Spot metering

I know my 7D will not meter the selectable outer AF points, and the late versions of the 1 Series will .
Are there any 5D3 owners on here- has this been added to the 5D3's list of features?
Sorry to sort of hijack the post?

apersson850 wrote in post #15739032
That's fine. If you want to take several shots, then metering off the face and setting the proper exposure in M mode is easier. In an automatic mode, you have to keep the AE lock button pressed all the time, or you loose the locked exposure between shots.

This isn't the case if you set the AE lock button(or which ever button you choose to program) to AE hold.

Can I point the center to the subject (without pressing the shutter button), press the AE lock button and recompose? I noticed when I move around the center, the exposure value change.

Hmm, not sure what you're talking about...?

tonylong wrote in post #16193284
Hmm, not sure what you're talking about...?

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. Can I lock the exposure by using the exposure lock button without half-press the shutter button?

Providing you can see the asterisk/star "*" in the view finder after you press the AE lock button and keep the shutter button half pressed, then the exposure will be locked. You can then recompose the shot.

Pages 110 and 236 of the 7D manual will explain this. Presumably It's the same for the 5D.

I don't think metering starts until the half press, depends how you have your camera set up, back button focus for example. Check the manual.

No, metering does indeed start if you press the * button, and have it configured as * button, i.e. AE lock.
Just like metering starts when you press the AF-ON button (again, provided it's set to do the AF-ON task).

killwilly wrote in post #16193335
Providing you can see the asterisk/star "*" in the view finder after you press the AE lock button and keep the shutter button half pressed, then the exposure will be locked. You can then recompose the shot.

Pages 110 and 236 of the 7D manual will explain this. Presumably It's the same for the 5D.

Thanks. I've refer to the manual and customised the button.

Does the following step make sense? Any better work flow?

1) Position the AF point on the frame where the subject will be.
2) Position the center point to the subject. Half-press and hold the shutter button to lock the exposure (Assigned the shutter button to AE lock (while button pressed))
3) Recompose and Press AF-On to focus
4) Full-press to release the shutter

I use the AE lock in a situation where there are extremes in light conditions, ie: sky would be over exposed and shadows, no detail and under exposed. I would then try and find an area in the image which is somewhere between, or decide which is the most important, sky,or shadows and then expose for that using the AE button. Cover the area that you want in focus and half press the shutter button, whilst holding, move the centre focus point to the neutral area and press AE lock, (this is a thumb and finger exercise). Move the center focus point back to the original and take the shot.

I use manual lenses for 60% of my photography, so autofocus doesn't present the extra problem of refocusing when using AE lock.

This works for me, perhaps others will offer their comments.

killwilly wrote in post #16193425
...move the centre focus point to the neutral area and press AE lock, (this is a thumb exercise). Move the center focus point back to the original and take the shot.

This is the only part of that you really need to do, when focusing manually.

An alternative to the list by veryfishy would be this:

1. Aim where you want metering, press *.
   
2. Aim where you want focus, hold half-press of shutter.
   
3. Aim where you want your picture, press the trigger all the way.

Easier method:

In full manual: aim the centre point towards the key tone, adjust the values (shutter speed or aperture) so that it has the proper brightness level. That's it for metering.

Now recompose the frame and aim your focus point towards where the focus needs to be, press the * button to lock it, then fire away.

(I'm here assuming that you customised the * button as a focus button; if you're using the camera defaults, then focusing is more of a hassle, as you need to half-press the shutter and keep it so till you recompose again and release).

Actually, the camera is always metering, whether you press any buttons or not: it just doesn't set the metering itself if you're in full manual, the needle just moves across the EV scale as you move the centre point across points of different brightness in the scene. In order to save power, though, the readouts in the viewframe go away after a few seconds if you're not pressing any buttons; so just half-press the shutter release button to bring the readouts back for another period of a few seconds and see this for yourself: without pressing any buttons aim the centre point at a very bright value in the scene and then quickly towards a very dark one: you'll see.