Light Metering Modes on S30

[iandnor]

Has anyone worked out the difference between the light metering modes on the S30?

The "Spot Metering Mode" is straight forward, but what is the difference between the "Evaluative" and "Centre-Weighted Averaging" modes?

I can't notice much difference at all (although the manual does suggest that the "Centre-Weighted" always locks on the centre AF frame, while the "Evaluative locks onto whatever AF is selected).

I cannot really see why you would want "Centre-Weighted" at all. After all, if you were going to lock the metering onto a AF frame, surely you would always want it to be the one you were using to focus.

[Rustle]

Spot AE is, as you say, obvious. Whatever's in the box is metered. 'Evaluative' measures the entire frame and averages out the light values. 'Center-weighted' is like evaluative, but places more value on the center of the frame--thus, center-weighted. So, view it as halfway between evaluative and spot (though that's not really correct).

Evaluative is the default setting for auto. Center-weighted is good for situations where you want to meter the subject (usually in the center of the frame) and don't care as much about the background. The manual says to use it when the subject is backlit. Spot AE will only ensure that whatever's in the AF is exposed properly.

You'll also notice on the menu that there's an option called "Spot AE Point" that can be set to 'AF Point' or 'Center'. This allows you to choose between metering the center all the time or metering whichever AF point you're using (left, center, right).

Russ