SkipD wrote in post #9496745
How the camera is set (evaluative, partial, spot, etc.) is VERY CRITICAL toward the photographer. understanding what the meter is reading. Without understanding what the camera is doing with its metering, the photographer is incapable of making an informed decision. Because I shoot primarily in manual mode ("M"), I always have my 20D set for "Partial" metering - the closest thing the 20D can do to spot metering.
As I said above, PMC's advice is not correct. If you must use the camera's meter (and I choose to use a handheld meter more often than the camera's meter for a couple of reasons), I would suggest using the "Spot" choice if your camera has that. That way, you can sample various elements of the scene and then make up your mind about what settings to use.
Your method may work for casual photography, but if you want every shot to be well exposed because you cannot afford to experiment and throw away images, then you'll need to learn how to use a meter.
The histogram is NOT a light meter. All it tells you is how the various brightness levels in the scene are distributed in the captured image. If you shoot a snow scene, for example, the histogram of a properly exposed image will be far different from a properly exposed image of a dark alley. If you adjust both exposures to center the curves, both will be wrong.
Other than having enough experience to inherently KNOW what exposure settings to use in various lighting conditions, the only way to get your exposures right the first time is to use a light meter. Of course, one needs to have the experience to interpret what the light meter is showing you.
I use my handheld meter in
incident mode 99% of the time, meaning that I am measuring the light falling on the subject and not the light reflected from it. This makes getting a "correct" exposure a bit easier, as the color or reflectivity of the subject becomes less of an issue.
The camera's meter is purely a reflected light meter, and has significant limitations because of that. The photographer's training and experience is especially important when using a reflected light meter.
While all of that is quite correct, I think it's safe to assume the OP is fairly new to photography and learning which settings to use and when. It's also fairly safe to assume he does not have a seperate light meter. What a few have suggested is the way a lot if us use M mode- by finding exposure settings that work (by experience, a handheld light meter, camera meter, chimping, etc.) And transferring those to manual.
Using a handheld meter is much more accurate, but also much more inconvenient. I have one, but wouldn't bring one to a performing arts show. It might get lost, broken, stolen, etc.
Once you have the manual settings dialed in, pointing the cameras spot meter at various elements in the scene will make the needle move around- because you've set the exposure, and it's telling you the exposure IT would set, if you let it.
I just don't think talking a lot about a hand held light meter and how ir works helps this particular poster and the original question, when it's almost certain he doesn't have one.
