Metering for Portraits with the 5D - Help!

Can someone help me out here. What mode do you use? I am so used to my Rebel XT and how the incamera meter works (when to under and overexpose) and now I feel lost with the 5D. Any tips to share?

Thanks!

Spot metering off the mid tone of the subject seems to work the best.

...or spot metering off a pure white or black area (if it's available, of course) and adjusting your exposure compensation accordingly.

If you like to do portraits, this is a good purchase:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …EG&addedTroughT​ype=search

I have it set so that the * button is my AF and my shutter button is AE, I spot meter on the most important part of the subject (face), lock, then recompose, focus, CHIMP!

Thanks everyone. Yes, I really should drop the 20 bucks for a gray card. I keep putting that off. That would definitely be a plus for studio stuff. Outdoors with changing light and chasing after kids I think it would be more of a hindrance than a help though. I'm going to spot meter off the face and see how that goes with the outdoor shots. I am really loving the 5D. I've only had it a day but man oh man what a difference! I had a shoot yesterday after only having the camera for a couple of hours and took it out with the 85 1.8 along with the Rebel XT and the 50mm 1.4 lens just in case I had inssues. First shots out of the 5D blew the Rebel out of the water. The Rebel feels like a toy in my hands compared to the very fine 5D. I am in love!

i use a light meter and shoot in manual

AV & I usually spot meter off the face.

I use AV mode about 90% of the time with Evaluative metering. I shoot, review the histogram, and reshoot with some exposure compensation if I feel it is necessary from judging the histogram. I generally "expose to the right" but am careful to keep the highlights from blowing out. If you are shooting several shots in the same lighting conditions an incident meter can work very efficiently, but with moving kids that may not be the case.

zacwolf wrote in post #2252987
i use a light meter and shoot in manual

For portraits ditto but I then tend to bracket 1/2 a stop as well.

NickSimcheck wrote in post #2249264
I have it set so that the * button is my AF and my shutter button is AE, I spot meter on the most important part of the subject (face), lock, then recompose, focus, CHIMP!

How do I change my * buton to AF

and also, how do I lock my exposure once i got the light reading i want ?

Thanks a lot

Menu>Custom Function>04>01

So go to custom function #04 and change it from 00 to 01 and it'll say "AE Lock/AF" You're basicly swapping functions of the same buttons, the only difference is that the shutter button locks only when your half-way down, so as soon as you let go it unlocks.

My reasoning is that I usually can get away without using exposure comp, if the previous image was under exposed I meter off a darker area untill I see the f/stop of shutter speed I want and then lock. If over exposed I simply meter off a lighter area. It's kinda like shooting in Manual, only I let the camera automaticly get me in the ballpark.