New to cs... Evaluative metering


mengwei11

New Member
Aug 3, 2010
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Hi, if you set your metering to be evaluative metering, doesn't the camera look at the whole scene and meter? I had very different results tho if I pointed to the sky (bright) and focused vs the tree (dark).

Help
 

in your context:

point to the sky = camera will think the scene is too bright = faster shutter speed to compensate the 'brightness' = underexpose = you lose the tree

focus at tree = camera will think the scene is too dark = slower shutter speed to compensate the 'darkness' = overexpose = you lose the sky

sure you want the sky and tree right? do exposure blending or HDR then.
 

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tecnica said:
in your context:

point to the sky = camera will think the scene is too bright = faster shutter speed to compensate the 'brightness' = underexpose

focus at tree = camera will think the scene is too dark = slower shutter speed to compensate the 'darkness' = overexposure

sure you want the sky and tree right? do exposure blending or HDR then.

I see. But I thought that's what happens when u choose spot metering.
 

Thanks. But what you sent is what I thought. Evaluative looks at the entire scene and balances out the light. Does what your focus on make a difference? Sorry, I think I'm a slow learner.

Metering mode and focusing mode are two different things.
 

I see. But I thought that's what happens when u choose spot metering.
the camera will only consider what's in the centre of the frame.
 

tecnica said:
in your context:

point to the sky = camera will think the scene is too bright = faster shutter speed to compensate the 'brightness' = underexpose = you lose the tree

focus at tree = camera will think the scene is too dark = slower shutter speed to compensate the 'darkness' = overexposure = you lose the sky

sure you want the sky and tree right? do exposure blending or HDR then.



Ok tecnica, help me here. The above example you mentioned happens when I use evaluative metering.
If I switched it to spot metering and aimed the spot at a tree, I will get the tree right and over expose the sky. But isn't that the same result as evaluative metering?
 

eh, not sure if i misled you by saying 'focus on the tree'.

what i meant is, you frame the picture in such a way that the tree is the subject and the scene is dark as you described.

'focus' in this sense does not literally equate to putting ur focus point at the tree(though it is highly possible you will do so since the tree is the main subject).

just want to separate metering from focusing, so that you wont jumble them up.
 

tecnica said:
eh, not sure if i misled you by saying 'focus on the tree'.

what i meant is, you frame the picture in such a way that the tree is the subject and the scene is dark as you described.

'focus' in this sense does not literally equate to putting ur focus point at the tree(though it is highly possible you will do so since the tree is the main subject).

just want to separate metering from focusing, so that you wont jumble them up.

Ok bear with me. But what do u mean by separating metering and focusing?? How do I do that?

Let's say there's bright sky and u wanted a tree at the lower left corner to be the subject. I use centre focused, lock I'm on the tree and then re compose the tree to be on the lower left corner. Say I set evaluative metering. What does the camera meter?
 

Ok tecnica, help me here. The above example you mentioned happens when I use evaluative metering.
If I switched it to spot metering and aimed the spot at a tree, I will get the tree right and over expose the sky. But isn't that the same result as evaluative metering?
ok, maybe what i stated is too extreme. what i meant is in the sense of evaluative metering, the tree fills most of your frame, resulting the camera to meter off the tree(since it cover most of the frame). in this way, you will get the exposure right for the tree and lose the sky.

tmr daytime you go and try:

find a scene with a tree which has a lot of shade underneath it, is relatively big enough to fill only the centre of the frame but not big enough to fill the entire frame.

use both evaluative and spot metering to meter off the scene respectively. remember to frame the tree with the shade in the middle of your viewfinder.

evaluative should give you a slightly underexposed tree but with some details in the sky.
spot should give you properly exposed tree with blown sky.
 

tecnica said:
ok, maybe what i stated is too extreme. what i meant is in the sense of evaluative metering, the tree fills most of your frame, resulting the camera to meter off the tree(since it cover most of the frame). in this way, you will get the exposure right for the tree and lose the sky.

tmr daytime you go and try:

find a scene with a tree which has a lot of shade underneath it, is relatively big enough to fill only the centre of the frame but not big enough to fill the entire frame.

use both evaluative and spot metering to meter off the scene respectively. remember to frame the tree with the shade in the middle of your viewfinder.

evaluative should give you a slightly underexposed tree but with some details in the sky.
spot should give you properly exposed tree with blown sky.

Ok tks for ur patience. U r right, best way is probably to muck around with both settings. Tks so much again
 

Ok bear with me. But what do u mean by separating metering and focusing?? How do I do that?

Let's say there's bright sky and u wanted a tree at the lower left corner to be the subject. I use centre focused, lock I'm on the tree and then re compose the tree to be on the lower left corner. Say I set evaluative metering. What does the camera meter?
metering and focusing are 2 different things.

once you lock focus, the metering(exposure) is as of the scene where you half depress the shutter button(does not matter where you focus).

in your case is when you use centre focus and lock onto the tree. re-composing will not affect the exposure anymore since you already lock in the shutter speed + aperture when you half depress the shutter button.
 

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Ok tks for ur patience. U r right, best way is probably to muck around with both settings. Tks so much again
no worries, trial and error, that's how you can get the most out of your camera.
 

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Sometimes you cannot have both the sky and subject correctly exposed because the dynamic range of the sky and trees exceeded your cameras capabilities.
 

Please take note that:

Metering Mode: Takes care of exposure

Focusing Mode: Takes care of focus
 

good read guys...still blur...but good read.
cheers.