Canon metering modes for wildlife?

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

So, I'm wondering what meter mode(s) to use with my 80d.

What do I use to take a photo of a brown hawk up in a tree in the woods in a shaded but not extremely dark setting? With like color trees?

How about ducks on the water during the day?

A dark bird against a gray sky or a light bird against a blue sky?

I like to give myself the best shot at proper exposure and I know you all are more experienced than me. I always used evaluative but I know it's not always correct. I have evaluative, partial, spot and center weighted average. Is there one I can just keep it in for 90% of the time?

 

[ZombiesniperJr]

i use center waited avergage

 

[Derrel]

Center-weighted metering usually gets "pretty close" to the right exposure, and is not prone to huge variations due to minor target- or minor aiming mistakes the way Spot metering is. In center-weighted mode, you can aim the middle of the finder at the desired target, and get a reading, and in manual mode, you can then "fudge a little bit" to get the right exposure for a darker or brighter object, or to compensate for back-lighting, etc. In the auto-modes like Av or Tv, instead of "fudging", you would correct the exposure by using EC, or Exposure Compensation, to correct for the "tendency" of the lighting conditions.

In some situations, like say very bright, strong backlighting of an owl in a winter tree that has no leaves on it, you might have to add some + EC to get the exposure you want in Av or Tv mode. The longer the lens and the "tighter" the framing, the less need there usually is for E.C. or adjutsing in manual mode: With a 300 or 400mm lens and a very tight, close-in framing, CW metering is usually prety accurate. With a 200mm lens and a kind of loose framing of say, a duck on a pond surface, you might need a stop or more of E.C. to get that just-perfect exposure for the bird.

The difference in exposure reading of say a seagull at 15 feet and a duck at 50 meters is how BIG the TARGET subject is, within the context of the entire, whole frame. In Evaluative metering, the system will evaluate the whole frame; in CW, the center; in Spot metering, it will evaluate only the very smallest center area or "spot", which means that the aiming and the target aimed at are super-critical in spot metering mode.

 

[weepete]

I Usually use cwa or spot metering. Spot metering can be tricky though and remember it still takes time to kick in and get an accurate reading