Camera Labs

well.... i dont quite understand metering.... I always thought that was a technique used by the compacts to compensate for zero control over exposure settings .....
well I was just wondering that since we have all the manual control over exposure then what is the need of metering and why does it change the lighting?

if anybody could please explain that I would really appreciate because i get really frustrated when I think "yes thats the ultimate exposure"...then visualize the scene and then click to find that the lighting is totally different due to the metering .

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Nikon d5000

Nikkor 18-55 AF-S DX 1:3.5-5.6

if you are in manual mode it doesn't matter where u meter because you set your exposure, aperture and shutter to your liking. if you meter the sky with a low shutter speed and apertura in mid day it will be too bright. use Av or auto mode and it will meter for you and your scene is "correctly" exposed.

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Always aim higher- Beyond the limit

Journey of light - my blog!
www.anelfoto.blogspot.com

ummmm..... ... still confused .....so you mean that metering does not work in manual mode

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Nikon d5000

Nikkor 18-55 AF-S DX 1:3.5-5.6

One step at a time here.

The camera contains a light meter (so you don't need one like the old days) and also so the camera can work out a balanced exposure when in the automatic modes. When the exposure is balanced*** the meter will be centred on 0. (Check this out in P mode)

In the semi auto modes like Av & Tv where you set one parameter and the camera calculates the other. e.g. In Av you set the aperture and the camera calculates a shutter speed that balances the exposure (meter on 0). If you actually take the picture and feel it is say overexposed then you can override using exposure compensation (essentially telling the camera to balance around a different meter value e.g. -1/2).

In full manual mode (M) you control aperture & shutter speed. If you set an aperture then set the shutter speed so the meter reads 0 then you are using exactly the same settings as the camera would on full auto. This often a good starting point from which you can then make fine adjustments by aligning the meter pointer to a point other than 0. In the overexposure example above you would just set the shutter speed until the meter is on -1/2 and take the pic.



*** This is a simplification as metering depends on the metering mode and subject but we'll leave that for another day.

mirageII

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Canon EOS 400D, EF-S 18-55mm, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, EF 50mm f/1.8 MK I, EF-S 10-22mm, EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, EF 28mm f/1.8, EF 85mm f/1.8
Canon 430EX II, Manfrotto 055CXPRO3, Arca Swiss P0
Panasonic GF3, Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, Olympus 45mm f/1.8

MY FLICKR!

Does this mean I am better off using P mode for general shots that I don’t want to blur the background or have a greater DOF, or maybe I will feel like a pro using aperture mode with the camera working out everything else.

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

As mirageii suggests, lots can be said about metering.

But some easy thumb-rules are:
- If you want to control Depth Of Field, user aperture priority. The metering will adjust everything else to obtain equivalent exposure.
- If you want to control to what extent moving objects are frozen or blurred, use shutter priority mode. The metering will adjust everything else to ...etc.
- If you aren't sure about either DOF or are in the mood to control the degree of blur/freeze of moving subject, you can go to fully automatic mode and the camera will chose for you.

Different cameras have different levels of sophistication in terms of what they can meter for.
- For sure the light level (to adjust either shutter or aperture accordingly - or both in "full auto")
- Also the temperature (which helps auto white-balance)
- And of course the auto-focus, dynamic, static and a wealth of other variations.
- Then there are variations of "expanded dynamic range" where the metering will dial back the exposure based on the highlights to get more shadow-detail.
- And various "scene recognition" type reference databases in-camera where it not only meters, but makes adjustments according to the type of image it believes/recognizes that you're taking.

Metering has really taken off, sophistication and precision-wise, with digital photography. That's what makes it so darn easy to take properly exposed shots.

Anyone with an ancient history with film will remember the outrageously high number of "complete misses" when everything was fully manual..lol.

Cheers

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Nikon stuff and other stuff, but not nearly as much stuff as I really want!

Thanks for the info LahLahSr,

When in doubt I use P mode but at present I use mostly A mode with not to many bum shots. My improvement is a result of reading on this forum.

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

Personally I use Av 95% of the time and Tv as LahLahSr stated above when I want to freeze some action (fast shutter speed) or blur some water (slow).

The time to use P mode is when using flash or when giving the camera to someone else. The flash system works differently in Av & Tv modes (at least on a Canon camera

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Canon EOS 400D, EF-S 18-55mm, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, EF 50mm f/1.8 MK I, EF-S 10-22mm, EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, EF 28mm f/1.8, EF 85mm f/1.8
Canon 430EX II, Manfrotto 055CXPRO3, Arca Swiss P0
Panasonic GF3, Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, Olympus 45mm f/1.8

MY FLICKR!

Yeah, but at least you could almost always get those exposure problems fixed in the dark room... Leave it under the lamp for a few minutes and even the most under-exposed shots would be legible. One of these days I'll build a dark room and buy an old SLR (with autofocus though)

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Nikon D90
18-55mm VR
55-200mm VR
ML-L3 Wireless release

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97752536@N00/

set your iso and use Av mode, first of all if you're not shooting telephoto you wont blur your background much but if you do it's a good thing, don't see why you wouldn't want that. so try shooting on Av for a month or two and you'll see that all the camera does is set Tv for you (being the shutter speed) and if you'll shoot in Tv it will set Av for you (being the F number). in a while you'll get the hang of it and will want more freedom with M.

oh and i forgot to add, i have never in my life made a photo in P mode or any other style preset modes. i've been to auto a while but hated the feeling of restriction it gives. was on Av for about a year, but no i just set to Av, see how my camera meters the scene and shoot M from then on.

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Always aim higher- Beyond the limit

Journey of light - my blog!
www.anelfoto.blogspot.com

heh athomsfere,

that's true..there's quite a bit of leeway in the darkroom. I only ever did B&W darkroom work though and never got to color-development. As I recall it required quite the expensive equipment and a "mad scientist" chemistry lab to go with it..lol.

But there was something uniquely satisfying about doing the whole process end to end and see that one-in-a-hundred killer shot emerge ...juuuust so!

Cheers

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Nikon stuff and other stuff, but not nearly as much stuff as I really want!

Slightly stupid question perhaps but..for the sake of learning I religiously use M-mode. And I mean every single shot.
Reading here though it seems many photographers, a lot more advanced than me, use AV and TV a lot. Am I making my life overly complicated by allways using M?
What's people's opinions?

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Canon EOS 450D. (soon a 7D hopefully)
Canon EF-S 17-55/2,8 IS USM
Canon EF 70-300/4-5,6 IS USM
Canon EF 50/1,8 II
Canon EF-S 10-22/3,5-4,5 USM
Manfrotto 055 XPROB
Canon Speedlite EX580

If you limit yourself to just one of your cameras modes you will not learn how to get the best out of it if you ever decide to use a different setting.

There is no right or wrong setting just the setting that helps you achieve the shot you want.

If you are shooting street scenes having to set up every shot manually would more than likely make you miss some shots. However, if you are shooting landscapes or are in a studio where you would have more time to set things then a mode with less done for you may be more appropriate.

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Nikon D90
Nikkor AF-S DX; 18-105 f/3.5-5.6G VR, 55-300 f/4.5-5.6G VR, 35mm f/1.8G
Speedlight SB-700

http://keystrokesukimages.com

Those are good points actually. I'll have to start exploring the AV and TV modes too I guess.

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Canon EOS 450D. (soon a 7D hopefully)
Canon EF-S 17-55/2,8 IS USM
Canon EF 70-300/4-5,6 IS USM
Canon EF 50/1,8 II
Canon EF-S 10-22/3,5-4,5 USM
Manfrotto 055 XPROB
Canon Speedlite EX580

I use AV alot.
I do alot/mostly/majority...wildlife shooting, and a second chance is not always available.
AV works for me.
As was stated though on other opportunities like switching it up...just to see/learn/experiment.

God bless the delete button...lol

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm