The best way to meter?

[lblongs]

I am curious to see what method of in-camera metering everyone here is using, and why? My main subjects are people and I am wondering what the best metering method is for my type of photography. Is there one best method overall?

[OsmosisStudios]

Depends what youre shooting. Landscapes? Full-scene Matrix metering is best. Portraits? Spot metering is most common, second would be a centre-weighted.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by lblongs

I am curious to see what method of in-camera metering everyone here is using, and why? My main subjects are people and I am wondering what the best metering method is for my type of photography. Is there one best method overall?

I suppose it really matters what your lighting conditions are for each individual circumstance. From what I've read, center weighted is good for portraits. Consider spot metering off the face for difficult, or back lit situations. We (my wife and I) tend to use fill flash and/or reflectors for outdoor portrait work, and more often than not we just use matrix metering. Hope this is a little help for you

Vince

[Benji]

Originally Posted by lblongs

I am curious to see what method of in-camera metering everyone here is using, and why? My main subjects are people and I am wondering what the best metering method is for my type of photography. Is there one best method overall?

Forget the in camera meter for portraiture as it is a notorious liar. Buy a hand held meter and you can forget various attempts at getting one of the most important things in digital imaging, proper exposure. So how easy is it to use a hand held meter? Turn it on. Set it to Ambient or Flash. Check the ISO window to make sure the ISO set in it is also what you have set in the camera, hold the meter up beside the highlight side of the subject's face, press the button and look at the screen. Set whatever the meter says into the camera (camera is on "M.") Total time about five seconds.

Benji

[Elmo]

Yes I do have and in rare situations use a hand meter, but I hind the in camera meters to be reliable and accurate. This key is to learn how your meter reacts to various situations. This is an art one learns over time. While you are learning shoot RAW and CHIMP your shots looking at the image and histogram. Adjust your exposure and re-shoot (digital "film" is cheap). If you adjusted the wrong way try the other way. Use various metering modes to see how they react to different situations. experiment-experiment- and learn.

Until you get it fine tuned you can make slight exposure adjustments in the raw conversion process.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Benji

Forget the in camera meter for portraiture as it is a notorious liar. Buy a hand held meter and you can forget various attempts at getting one of the most important things in digital imaging, proper exposure. So how easy is it to use a hand held meter? Turn it on. Set it to Ambient or Flash. Check the ISO window to make sure the ISO set in it is also what you have set in the camera, hold the meter up beside the highlight side of the subject's face, press the button and look at the screen. Set whatever the meter says into the camera (camera is on "M.") Total time about five seconds.

Benji

Benji, as a senior photographer I'm inclined to respect your opinion on technical matters. Sure, hand held meters are always going to be the most accurate, but if you are chasing an 18 month old around outside trying to grab "that" shot, you almost always have to rely on the "automatics" of your camera...or you just run the risk of missing what could be a great shot. If you have total control over your subject and your setting as in studio work, then a light meter is a good investment, and probably a necessity. I also feel that most people here on DPS will never really have a use, or need for a hand held meter. If given a choice of spending $200 - $300 dollars on a meter, or a fast 50, I think most here would opt for the latter.

Vince

[zona5101]

I think it is equally important to understand how meters work and what they are designed to achieve. Knowing which metering mode use or where to meter in a scene is only part of it... the other part is being smarter than your meter

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by lblongs

I am curious to see what method of in-camera metering everyone here is using, and why? My main subjects are people and I am wondering what the best metering method is for my type of photography. Is there one best method overall?

I shoot in manual and use an 18% grey card to set my exposure. Works great for me. When shooting outdoors in changing light situations, I do have to re-meter as the light changes. When doing studio work, I set the exposure once and I'm good to go.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by auto-focus

Benji, as a senior photographer I'm inclined to respect your opinion on technical matters. Sure, hand held meters are always going to be the most accurate, but if you are chasing an 18 month old around outside trying to grab "that" shot, you almost always have to rely on the "automatics" of your camera...or you just run the risk of missing what could be a great shot. If you have total control over your subject and your setting as in studio work, then a light meter is a good investment, and probably a necessity. I also feel that most people here on DPS will never really have a use, or need for a hand held meter. If given a choice of spending $200 - $300 dollars on a meter, or a fast 50, I think most here would opt for the latter.

Vince

Agreed. If I relied on a hand held meter while chasing kids, I wouldn't get half the shots I do. Hand held meters are valuable and have their place, but are not always the most convenient in certain cases. Shooting older kids that can take direction? Seniors? Adults? Get a meter if you want one. Toddlers and young kids? Go ahead and use one, if you don't mind missing a bunch of potentially fantastic shots.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by Benji

Forget the in camera meter for portraiture as it is a notorious liar. Buy a hand held meter and you can forget various attempts at getting one of the most important things in digital imaging, proper exposure.

That's fine for studio work with flashes involved. For everything else, just use the in camera meter.