what metering setting do you like best.

[dannylightning]

that is one thing i have not played around with much but that is the next thing on my camera i want to explore

on my D5300 i have it set to matrix metering which seems to be fine but i would like to hear what you use and why you like that metering setting.

 

[hamlet]

90% of the time i use matrix metering because i have 3 stop i can darker or lighten the scene in post. The other 10% i use spot metering if i want to discriminate a subject from the scene.

 

[Derrel]

In Aperture Priority auto I like Matrix. In Manual mode, center-weighted metering mode is very good, using the scribed 12mm diameter circle in the finder as the main area of emphasis. For people who have never used a Nikon, or have not read the instruction manual fully, they are often surprised that there is a 12mm diameter area actually indicated on the viewfinder screen itself, which literally SHOWS WHERE the center-weighted metering's area of main bias is.

In manual mode, I often don't use the meter, per se, but take a test exposure, review the histogram, and the deliberately shoot "off", either above or below the indicated,so-called correct reading. Because of this, I have become lazy, and have stopped religiously switching the metering mode from Matrix in Aperture Priority auto to Center Weighted when I switch to Manual metering.

Exactly how one meters depends on the method. I shoot a lot of fairly telephoto view images, which easily eliminates a lot of sky values from my meter's view, so Matrix often doesn't see the sky and inflate the readings. When there is strong backlighting, I will do close-up meter readings off of the face, usually at 200mm zoom from about seven feet away, and see what that reading is, do a test shot, and see how my histogram and blinkies are.

 

[dannylightning]

one thing i notice in matix mode the meter i see thew the view finder is centered but photos still come out a little on the dark side if its not bright outside but than again the lighting is not optimal for shooting either. its been so long since i had a DSLR some things i just cant remember so well.

i have been playing around with p mode lately or shooting manual. p mode is basically full auto, i used that yesterday to shoot this train, the sun kept coming out and than going back under the clouds, so i figured a auto type mode would work best since the train was only gonna be there for a couple of seconds and i figured using manual mode might give me a lousy shot with the changing lighting.

i am kind of wondering if the metering mode would have changed the way the shot looked.

i also notice allot of the time the sky is more white or grey than blue depending on the lighting that day and i was thinking that might have had something to do with the metering mode. other times i get a beautiful blue sky when the lighting is good.

i figure its time to play with the metering modes and see what happens. thanks for the advice so far.

most of the time ill shoot in full auto mode though.

 

[baturn]

Because I shoot mostly birds, which are often partially obscured by foliage, I almost always use Spot metering.

 

[SCraig]

Depends on the subject and the situation at the time.

 

[Pejacre]

Centre weighted most of the time and I usually dial in a little negative exp comp - I prefer recovering shadows to blown highlights.

 

[Derrel]

When you shoot in front-lighted conditions, the sky will often be rendered as blue. If there is a subject in shaded light, or in back-lighting, and the focus is set to that subject in the shaded light, the 3-D metering in a Nikon camera will usually expose to favor the FOCUSED-upon object, and hence, the blue sky will wash out to be rendered as a light-colored sky. If however, you use flash on the closed-distanced, focused upon subject, you can "bridge the gap", and make the sky read as blue, and use the flash to light the closer objects and make them appear the right brightness and color.

 

[Vince.1551]

For me it's largely situational


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[PaulWog]

Instead of worrying about what metering mode you use, worry first about your histogram data. Matrix metering could be great for one situation, but center-weighted might be better for another. On a very bright sunny day, I doubt any one metering mode will get the job done exactly as you want. Turn on your histogram data for your DSLR to check that out after you take a shot. Sometimes you can't purely look at the histogram (a scene can be mostly to one end of the histogram), but often times it is tell-tale about whether you nailed your exposure.

I use matrix sometimes, and center-weighted sometimes, in aperture priority mode. If I have to use spot metering for whatever reason, I go manual.

If you're in a tough situation where you are having troubles with your metering, you're probably best off figuring out your manual settings.

 

[KmH]

I mostly use spot metering, occasionally I use center-weighted, and only rarely use Matrix. And, that's if I'm using the reflected light meter in the camera. I often use a hand held light meter so I can measure incident light and flash.

When I spot meter I normally meter several 'spots' before I decide what exposure triad settings I am going to use.

 

[Solarflare]

Most of the time center weighted. On my D5100 with -2/3 EV. On my D600 it doesnt seem to be necessary anymore.

 

[pgriz]

It depends on the dynamic range of the scene and where the subject is in relation to that range. If the subject is backlit, or surrounded by a strong difference in light intensity, then spot-metering gives a pretty good indication of the exposure required. Otherwise, I generally use either center-weighted or matrix. I usually also have taken an incident light reading (highlights and shadows) to see what the ambient light distribution looks like.

 

[Desi]

I know that I probably do things the hard way, but I usually keep it on Manual and use spot metering for my subject. Then I take a test shot and see the range of light and dark.

 

[Solarflare]

I know that I probably do things the hard way, but I usually keep it on Manual and use spot metering for my subject. Then I take a test shot and see the range of light and dark.

I'd call that the slow way. Its OK if you want to photograph something preplanned or static, but often I want to catch certain expressions of people etc.