessary all the time. It is also great when you want to use the zone system in your landscapes but requires lots of patience.