What is your most often used metering system..

I thought so.

Partial on my XTi.

On my new 5DmkII, I thought spot metering would be more "precise", but had trouble with it. Had to be very careful of what the spot was pointed at! Moving the spot around the FOV makes the meter jump all over the place for certain shots. Need a lot more practice.

BTW: I use manual exposure control 99% of the time, so I need a metering mode that I know down to the bones so I can under/over compensate the exposure as needed.

CWA or spot cover 75% of what I shoot, with a random selection of all the rest for the remaining 25%.

timnosenzo wrote in post #8132818
Probably true, except for spot mode--people trying to use spot metering in one of the semi-auto modes will probably get poor results.

him , tim...can you expound further pls!

also, some say evaluative with ETTL. why?

ccp900 wrote in post #8135265
him , tim...can you expound further pls!

also, some say evaluative with ETTL. why?

In spot mode the camera meter attempts to expose whateve is in the spot to be a medium grey. But the reality is that it's going to be a rare shot that the tone in the exact center is medium grey. So spot meter in Av, Tv, P etc is probably going to generate some really inconsistent results.

The more common way to use a spot meter is in M mode, point the spot at various tones in the scene like the sky and the darkest shadows and then pick your settings that expose these tones the way you want them to look.

As for E-TTL, some people prefer center weighted average and some prefer evaluative. It depends on how you want the camera to deal with bright tones in the scene. CWA will tend to blow out highlights with the flash while evaluative will hold highlights at the expense of underexposing everything else.

JeffreyG wrote in post #8135295
In spot mode the camera meter attempts to expose whateve is in the spot to be a medium grey. But the reality is that it's going to be a rare shot that the tone in the exact center is medium grey. So spot meter in Av, Tv, P etc is probably going to generate some really inconsistent results.

The more common way to use a spot meter is in M mode, point the spot at various tones in the scene like the sky and the darkest shadows and then pick your settings that expose these tones the way you want them to look.

As for E-TTL, some people prefer center weighted average and some prefer evaluative. It depends on how you want the camera to deal with bright tones in the scene. CWA will tend to blow out highlights with the flash while evaluative will hold highlights at the expense of underexposing everything else.

but isnt the flash metering independent of camera metering (oh this is for the ETTL question)? So it doesnt matter what metering mode my camera is on the flash is going to output the same amount of flash each time if it flash-meters the exact same scene.

for the spot metering question. i think i get where youre headed, but then...if im using spot meter on AV or TV, i usually lock the exposure (with a shutter half press since i use * as focus button) then recompose. I also point it at something i know the reflectivity of, like grass or skin (well not exact reflectivity but you know what i mean).

Assuming you dont recompose and youve set the correct amount of EC from the base AV/TV suggested exposure value then using spot metering with AV/TV isnt going to be a problem correct?

it sounds complicated but it really isnt, i spot meter on lets say a person's face, dial up/down EC then half press shutter then recompose then shoot. takes like 2 secs. Its the exact same thing with manual except you dont need to lock the exposure.

I think it is better to be thoroughly familiar with at least one of the systems rather than be just okay with many. Once you understand how the camera meters using a certain mode, you can make appropriate adjustments.

I alwas carry a Sekonic 358 in the bag. Incident metering ensures the best possible exposure, that does not depend on any metering mode.
It not always practical though.

ccp900 wrote in post #8136360
Assuming you dont recompose and youve set the correct amount of EC from the base AV/TV suggested exposure value then using spot metering with AV/TV isnt going to be a problem correct?

Then it's not a problem. But there isn't much handling ease to gain from such a procedure

i agree hehehe...

im still scratching my head though regarding the Evaluative when using ETTL. I thought flash metering is independent of camera metering....so if flash is in evaluative mode then it will calculate based on the evaluative zones even if your camera is on spot metering...your foreground subject is going to get the same amount of flash exposure whether your camera is on spot or eval or CWA. Your background exposure will most probably change but not the foreground....(well technically it will change as the exposure is obviously exposing for the whole scene, but i think you catch my drift).

another question i recently answered for a friend and id want to confirm here.

my friend asks me....so if i expose for the scene correctly then i add flash what would happen?

my reply :

it depends on the state of the flash....if your flash is on camera and is set to ETTL AND the scene is bright enough, youll prolly see a slight brightening of the scene due to the flash being forced to become a fill flash.

If your flash is on manual, then youll prolly see overexposure depending on the amount of flash power you use. This is whether the flash is on camera or off camera.

If the scene is not bright and your camera is on ETTL then the flash will give off enough light until it thinks the scene is properly flash exposed (this can lead to underexposed shots or pretty ok exposed shots)...if your camera is on manual then it all depends on the power your flash is putting out.

did i give him the correct answer or maybe i should just shut up and point him to get info here....heheheh.....

ccp900 wrote in post #8136360
it sounds complicated but it really isnt, i spot meter on lets say a person's face, dial up/down EC then half press shutter then recompose then shoot. takes like 2 secs. Its the exact same thing with manual except you dont need to lock the exposure.

Most people don't necessarily do it this way, which can lead to inconsistent exposure. But yes, if you use AV and spot metering, meter off of something, lock exposure, then use EC to adjust the exposure, you'll be fine...

ccp900 wrote in post #8137433
im still scratching my head though regarding the Evaluative when using ETTL.

Your flash is still using your cameras meter (and metering mode) to calculate the exposure. ETTL is an automatic mode, using preflash to calculate a correct exposure, then emitting however much light is necessary to make a proper exposure. If you have the camera in spot metering mode, and when the flash tries to calculate the exposure it's pointed an a black suit, the flash is going to think the scene is darker than it really is, and it's going to overexpose. Or the opposite. Just like using an auto mode on your camera with spot metering.

You can treat your flash metering like your camera's metering. With spot metering turned on, you can use FE Lock to meter a particular part of the scene, then use FEC to increase or decrease the flash exposure. Again, I don't think most people do it this way.

So Evaluative metering is best when using flash I gather.

Ok, what about night scapes - lots of dark, but bright building lights (think Las Vegas)

1. CWA. Evaluative is very smart, smart enough that I cannot reliably compensate when I want to. I know CWA well and can compensate accordingly.

2. No metering at all (just set it based on experience).

3. Spot