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Metering
Racerx7734
Registered Users Posts: 69 Big grins
I am having trouble trying to figure out what the best meter setting is for fast paced sports shots.
The 2 that I have become most familiar with are center weigted average and Evaluative metering.
Any advice would be great.
I have a Canon 40D and for whatever reason I seam to be getting less keeps now then when I had my Rebel XTi. I have my AF point set to center
Thanks
The 2 that I have become most familiar with are center weigted average and Evaluative metering.
Any advice would be great.
I have a Canon 40D and for whatever reason I seam to be getting less keeps now then when I had my Rebel XTi. I have my AF point set to center
Thanks
0
Comments
Just wondering why you're asking about metering. What's the main problem with your non-keepers? Exposure? or focus? What mode are you shooting in?
Assuming that there is no technical problem with the 40D vs. the XTi, what I would suggest for the kind of shots I looked at on your website, is to try shooting manual. You should already have a feel for the shutter speed you require and the corresponding aperture. A few test shots and a check of the histogram will help you dial in the the right combination.
Looking at the bike shots, it looks like the lighting was tricky with the patchy shade and bright sunlight, coupled with the light and dark clothing of the riders. Either metering mode coupled with aperture or shutter priority would likely cause some variation in the exposure. Manual mode could give you better consistency.
As well, I always shoot raw, to allow some latitude for adjustment in PP for exposure or white balance. But I know that many of the sports photographers on this site shoot jpeg for speed of capture and file size. But raw is my preference.
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When I shoot sports like soccer, I use either center weigthed or matrix metering (that's Nikon term and is probably similar to what you mentioned as Evaluative metering). For me, it depends upon the conditions for which I pick. I've found that when I'm shooting players with a very dark colored uniform that it's way too easy to end up with overexposed shots on center weighted metering (even if you use some -EV) so I go with matrix for dark uniforms. This makes the camera examine the whole scene and it's more likely to protect highlights and not blow them.
For lighter colored uniforms, I get good results with center weighted metering and it's less likely to underexpose if the subject is backlit than matrix metering is. Also with center weighted metering I have less chance of blowing highlights in the face or uniform.
I've wanted to experiment with manual because if your lighting conditions are constant, it shoudl be possible to find the right exposure in a few test shots and then just set that in manual and not worry about exactly what the meter happens to be pointed at from shot to shot. You obviously have to still nail focus, but exposure should be pretty close. I need a good venue to practice going manual before I'm ready to do it in something I wouldn't want to mess up on. There's also a challenge in manual exposure if you have some variation to the lighting (e.g. shooting both backlit and front lit from mid-field or some part of the field in the shade).
We could probably help you more if you posted a few sample images with some comments about them.
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That is my preferred solution in even lighting and it works well for me. It works particularly well on overcast days without strong shadows. On sunny days I usually want to push the exposure a bit when shooting toward the sun so I often end up riding the shutter speed up and down a 1/3 stop click or two as I pan across the field.
I guess it's about both metering and focus : ( I may be calling it the wrong thing, and Im sorry if I do. I think maybe it has more to do with focus. I used to shoot in AV with the center AF point only with center weighted average and high speed continuous and it seamed like I had more keeper shots.
So I read in many forums that the 40D was better suited to shoot with all the AF points used, so I have been shooting like that, but I seam to have less shots in focus, so now I'm going to try and shoot using all the same settings I did on the Rebel (the settings from above) and see what happens. The strange thing is when I shot all the bike shots, almost all the shots were great, but when I was in bright sun (soccer) I had more blurry shots and I shot both in AV. Usually I will us TV for more blurring effects.
It seamed like the camera had a hard time focusing in the bright open sun area.
It's confusing, but I would rather learn then have a fancy camera and use the sports setting........: )