I often get asked which metering mode I use – Matrix / Evaluative, or Center-weighted, or Spot-metering?

You’ll find different arguments on the various web forums as to which works better. Lots of advice there. But now I’m going to add something that might confuse you … it doesn’t really matter in the end which metering mode you use.

Since I’m shooting in manual exposure mode, no matter which route we take to get to the exact shutter speed / aperture combination that I’m using … I would be getting the exact same exposure regardless of which metering mode was used.

As I said on the page on metering techniques ..

For me, exposure metering has become an iterative process of:
- checking my camera’s meter,
- checking the histogram
- and blinking highlights display,
- checking the image on the LCD, (although this isn’t an accurate assessment of exposure),
- experience.

There is no fixed recipe in approaching metering in all kinds of situations.
It’s a mix-n-match of different techniques -
all used to make sure I get optimum exposure for my images.

With that iterative method, it doesn’t really matter which metering mode was used – I end up at the same place – the same aperture / shutter speed / ISO combination.

So which metering mode do I actually use ? I mostly keep the camera set to matrix /evaluative metering, but I occasionally switch to spot metering. When I do use spot metering, I am specific about the tonality of the area which I am metering off. That is a very important consideration when you use spot-metering.