ESP, centre weighted, spot meterin

System

I can't understand the terms ESP, centre weighted and spot metering. Could anyone explain it for me in terms I can understand?

And what is the best setting to take pics of a cycle race in bright sunlight so the whole cyclist is in perfect focus using auto focus.

Merci D

TylerW

ESP, or evaluative metering means the camera is looking at the entire scene in your frame and averages the metering values. For most snapshots, this metering is good, if not perfect. However in high contrast scenes, or scenes dominated by either light or dark areas, you will tend to lose detail in highlight areas (if the scene is predominantly dark) or shadow areas if the opposite.

Center weighted means that the camera is still looking at the whole scene, but pays the most attention to subjects within the circle in the center of your viewfinder. This is good if you have a severely backlit subject, or any other time that the background is far less important to nail your exposure on than your subject is.

Spot metering means that its taking a light meter reading from a single point in your viewfinder. I've never used it before, but I presume its a point in the dead center. I would imagine this metering mode is more useful as a light reading tool than for actual shooting.

For tracking moving subjects, especially if they're coming towards you, use AI Servo. As long as you have the AF button depressed, your camera will focus track your subject. With this I typically only use the center AF point, I find it to be far more accurate than using all points, but I shoot on a 10d, and Canon's AF systems have come a ways since they made that camera, so if you're shooting on something else, using more AF points may give you more flexibility. If you're shooting in bright sunlight, you probably should consider using center weighted metering. Using evaluative metering can easily lead to blown highlights depending on your background, and in the case of bicycle races, your subject far outweights yur background in terms of importance, most of the time.

System

esp's
thanks - that's very helpful.