Today’s digital cameras have several available metering modes. Below you will find the most popular. The icons shown are typical on most cameras.
Metering Modes:
Evaluative/Matrix/ESP/Pattern (Overall)– Determines exposure based on the entire image. Most cameras have a bias to the exposure at the point of focus. I’ve found for most situations this mode of metering does quite well.
Center-Weighted – Determines exposure based on the subject and background lighting with a bias to the center of the viewfinder.
Partial – Determines exposure over a large circular area than with spot metering. This mode is available only on Canon cameras and it appears to have replaced the spot metering on the newer models.
Spot – Determines exposure based on the small area in the center of the viewfinder. Best for strongly back-lighted subjects.
So do all cameras yield the same results? Generally, I think they do when using the Overall metering mode. Here are a couple of comparisons under the same lighting conditions and settings.
As we look at each pair of photos and observe the Histogram in the upper right, we see each is quite similar. With this combination of cameras: Sony, Canon, and Olympus, the results are similar with the small differences likely due to how the photo was framed/composed.
So what happens when you use Center Weighted vs. Overall mode?
As we see in the photo on the left, Center-Weighted metering, the color of the flags are brighter and more true in color than the photo to the right where Overall metering was used. Obliviously, the camera did better with Center-Weighted metering under these lighting conditions.
What metering mode is best when photographing a bright sky and dark foreground? In Photo 3, the metering mode chosen was Overall. In Photo 4, Center-Weighted was used. As can be seen the foreground in Photo 4 is slightly brighter than in Photo 3.
What would happen if Spot metering is used? In Photo 5 you see the sky is too bright, i.e. over-exposed. The best exposure for this scene was gotten in Photo 4 using Center-Weighted.
What if you were to use Spot metering vs. Overall metering? Photo 6 below was taken using Overall metering.
In Photo 7 below, Spot metering was used. The metering spot was taken on the bright face of the building. This photo is too dark i.e.under exposed.
Photo 8 below was taken using Spot metering. The metering spot was taken on the dark face of the iron. This photo is also dark i.e.under exposed.
What do we see here? Once again the Overall mode, Photo 6, had the best exposure. In addition, when we compare Photos 7 & 8, we see where the spot reading is taken can make a significant difference in the resulting photo.
What are the lessons learned:
- The overall mode works well a good portion of the time.
- Where the subject’s exposure is important Center-Weighed Metering may provide a better result.
- Spot metering should be only used in back-lite situations. Where the Spot metering reading is taken has a significant effect on the photo’s exposure.
My advice to better understand metering modes is to take many different photos under different lighting conditions using all metering modes. Compare the photos and see which is best with your camera. Getting consistently good photos takes practice!!
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