Histogram and metering

[mrodgers]

Ok, time for me to pop up with another question after reading stuff for a few months now. This is regarding reading the in camera histogram and metering modes.

Is the histogram display independent of what metering mode you are in? If I am using spot metering, will the histogram be the same no matter what metering is used or will it display differently with spot metering as opposed to matrix metering?

I haven't been paying attention to the in camera histogram when taking shots. I've only been paying attention to where I am metering with spot meter at shooting in manual mode, and paying attention to the exposure bar. After the results of shooting photos at a hockey game recently and playing with levels and curves more in post processing, it made me wonder about the in-camera histogram.

During a hockey game, shooting from way up in the nose-bleed section. you have the bright ice surface, and the dark seating in a wide shot. I used spot metering at the game and pretty much left the manual settings alone after the first few shots. I am wondering if the histogram is just what to expect out of the complete photo, or if I would have put it in matrix mode, if the histogram would have changed to allow me to fine tune the exposure better.

Does my question make sense?

Thx,
Mike

 

[Big Mike]

They are two separate entities...although, the histogram may change, depending on the metering mode that you choose.

The metering mode, as you know, lets you choose what areas of the scene are used to set the exposure (or give you readings if you are in manual mode).
The histogram is just a graphical display of the brightness of the image. So the metering mode won't directly change the histogram (it won't change it at all, if the exposure doesn't change)....but if a different metering mode does change the exposure, then the histogram will change because it's based on the resulting image.

You can use the histogram for metering purposes. You take a shot, view the histogram, adjust your exposure, then shoot again. This is what I do, fairly often.

Read this for a good technique: Expose to the Right.

 

[sabbath999]

Read this for a good technique: Expose to the Right.

Interesting link... I will play with that sometime...

 

[Stranger]

Good read Mike, I was always taught to expose as far right as possible, but disregarded it because nobody told me i was supposed to pull it back left in PP.. (i just saw they were too bright and figured id shoot it more center and remove a step)

 

[mrodgers]

Ok, never mind to my question here. I posted this while at work when it popped into my head. I had a play with the camera tonight (kid's coloring Easter eggs tonight) and noticed the histogram didn't change at all no matter what I did to settings.

I wasn't asking about the histogram after the shot. I don't know if all cameras have this, but I have a histogram on the display while taking a shot. Changing settings, meter mode, or anything changed nothing with the histogram that is displayed while shooting.

I even pointed the camera directly at a lightbulb and the histogram was spiked on the left side. Took photo and obviously, when viewing the photo, the histogram was spiked on the right side.

I really don't see the purpose of the histogram showing on my camera when shooting photos now :scratch:

 

[Big Mike]

Maybe your pre-shot histogram isn't exactly real time. Maybe it generates the graph at the initial activation of the meter, then holds that until the shot is fired or maybe there is a way to reactivate it? I don't have this feature, I'm not sure...Check your manual.