Don't Worry About Meter Accuracy
Don't Worry About Meter Accuracy
Does the X Pro 2 have the more accurate meter and more modern sensor or do you need to go to the X Pro 3 for this?
With the X100, X-100T, X-Pro 1, XT-1 and the X-Pro 2 I have not noticed significant metering differences when I use the Multi setting in the Photometry menu.
I have not found meter accuracy to be important except for action photography where subject movements in a scene are very dynamic.
The meter accuracy is not important because one can auto-bracket exposure (i.e. either shutter time or aperture setting).
For raw files I typically record 0, +1/3 and -1/3 EV exposures. Sometimes I use 0, +2/3 and -2/3 EV bracket steps I use the lowest practical camera ISO setting.[1] I keep the raw file with the optimum exposure. The optimum exposure is the image where highlight regions important to the image are not overexposed (which implies highlight regions that are
not important are intentionally overexposed).
About 75% of the ti I keep the 0 EV exposure. I almost never keep the -1/3 or -2/3 EV exposure.
For some scenes (candids of people in my work) raw-file exposure auto-bracketing offers another advantage. Sometimes one of the images will have a more interesting facial expression. In this case content become more important than optimum exposure.
Because these FUJIFILM cameras are approximately ISO invariant the electronic noise levels are lower than the photon noise levels. So, there is no significant IQ advantage with ISO greater than the native ISO(s). The noise in the signal-to-noise ratio is essentially constant and exposure alone determines image quality. This means the meter is only useful for avoiding sensor overexposure when there is very bright light.[2]
For in-camera JPEGs the camera ISO setting becomes important in order to produce images with appropriate brightness levels. Increasing JPEG brightness in post-production has limitations because information content is destroyed during lossy JPEG data compression. However, bracketing exposure still minimizes concerns about meter accuracy.
1. With the X100T this is almost always ISO 200 - the native sensor sensitivity. The X-Pro 2 has a dual conversion-gain sensor. This means there are two different native sensor ISO settings - 200 and 800. I alway use ISO 200 for high dynamic range scenes and ISO 800 for low light scenes. I rarely use other camera ISO settings.
2. Blown image highlights can result from two different errors. In one case the maximum electrical charge capacities some sensor photosites is exceeded. This occurs because of inappropriate shutter and, or aperture settings. The other case is using excessive camera ISO settings. This increases the photo sites' DC voltage levels above the analog-to digital converter's maximum input voltage threshold. In extreme cases these errors occur simultaneously.
