p.1 #1 · Spot metering not working as expected with 5DIII
I was shooting some portraits of my 14-month old daughter at the beach the other day. I was playing with backlight and sun flare, so I put the camera in spot metering mode. I have back-button AF set up and assigned to the AF-on button, with shutter button half-press set to meter only.
I was expecting my daughter to be metered correctly and a blown-out background (sun behind her), but I was getting pictures with her appearing dark and the rest of the scene properly exposed.
I can't see why this would matter, but I was using single point AF with manually selected focus points that were not in the center of the frame.
I finally switched to manual to achieve the look I was going for, but I'm wondering why spot metering wasn't working as expected in this case. Any ideas?
Manual does work pretty well if I have a lot of control over where the subject is positioned, but that doesn't hold true for a 14-month old with a mind of her own! Seems like spot metering is perfect for this scenario, but it's not working as I'd expect it to.
p.1 #3 · Spot metering not working as expected with 5DIII
The spot meter only surrounds the center point. There is a circle in the viewfinder that shows where it is. If you composed such that the spot was fully or partially illuminated by the bright background, then that was probably your problem.
The way to do this would be to zoom such that the spot is only seeing her, half press to get the exposure, hit the exposure lock button, then compose the shot, focus with your chosen point and shoot.
p.1 #4 · Spot metering not working as expected with 5DIII
Ah, that explains it. I only use primes, so any zooming that happens would have to be with my feet. That said, I can still meter off of her with the spot, hit the exposure lock button, and then recompose. Thanks.
p.1 #5 · Spot metering not working as expected with 5DIII
I just checked the manual. On page 171 it says that AE lock is applied at the selected AF point (when AF point is manually selected) only in evaluative metering mode.
In spot, partial and center-weighted metering modes, AE lock is applied at the center point.
This supports what you said: if I want to use spot metering in the way I was hoping, I need to meter off of the subject using the center-point, and hit AE lock, and then recompose and shoot.
Not sure that's much easier than shooting in manual, but I guess it depends on the conditions.
p.1 #9 · Spot metering not working as expected with 5DIII
Its one of those things that just becomes second nature and only takes a half second. I guess it has worked that way on all my other bodies, so I've never even really thought of it as a hindrance.
p.1 #10 · Spot metering not working as expected with 5DIII
badlydrawnboy wrote:
I just checked the manual. On page 171 it says that AE lock is applied at the selected AF point (when AF point is manually selected) only in evaluative metering mode.
In spot, partial and center-weighted metering modes, AE lock is applied at the center point.
This supports what you said: if I want to use spot metering in the way I was hoping, I need to meter off of the subject using the center-point, and hit AE lock, and then recompose and shoot.
Not sure that's much easier than shooting in manual, but I guess it depends on the conditions.
Assuming you are a back button / AF-On focus user, in situations where I need use spot metering, I set-up my camera slightly different.
I go into Custom Controls - Select Shutter Butt half-press AE lock (while button pressed) and choose * (AE lock while button pressed).
With my camera set-up like this, I use the center point - spot focus to achieve my exposure, then half press & hold the shutter button down to lock the exposure, then recompose to my focus point. I find I greatly prefer this method than using the AE lock button (a button I never use, therefore not familiar with the placement on the camera when I'm looking through the viewfinder).
Its worth a try to see if you like or until Canon ties spot metering to the focus point (highly unlikely ).
p.1 #11 · Spot metering not working as expected with 5DIII
gvg45 wrote:
Assuming you are a back button / AF-On focus user, in situations where I need use spot metering, I set-up my camera slightly different.
I go into Custom Controls - Select Shutter Butt half-press AE lock (while button pressed) and choose * (AE lock while button pressed).
With my camera set-up like this, I use the center point - spot focus to achieve my exposure, then half press & hold the shutter button down to lock the exposure, then recompose to my focus point. I find I greatly prefer this method than using the AE lock button (a button I never use, therefore not familiar with the placement on the camera when I'm looking through the viewfinder).
Its worth a try to see if you like or until Canon ties spot metering to the focus point (highly unlikely )....Show more →
Funny thing is I set things up this way after reading a post on 5D3 settings just after I purchased the camera, but then forgot about it. I agree, it's much easier to do that way. Thanks for the reminder!
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