ImageCreator Loc: Northern California

For the most part, I leave my camera set at Evaluative Metering. But, I wonder, is there a better way?
Does anyone regularly use either center weight or spot metering. For the most part Evaluative gives me consistent results. What say you?

Then there's the other can of worms of going totally manual. . but we'll save that for another time.

I think I might go out and do Center weight or spot for a whole Shoot and see what happens.

Any thoughts.

Quixdraw Loc: x

I vary metering based on subject and conditions, sometimes shooting a challenging photo with several settings. I have used Spot a great deal down the years with considerable success, but you will need to experiment with where you need to place the spot to get desired results. Worth the effort, IMO.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Evaluative/spot, depending on the scene conditions.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Your metering approach doesn't exist in isolation. You also have to consider if your camera meters at a selective off-center AF point or just some percentage of the very center of the frame, always. Do you shoot mostly centered images where Spot or Partial is more likely to be relevant?

When you develop your exposure, do you assure to position the meter to the right of the 0-mark? aka Exposing to the Right?

Do you shoot in RAW along with your ETTR approach?

So, if you know the camera is metering the entire frame and trying to find a 'solution' (at the 0-mark) that underexposes the brightest points to not blow the highlights, then you can practice with your camera and your editing tools to find that 'sweet spot' to the right of the 0-mark that gives you 'white' whites rather than 'grey' whites. In RAW, most digital cameras can be defaulted to +0.7 to the right of the 0-mark. Experiment with your images and editors and see if you can / should go further to the right as a general metering, based on the default evaluative metering (the entire frame) so that it doesn't matter if the center of your frame happens to fall on something much brighter (or darker) within the larger total frame.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Well, explain 'meyering'...

As to metering, ask anyone who really works. One exposes for the subject, not the generic light.

Going all out one way or another means you are willing to sacrifice too much for very little gain. Learn to identify what you need to reflect your vision.

Remember that light changes and is never an absolute.

Try to take a picture of a black and a white cow in a pasture in full sunlight. Both are lit with the same amount of light. A generic averaging incident light exposure* allows for a compromise in their robe, but there is no way you will capture the white or the black nuances correctly on both.

If you use the reflective light from one or the other (Spot metering), you reduce the effectiveness of your exposure.

Then you have the 'ambient' light made from different sources with different intensity and hue...

So? Exposure is about compromise, not absolute.

Added:
It is not about shooting raw or ETTR or anything. These are used to maximize the camera sensor capabilities, not the exposure per se.

------------
* Camera measure only reflective light, never incident. While it appears to be a great solution that works all the time, it is not. To measure the incident light, you need an adapter, usually a diffuser dome, and use the camera reflective average as setting.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

After reading the post a couple times and realizing that it is nothing radical but a really conservative approach to getting a more consistent result at the 0 mark for your specific camera and its metering. Sounds logical to try and fine tune a little bit , keeping in mind the type of scenes you normally shoot... Good Stuff !

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

I usually leave my metering mode set to average or center average. I don't expose based on the metering result so it's not a big deal where it's set. I shoot only raw and I expose every photo the same way; place the brightest diffuse highlight at the sensor's recording threshold and click. My goal for every exposure is always the same: record as much data as possible. To do that I rely on the camera's highlight clipping warning. Shooting with a mirrorless camera I get a live highlight clipping warning before I take the photo.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

I use spot metering for 99.9% of my work
And I shoot 99% fully manual
Not that I think it's better, It just works for me

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

With my Nikon's I only use Matrix Metering, it is still the best metering system except for a Incident light reading, which, is not possible with a reflecting light meter camera unless you add the dome to your lens or use an incident light meter.
An incident light reading is the most accurate but is not always possible. Although a gray card will also do.
But, I have found that Matrix Metering is always almost perfect in most situations, especially when shooting in RAW and manual exposure, I can clean anything up in post anyway.
I use Matrix Metering especially when shooting birds in flight, for me anyway, it seems perfect.
Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.

jlg1000 Loc: Uruguay / South America

I almost always use "Highlight mode" in my A7C, therefore nothing gets overexposed unless it is outside a reasonable range (like the sun)

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I come from an old school when spot and center weighted metering was what we had. I use spot metering often depending on the subject. Digital photography requires a good exposure of an important highlight precisely to avoid clipping those highlights.
Center weighted has worked very nicely for me when I have been using a polarizer. Evaluative or matrix metering get confused with dark filters requiring to pay close attention to the histogram.

I have found that matrix metering works nicely for landscape photography. I have learned to meter so as to get good details in the clouds avoiding overexposure. Consider that the focus bracket, when using matrix metering affects the exposure. Make your own testing and you will see what I mean.
Matrix metering or evaluative metering will keep you in the ballpark but it does not mean you should not pay attention to the exposure that for many subjects could be off. I tend not to use it for sunsets or sunrises because it gives more exposure to the foreground unless that is the effect I want in a particular shot. Center weighting and spot metering are very predictable since no exposure compensation is done by the meter but pay attention to the dark and bright subjects because the meter can be fooled. I am sure you know that.

Spot metering is very accurate in the hands of a knowledgeable photographer.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I use The Zone System for both large format and digital. For those, I use spot metering.

For 35mm and 120 films, I use center-weighted or average metering. The average metering can be either incident or reflected, depending on the situation I'm photographing.
--Bob

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

I use matrix mainly and spot when the subject is in front of a bright background. It blows out the background on occasion but the subject is spot on. I mainly shot wildlife

User ID

Yep. Thaz the whole deal.

There’s a heap of other complexities included in most other replies, and I spoze it makes the authors feel very masterful, but it’s just theatrical BS.