keller said:
Thanks for the advice everyone! One thing I don't get though, is will metering have any effect if you manually adjust the shutter speed, apeture, and ISO? If so, what is the use of metering?
In manual exposure mode the meter does not change the settings; it just displays the setting that would make whatever is in front of it middle gray.
Using the meter in manual exposure mode can be as simple as pointing it at something that has a medium tone, and is in the same lighting as the subject, to get a recommendation. Or I could point it at my darkest, important shadow detail, and then at my lightest, important highlight detail, and use a setting in the middle.
It can also be used to determine what tonal value various parts of the scene/subject have. This is important because different films and digital have differing capabilities to record extremes in light and darkness. Digital has a 5 or 6 stop range; gray in the middle, and white or black 3 stops in either direction from that. If I compare something I'm exposing as middle gray to something that is much darker or lighter, and the difference is 3 stops or more, I know that part of the subject is going to turn out as black or white.
The meter measures light, which you need to know to make a good exposure. Light is measured in stops, which is a doubling or halving of the amount of light. Aperture, shutter, and ISO are also measured in stops.
Aperture in 1 stop increments: f/1, f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32, f/45, f/64...
Shutter in 1 stop increments: 1 sec, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000...
ISO in 1 stop increments: 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200...
Think of the camera sensor or film as a bucket, and light as water from a faucet. Proper exposure is filling the bucket to the top without overflowing. ISO determines the size of the bucket; an ISO 200 bucket is twice as big as an ISO 400 bucket, and half the size of an ISO 100 bucket. Aperture is how much you turn the faucet on, and shutter is how long you leave the faucet on. You can fill the bucket by turning the faucet to just a trickle, and waiting for a long while. You can also fill it by turning the faucet on full blast for just a little bit. Or you can fill it by doing something in between the two.