lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I usually use Spot Metering. Comes from my film Zone System days. I know how to spot meter, in-camera or hand held. I'll at times use Center-weighted or Matrix metering. With experience you get a sense of the light and what is needed. And if one does not give me the wanted or expected results I'll try another. Some lighting conditions and subjects re just trickier than others. And some lighting situation are nearly impossible requiring either HDR or some other dynamic range technique or Flash (fill). I'm not big on brand specific naming issues, you can figure it out if you understand what they are saying in the term description. Say Canon and Pentax use Av, Tv, M; where as Nikon uses A, S, M. T=time, i.e., Shutter Speed. A personal note, "S" got me into some real confusing shooting trouble once. When I had first gotten my Pentax K-20D I got confused and set the camera to Sv. As I said already, shutter speed on a Pentax is Tv. It turns out Sv on Pentax means Sensitivity (ISO or EV). Set on that my meter was totally confusing and the camera made no sense to me. Pentax also has a TAv mode, my guess another type of "ISO" priority. Again very weird setting chosen by the camera. I'm guessing with Sv and TAv one is an Auto ISO and the other a Manual ISO priority mode. Even I'm confused at that.

Tom G Loc: Atlanta, GA

Try using "PARAGRAPHS" for clarity.

WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

gwilliams6

For all the years I shot with DSLRs with an optical viewfinder OVF, I found matrix and spot metering worked best. Now that I am shooting mirrorless with a great EVF that allows me to see my ACTUAL exposure, and any exposure compensation before shooting, I keep it on matrix and just adjust exposure compensation to see what effect I like, whether high key or low key. It makes it so much easier to nail the exposure every time. I see the exposure I want and get what I see. No guessing beforehand or chimping later. Another distinct advantage of mirrorless. Cheers

waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

pahtspix

Matrix metering and ISO AUTO for my Nikon D500/Tamron 150-600mm G2 This combo works for me!

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I usually try to keep focus and metering tethered, i.e., if my main subject is stationary and only part of the frame I use spot for both, if that subject is moving I use center weighted as it may be hard to keep the spot on it. If there is no "main" subject as in some landscapes or cityscapes I use matrix or wide area metering and focus. Of course there will be certain lighting situations and/or composition situations where these rules do not apply and I have to try some different combination of the two.

WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

This is the best.

WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Just try them all and choose the one you like best.

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

I may be a true outlier here, but I rarely think much about metering at all. I do, however, spend a fair amount of time prior to any serious photo work taking a number of test shots, reviewing the histograms, and adjusting one of the three legs to get the results I want.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I haven't tried using the back button for exposure lock. I've tried several times using it for focus lock but I find that I'm too inclined to push the shutter release fully down too soon. Perhaps my coordination isn't good enough. But you're right - if you're using exposure lock you need to separate it from focus lock. I like letting the camera take care of exposure, which allows me to concentrate on choosing a suitable focus point. In fact I like it when the camera is as small a distraction as possible, which allows me to concentrate on the important stuff like composition.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

The "camera gods" gave me different exposure settings and I use them all as needed. Staying on the same exposure setting for all shots is like taking everything at f/8. Read up on what the differences are and use as the situation calls for.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

For my sports action work I use Matrix quite a bit, but I sometimes take readings on the field with a hand held meter and go with that, making adjustments as necessary. I also like spot metering in certain situations. Personally, I don't really use center-weighted. What method I use is tied directly to what I'm shooting and the lighting situation. With available time, not in sports action work, I also make multiple exposures at different setting and decide what I like best in pp. Experiment. See what works best for you, what you're shooting, and the lenses you use. If you mess up, there's always pp, but it is far better to get it right in-camera. Best of luck.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

I understand completely. When I first tried BBF I found it awkward, but for complex subjects I now often choose Manual mode with B.B. for focus and exposure lock set for half press of the shutter button. I find I can manage all three controls fairly well.

For some complex subjects, I actually reverse it and use the shutter to lock focus and B.B. to quickly reset metering.

Andy

PeterBergh

As long as you set aperture, shutter speed, and ISO manually, the camera's meter has no influence whatever on the exposure.