Is spot metering the best?
Spot metering is best for correcting exposure in high-contrast situations. Using this mode ensures your camera correctly exposes the subject and not the background. Portrait photography is an excellent area for this to work. But this metering mode is useful in other types of photography as well.
What are the three main types of light meters in a camera?
There are three main types of light meters:
- Incident Light Metering: This determines the exposure based on the light that falls on the subject.
- Reflected Light Spot Metering: This refers to the light that is reflected by the photographed environment.
What is the difference between an incident meter and a spot meter?
There are two ways to meter your light: spot and incident. Incident meters read the light falling onto a subject. To take an incident meter reading, you would measure from the subject’s point of view back to the camera. Spot meters, on the other hand, read the exposure for a very narrow (1%) spot.
What is spot metering in camera?
Spot metering allows the camera to measure the light reflected from the person’s face and expose properly for that, instead of adjusting exposure for the much brighter light around the hairline. With the face properly exposed, the area around the back and hairline will become over-exposed.
Do I need a spot meter?
A spot meter may be necessary if you require a high degreee of precision for your exposure. I used an averaging meter (both incident and reflective types) for years and with practice was able to predict the outcome with great certainty, but have found that a spotmeter works best for me these days.
Can you spot meter in manual mode?
Yes, spot metering does work in manual mode. It also works in ‘aperture priority’ and ‘shutter priority’ modes. However, manual mode will always give you the fullest control over the photograph you’re taking, since you can adjust aperture, ISO and shutter speed independently without impacting the other.
When would you use a spot meter?
Spot metering is useful in tricky lighting situations such as high contrast scenes or when the subject is backlit. It’s also useful when a subject is against a very bright or very dark background.
What should I look for in a light meter?
Eight things you need to know about light meters
- 01 Angle of coverage.
- 02 Spot metering.
- 03 Incident metering.
- 04 Flash metering.
- 05 Sensitivity range.
- 06 Analog vs digital display.
- 07 Aperture and shutter priority modes.
- 08 Cine modes.
What is spot metering on a Canon camera?
Some Canon cameras also offer a fourth option called ‘partial’ metering. Spot metering mode instructs your camera to meter from just one tiny area of your image and ignores any information from the rest of the frame (the ‘spot’ accounts for about 1.5% of your image).
Does spot metering work in manual mode?
Which metering mode is best?
In general, evaluative metering is the best mode to leave your camera in. While the shot above is slightly overexposed, it’s about as good as the spot metered one, just in the opposite direction; it’s a hell of a lot better than the center-weighted average image.