Skip to main content

Metering modes on canon DSLR with examples

Metering is a process in which a DSLR camera measures the amount of light entering the camera depending on the sensitivity of the sensor (ISO). Once the light is measured, it informs the user to adjust either shutter speed or aperture to get a properly exposed image. Older cameras never had a lightmeter preview, so an external light meter was a necessity. The same external light meter logic applied to film cameras as well. 
In this age of DSLR cameras, there are few quirks about various metering modes available in almost every brand. A metering mode is a way for the camera to determine the correct exposure settings. Your DSLR then tells you to adjust the settings, so that the meter needle sticks to zero. This can be achieved by changing the shutter speed, aperture or ISO settings. Let's see how does metering mode work with examples. 4 images below are taken from a kit lens using Canon 40D DSLR with same shutter speed, ISO and aperture settings. All of them are exactly similar which is expected as no setting was changed except the metering mode dial. 

Evaluative:
metering modes
                                               F5.6, 1/25 second, 100 ISO. Evaluative 


Partial:
Metering mode Canon
                                               F5.6, 1/25 second, 100 ISO. Partial 

Spot:
metering mode canon
                                                  F5.6, 1/25 second, 100 ISO. Spot 

Center-weighted average:
canon dslr metering
                             F5.6, 1/25 second, 100 ISO. Center-weighted average 

Above 4 images clearly explain that the image exposure would not change just by changing the metering mode dial, settings need to be varied. Look at the 4 images below now, exposure settings were changed for every mode in order to keep the metering needle at centre. The Same spot was used to focus on centre cross point for all the images. Here are the settings for individual shots:

1) F5.6, 1/25 second. 100 ISO. Evaluative

2) F5.6, 1/20 seconds. 100 ISO. Partial.

3) F5.6, 1/15 seconds. 100 ISO. Spot. 

4) F5.6, 1/20 seconds. 100 ISO. Center-weighted average. 


Metering mode Canon camera
                                               F5.6, 1/25 second, 100 ISO. Evaluative 


Metering mode partial canon DSLR
                                            F5.6, 1/20 second, 100 ISO. Partial


Metering mode spot DSLR canon
                               F5.6, 1/15 second, 100 ISO. Spot metering 


Canon DSLR center weighted metering
                                 F5.6, 1/25 second, 100 ISO. Center-weighted average 

My personal favourite out of the above 4 would be the first image, for the fact that it has somewhat properly exposed background. 

How does it work?
As soon as the in-camera meter is balanced (any mode), the metered area records at 18% gray tone of a gray card. Under normal circumstances, metering would yield the expected results. Most commonly used or default option: Evaluative metering mode (matrix in Nikon). 
Evaluative/Matrix: Takes the whole scene into consideration. Works for 90% of the cases, will make another post on where it fails and the possible workarounds. 
Spot metering: Only considers the AF point exposure which is roughly 2-3 % of the total scenery. Let's say you focus on the subject's forehead while taking portraits, spot metering will ignore the background ( Example: Sun) in this case and expose for the forehead only. 
Partial: Quite similar to spot metering except for the fact that it takes into consideration approx 6% of the total scenery. 
Center-weighted average: Extra focus on the centre while ignoring the corners. It does take into account 75% of the scene. 

If you found this post helpful or informative, share the photography love. :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best ultra wide angle DSLR lens for astrophotography

Selecting a DSLR or lens for a particular type of photography is never easy, speaking from personal experience. Photography is an expensive hobby, which is the reason we want to get the best out of every dollar spent. I am writing this post to help my readers know the various options available in the market for ultra wide-angle camera lenses. Tokina 11-16 mm F/2.8 ultra wide angle lens is still a part of my night photography or astrophotography gear. It is one of the best purchases I ever made when it comes to photography. An ultra-wide angle camera lens is a lens having a range less than 15 mm for a cropped (APS-C) sensor. For a 35 mm film or full frame camera, the value is 24 mm. In simple terms, an ultra wide angle lens covers an extremely wide area or offers a wider field of view. This makes even bigger mountains look smaller when an ultra wide angle lens is used.  Milky way shot using Tokina 11-16 mm There are so many third-party manufacturers of lenses in additio...
13 comments
Read more

Canon CR3 raw format guide

A raw image file is like a digital negative without any lossy compression and minimal processing applied to it. A digital camera shooting images in raw format provides output in the best possible quality, which means files are larger in size and take more space. The benefits offered by shooting raw format overpowers the slight storage hassle though. Few of the well known raw formats include CR2, NEF, RW2, RAF, PEF, ARW, etc.  In this post, we will talk about the new compressed raw format introduced by Canon starting with its mirrorless series of cameras. History of Canon raw formats Back in the early 2000s, Canon cameras produced raw photos in CRW format. Cameras shooting in CRW include Canon D60, Canon D30, Canon 10D, and Canon EOS 300D. Most of the cameras released after the year 2004 shoot raw photos in CR2 format. Examples of CR2 format Canon cameras include 350D, 6D, 7D, 5D, 5D Mark II and many more. In 2018, Canon introduced its new mirrorless camera known as th...
20 comments
Read more

Depth of field photography guide for beginners

Depth of field in photography is essentially what's in focus. It could be +/- "y" feet from point of focus. There are a lot of discussions on the internet about bokeh vs background blur which makes depth of field a confusing topic for beginners. Terminologies such as bokeh, background blur, shallow depth of field and deep depth of field are all interlinked with the concept of depth of field. Commonly abbreviated as DOF, depth of field forms a very important part of modern-day digital photography. It can tremendously help to achieve creative shots in literally any field of photography. In the next section, I will describe the above terms in simple words skipping any involvement of physics. Shallow depth of field means everything except the focused subject is blurred out. This can include an object either from foreground or background. A deeper depth of field means everything is sharp and in focus. A good example of deep depth of field photographs would be landscape phot...
2 comments
Read more