Interal Evaluative metering vs Handheld Spot Meters

Approx 1 year ago I made the switch from film to digital by purchasing a Canon 20D. Then I had some personal responsibilities that forced me to put it on the shelf for a while. Now, I am getting back into it and have started purchasing new lenses and getting to know the camera settings. Here's my question. I have heard a lot about the pros and cons of Evaluative metering and Sport Metering. Unfortunately, I cannot do spot metering on my 20D and I am afraid Evaluative might not be the best option for me. Therefore, I am looking for object opinions on both. Would it be better for me to foot the bill and purchase a spot meter? If so, then what is the best method of using one. Or am I just wasting my money and should use the Evaluative metering setting instead.

Sorry for such a newbie question.

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Originally Posted by yoyo123

Approx 1 year ago I made the switch from film to digital by purchasing a Canon 20D. Then I had some personal responsibilities that forced me to put it on the shelf for a while. Now, I am getting back into it and have started purchasing new lenses and getting to know the camera settings. Here's my question. I have heard a lot about the pros and cons of Evaluative metering and Sport Metering. Unfortunately, I cannot do spot metering on my 20D and I am afraid Evaluative might not be the best option for me. Therefore, I am looking for object opinions on both. Would it be better for me to foot the bill and purchase a spot meter? If so, then what is the best method of using one. Or am I just wasting my money and should use the Evaluative metering setting instead.

Sorry for such a newbie question.

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Two comments. Spot metering is not normally something you use all the time. It is only good for situations where the lighting is extremely tough and variable. Most of the time, the partial spot metering in the 20D is much more useful. Evaluative mettering works wel, I just prefer the control of partial metering.

My other comment is that you should spend the time to learn about lighting and exposure without using a meter. Meters were first designed as an aid, now most people see them as a necessity. Start with Sunny 16, adjust your camera's "personal Sunny 16", and learn how to choose the exposure yourself. Remember, in most cases, the light just doesn't change all that fast to be signifigant. With digital, learning will be so much faster than the old days of film. You can't use any meter effectively if you don't understand what the meter is doing!

Thanks for the comments. I think I'll hold off on the spot meter then. :-)

However, I am curious. How do you use the partial meter to get the optimal meter settings? Do you meter the lighest and darkest part of a scene and then average them both?

I'm a big fan of spot meters, and that's one thing that has kept me away from Canon (he ducks and runs...). They're not the easiest thing to learn but it shouldn't be too bad with digital. I learned with slide film, so it was shoot, take notes, wait a week and see the results. With digital you'll see what you're getting immediately.

A spot meter doesn't lie or get fooled by wierd lighting conditions (which often make great photographs). A spot meter only tells you about one very specific area, so metering on the most important part of a shot and adjusting your exposure to how you want that one specific area to look in the capture will give you very consistent results. I've found that matrix metering (Nikon, anyway) tends to get fooled by bright highlights but is otherwise really good.

An example: If I were shooting a portrait that was strongly backlit without flash, I would meter off the person's face and set the exposure at +1 over that reading (for caucasian skin tone). It wouldn't matter how bright or dim the light in the background was; I'd know that the face would be exposed how I wanted it to be. I don't really know if matrix would give me what I want unless I bracket. The background would probably be blown out but that's the effect I'd want and matrix wouldn't know that. Matrix would give me a different reading depending on how bright the background was or how much background versus subject (which remember is in shadow). A spot meter would give you the same reading regardless.

I don't always use it but it's a really great tool to have once you're familiar with it. It's all about consistency - a spot meter will give you that control where evaluative/matrix may not. You'll have less of a need to bracket and know that you got what you want.