Metering Modes on the Canon 20D

WolfOnDigital · April 26, 2009

Ok, I just received some great info in another thread I started on shooting RAW.

New question/topic

What do most of you use when shooting with a Canon 20D?
Evaluative, Center, or Spot?

I know obviously it would change depending on the light and scene you shoot...but let's say for the sake of my question that I am shooting in an orange grove around 9am to 10am and the we are under filtered light from the sun under the trees. even lighting and I want to meter the model and the scene in general...what would be the best mode to try first?
Do some of you prefer one mode over the other for the accuracy of the Canon 20D? Or do you jump around?

I am used to the 9% spot metering that the Canon FTB manual film camera I shot offered.

I know my questions is broad but trying to get a better grasp of the 20D for quality images.

Thanks,

Jeff

pathfinder · April 26, 2009

I think what metering mode to use, depends a great deal on how much you understand the theory of reflected light meters.

Personally, I use Evaluative almost all the time. I am used to it and it usually works for me - BUT I also check my histogram after the fact, because the histogram is what really tells you if you have nailed your exposure, or over-exposed and see blinkies all over your LCD. My histogram is set to show me each of the red, blue, and green channels so I can make sure the individual channels are not fried.

Spot or central metering can also work well for one who understands precisely what they are doing with it. Neither will work as well as Evaluative in inexperienced hands. Both spot and central require the shooter to interpret what the meter is telling the shooter. One needs to evaluate the reading for optimal use of Evaluative also, but it is a bit more forgiving. Spot meter not so much...

The best meter is not in your camera, but in an Incident light meter that does not need to know whether you are metering off a white cat in a snow field, or a black Lab in a coal mine. An incident meter just reads the incident light, and from that will tell you the proper exposure. Or you can understand the sunny 16 rule for shooting out of doors.

I use Evaluative with a 40D and a 5D among other Canon cameras.

If you understand the Zone system and are comfortable with it, the spot metering will probably work quite well for you.

Richard · April 27, 2009

Partial to partial mode
The 20D doesn't actually have a spot metering option, but the partial metering mode is based on the 9% at the center of the viewfinder. Later Canon models have spot as well, which Canon defines as 3%.

After using evaluative (matrix) mode for several years, I switched to partial. I first started using it to deal with back-lit subjects. I mostly do street shooting in scenes that frequently contain both bright sun and deep shadow. Matrix does the best it can in finding a compromise, but all too often I found that what I was really interested in ended up badly exposed. My proportion of keepers rose considerably when I switched to partial. You do need to think about what you are doing a little more than with matrix, as metering on the wrong area can produce disastrous results. I still screw up from time to time, but mostly, I get the exposure I want.

Since you are used to shooting with a 9% metering system, I think you would have little trouble using it well. I think you mentioned landscape shooting in an earlier post though, and matrix generally works quite well for that. Again, my advice would be to try them all and see what works best for you.

Scott_Quier · April 27, 2009

I'm with PF on this one - Evaluative probably 99.99%. I can't remember the last time it was anything other than Eval.

Shooting weddings, I expose for the gown. Easy stuff as I tend to try to expose to the right anyway, I just apply some +EC and all is good. I watch the histogram to make sure that I don't blow a channel. I also use the CWB described in this post in an more or less successful attempt to remove exposure evaluation bias that can be imposed by the camera.

Scenery - Eval again. The camera is well designed to handle the greens and blues of nature. For these my selection of WB may be AWB, Daylight, or my CWB (as outlined in the above referenced link).

BTW - Digital Rebel (300D) I've shot with the 20D (in fact, I still have it, but it's been converted to 815nm IR), a pair of 30D cameras, and now with a pair of 50Ds. To the best of my knowledge, all the above applies equally to each of these 4 models.

Metering Modes on the Canon 20D

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