Understanding Metering Modes

Beginner Photography  •  Photography Tips

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Metering modes are an often-overlooked camera setting that determine how the camera measures the amount of light in a scene and sets the exposure. The three most common metering modes are evaluative, center-weighted, and spot metering. Let’s take a closer look at each one.

Evaluative metering, also known as matrix or multi-segment metering, divides the frame into a number of segments and measures the light in each segment to determine the correct exposure. This is the default metering mode on most cameras and is suitable for most situations.

Evaluative metering

Center-weighted metering places more emphasis on the center of the frame, typically the central 60-80%, and less on the surrounding areas. This ensures that the main subject, located in the central region, is correctly exposed, while still accounting for the surrounding environment.

This is useful for situations where your subject is in the center of the frame, and the background lighting isn’t crucial. It’s commonly used for portraits or subjects that need more focus compared to the rest of the scene.

Photo captured by Warren Wong

Spot metering measures the light only in a small area of the frame, typically around 1-5% of the total image. This allows for precise exposure control when dealing with high-contrast situations, such as backlit subjects or scenes with bright and dark areas. You can point the spot metering area at a specific part of the scene, like a person’s face or a highlight, to ensure that it is correctly exposed.

This mode is useful when you want to take a reading from a specific part of the scene, such as a person’s face in a portrait, or a bird in flight against a bright sky. It is also useful for backlit subjects, where the background is much brighter than the subject. For example, if you are taking a portrait and the sun is behind your subject, you can use spot metering to take a reading from the face and ensure that it is properly exposed.

Photo captured by iam_os

Partial metering is similar to spot metering but covers a slightly larger area, around 10-15% of the frame. This mode allows for greater control over exposure when dealing with scenes that have significant variations in brightness, as it helps to focus on the most important part of the image without being influenced by the surrounding areas.

Photo captured by Ray Hennessy

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