curious about metering...

back alley

back alley

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based on using my nikon d90...i am assuming that most dslr's have several modes of metering...spot, some kind of matrix and centre weighted...

i'm curious as to which you might use (for the most part).

i have been using spot as i like that precise control but my newspaper buddy (that i bought the 24 from) says he uses matrix most of the time.
 
I don't have a DSLR but do have a couple of film SLRs with matrix metering, and I leave them set for that. My understanding is that matrix metering has various lighting situations/challenges programmed in, so it's about as foolproof as as you're going to get. I am sure it handles some situations less well, but it seems to work really well in the vast majority of instances.
 
Matrix is by far the most effective. I'm amazed at how well it handles a large variety of situations. Spot is OK for specifc scene readings but matrix gives a better over all balance IMO and even seems to figure backlit situations out well enough to get the shot!
 
Yea, matrix is very good but not perfect. Good enough to use all the time and over riding it the few times you didn't get what you want. Funny enough I have a permanent -1/3 set on the D700 but so far have not found it necessary on the D300. I guess the matrix metering is slightly different camera to camera.

Bob
 
Nikon's matrix metering on their D-SLRs is very, very good. I never used it on my old F4s film Nikon, it made a lot of bad decisions, but on the D70 I used to have, Matrix was right on 90% of the time. It was greatly improved over the old system that only divided the scene into 5 or 6 areas. I think the old D70 matrix used 1000 metering areas. My 5DmkII matrix sucks, its nowhere near as good as the Nikon system. I use a handheld meter or the built in spot on the Canon.
 
I don't know about the D90 but with my D700 a stop out in either direction isn't a disaster ... so when the matrix metering does get it a little wrong I generally still have a usable image.
 
When I had my D700 in situations where I had a lot of light, I would use matrix metering; with limited light, I would spot meter.
 
When using a flash on either the F4 or F5 I set it for TTL & Matrix Metering...with the non-AF lenses it goes back to Center-Weight
 
Nikon F4 with the WLF will only only Spot Meter...
Once you get a reading stick with it until the light changes...
 
Joe,

I have one slr (Nikon F4s) and one dslr (Nikon D100) with matrix metering. Admittedly, these are not your more advanced matrix metering bodies :).

I use all three modes (matrix, center-weighted, spot), but the majority of the time, I use center-weighted because I find that it's
more predictable.

- shooting fast, no time to think, I may use Matrix
- when I'm shooting more deliberately, and also for super-wide lenses, I use Center-weighted
- for difficult lighting situations, I use Spot.

--Warren
 
Matrix is good for 90-95% of my shots. In general, the newer the body the better the meter (that probably goes without saying). My F4s/FA was OK in good light, F5 was a HUGE step ahead of the F4, and the F6 is an even further improvement (to the point where I've maybe used spot 3-4 times total on it).
 
back alley said:
why never doug?
Click to expand...
Caused me to reflect a bit (sorry!)... I have a Pentax Digital Spot Meter that I got mainly for my wife's use in theatre photography. I've never used it, nor the spot feature in my P67II. Not sure if I have any other camera with this spot feature. In theatre photography the subject is often in dramatically (sorry!) different light than its surroundings or the photographer, so spot metering is useful IMO under that sort of circumstance.

That is a rare situation for me, and I'm more likely to go to the opposite extreme; incident light metering. I'm interested in the light that is falling on the subject, more than the reflectance of the subject. I try to keep that viewpoint in mind as I use cameras with TTL reflectance metering.
 
For me metering depends on the subject matter, environment and desired effect. As such I consider no single style of metering applies overall.

To further complicate matters I can say that every camera I own has it's own metering peculiarities.

Certain lenses I use benefit from a different metering approach also. I assume this is their light gathering ability.

If I owned 1 camera and 1 lens this would be easy - but I own many different systems.

So for me, whether film or digital, it's back to the trusty light meter every time.

Makes life a lot easier.
 
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