Easier AE-Lock when using CF4-1 ?

Whilst shooting some sunsets the other week, I came across the first 'drawback' of using CF4-1.

I was hand-holding the 100-400L, focusing with the * button, and attemping to AE-Lock with the shutter button whilst using spot-metering.

The combination of heavy camera, heavy lens, focusing, and holding the shutter button halfway down to lock the exposure without tripping the shutter was proving very difficult and I ended up switching back to CF-0 for a couple of shots.

However, last night I was flicking through the manual, and remembered about multi-spot metering. I then had a head-slapping moment - am I right in thinking I can use the FEL button to take only ONE multi-spot metering to get the same effect as AE-Lock? I did a few test shots and it seems to be the case. Quickly tapping and releasing the FEL button once is a lot easier than half-pressing the shutter and recomposing, and seems to give the same result as '*' would on CF-0.

Please let me know if I'm totally wrong!

Youve confused the hell out of me, but out of interest what camera are you using?

Yes, that'll work just fine, as long as you remember that it only works when you're in spot-metering mode.

BTW, just curious. If you were shooting a sunset, why was there a need to keep the "*" button pressed and the shutter button half-pressed simultaneously? Since the sunset wasn't really going anyplace that would have required a change in focus, wouldn't a single tap on the "*" button have sufficed?

Probably the 1D IIn in his sig.

I must get some glasses

steveathome wrote in post #2330866
Youve confused the hell out of me, but out of interest what camera are you using?

Lol.. I'm using the 1DMKIIN.

Basically I was struggling to hold the shutter button halfway down to lock the exposure whilst recomposing - I kept taking a photo due to the weight of everything throwing it off-balance.

Normally I'd use '*' for AE-Lock, but seeing as I'd re-assigned it to focusing I was looking for some other way to lock exposure without having to hold the button in all the time.

Fortunately the 1DMKIIN allows multi-spot metering via the FEL button... but by only taking 1 reading I was able to replicate the AE-L button.

Hmmm.. I'm not explaining it well am I?

PacAce wrote in post #2330874
Yes, that'll work just fine, as long as you remember that it only works when you're in spot-metering mode.

BTW, just curious. If you were shooting a sunset, why was there a need to keep the "*" button pressed and the shutter button half-pressed simultaneously? Since the sunset wasn't really going anyplace that would have required a change in focus, wouldn't a single tap on the "*" button have sufficed?

Good question - I was hand-holding at 400mm and focusing on something more in the foreground! The 0.25 inch movement probably made no difference at all, but I was being careful!!

Are you using a wrist strap? If not, you might want to give it a try. It relieves you from having to grip the camera very hard with your fingers no matter how heavy the lens. And when your grip is relaxed, you'll have better control of your thumb and index (trigger) fingers. Or at least, it works that way for me (and I'm a small guy).

PacAce wrote in post #2331002
Are you using a wrist strap? If not, you might want to give it a try. It relieves you from having to grip the camera very hard with your fingers no matter how heavy the lens. And when your grip is relaxed, you'll have better control of your thumb and index (trigger) fingers. Or at least, it works that way for me (and I'm a small guy).

Thanks for the suggestion - I hadn't thought of that. I reckon that would work because it was the weight/firm grip that was causing me problems - I'll track one down and see how it goes.

This is an ideal situation for Manual exposure mode, as you can meter the sky in Av and note the settings then switch to M and setup the camera. Once you've chimped for blown channels or excess headroom in the sunset, it's very simple to tweak the shutter to correct them. This also makes it easy to take multiple exposures either side of what you think is ideal as insurance. Keep an eye on the histograms as the sunset progresses and drop shutter speed when necessary to correct.