not offended, actually learned from you
pls post more, (in other thread as well) as I really find your posts informative and very straight to the point
something which I, hopefully many others can relate to

and if I sound too nubbish, its becoz i am
so pls dun mind to "offend" me, coz if thats offending, offend me more

OK...but i dont think the word "averages" sounds correct.

Quoted from the D70 Manual:
average is like measuring every part equally.
but here it is actually like it'll put more emphasis or more biased towards the center.

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Added on May 14, 2007, 8:56 pmfor me - its true.
u have PASS on the basic of camera metering.

This post has been edited by karwaidotnet: May 14 2007, 08:56 PM

I think you're quite right karwaidotnet. My theory is kinda rusty too.
Center-weighted is not just a bigger spot meter... A visual illustration of it would be as a circle with a darkest shade (ie. most weightage) at its centre, and progressively lighter shading towards its circumference (least weightage).

However, I would not agree that it doesn't average out the exposure in its zone.
It's simply a weighted average (something like how you calculate moments in mechanics and statistics).

This post has been edited by cjtune: May 14 2007, 09:04 PM

karwaidotnet...
thx for being patient in teaching this total noob!
i m happy!
at least ive learned something!
i know what a spot meter does...=)...
i m waiting for the moment to try it out!
thanks again all...!!!

cannot try it out now mehh???
just take something at ur house - a book, a figurine, ur cat, ur brother, ur sister and try take a photo of them/it lahh...

hahahaha...
ok ok boss...
will try now...=)

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Added on May 14, 2007, 9:49 pmboss...
tried oredi...
nice...now i understand!!!
i tried shooting an object(a small flag actually) which has a bright light on the backgroud...
i spot the flag...it turns out nice but a bit dark and the light is less bright...
but when i spot the light...i can only see the light...the rest is dark...like total darkness...
thats what supposed to happen rite?

This post has been edited by xandman: May 14 2007, 09:49 PM

actually, interestingly enough, wouldn't all these metering be covered in the DSLR manual?

(i'm not the boss, but i try answering anyway yah)
You've got the theory right, the relative darkness and brightness sounds correct, but when you spot the flag, it should actually be turning out "just nice" rather than a bit dark.

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Added on May 15, 2007, 12:02 amactually for your info, i use metering ala KRW (kenrockwell) style. Read it up while looking through his reviews but not sure if it applies to all DSLR makes.

Matrix metering all the time, where i then instead change E/V to get a different exposure.

This post has been edited by wlcling: May 15 2007, 12:02 AM

wcling,
i have asked them to read the manual...
but i guess the manual kinda scared them away from it...

karwaidotnet...wlcling...
about the manual thingy...
actually i read them...few times over...
but still not very clear...
thats y i need some experienced people...like u guys...
to explain it to me...
it is easily understood rather than formal book language...=)...
thx again to all experience shared with me!
ill try to look up about the kenrockwell article...
ive read some of his reviews...but i guess i missed the exposure one...
will look it up...=)

i'm definitely a spot metering dude. zone system is pretty interesting.

guys...
now ive finally got the hang of spot metering...
thanks to u all...
but now i have one more prob...
i juz realized that sometimes the EV meter on my d40...doesnt show up...and it shows LO in the aperture...btw i m shooting using S mode...
is this normal?

yes. u may also sometimes get HI

LO - means the current setting u've config wont even let ur camera able to see a thing
HI - too bright lohh...

a very easy way to get LO, startup ur camera, but let ur lens cap on.

again this is only applicable for P/A/S...
but not for M.

This post has been edited by karwaidotnet: May 15 2007, 09:45 PM

i think i'm learning with you as well

i just tried that out as well. and here's my explanation on what i think is happening...

On S or Shutter mode, the camera automatically sets the Aperture & ISO settings so the higher the shutter speed on a dimly lit area, it will set the aperture wider and ISO higher (dependant if its on Auto ISO) so in the end it still gets a "correctly" exposed image.

But as you push the shutter too high, theres a limit on the wideness of your aperture and your ISO, so at a certain point your shutter is too fast for the image to get exposed correctly, that's when you see a "LO in the aperture". If you push the shutter even faster, you'll get LO+. Its just a way to tell your picture is going to be really underexposed...

ok. karwaidotnet beat me to the explaining

This post has been edited by wlcling: May 15 2007, 09:52 PM

hehehe...
u 2 seems very helpful in this topic...
thanks...
i didnt notice the LO+ until u told me...
hehehehe...=)..
see...i learned something new again...
thank god for LYN n its helpful members!

wow, interesting topic, I too dont know exactly what the heck is this 'LO' thing until i read this thread. very informative.

LOL. Ken Rockwell style. How'd he pin his name there? I always though it was a lazy method most ppl use (including me, 95% of the time). Matrix metering is fine for nearly all scenes, but with some trial and error EV adjustments, and some you can even memorise: eg. night street scene with some lighting: anywhere between EV-1 to EV-2, matrix. Too little lighted surfaces to meter off, and any light is usually very intense. Example:

it's all in the manual...