Metering involves the camera's measurement
of the subject brightness in order to set exposure.
Mode
Description
When
to use it
Matrix
To set exposure for
the entire frame, the camera compares measurements
from 256 areas of the frame with its library of typical
compositions.
Recommended for most
situations.
Spot
Camera sets exposure by metering area
shown by square in center of monitor. Only about 1/32
of frame is metered.
Ensures that subject in metering target
is correctly exposed even if background is much brighter
or darker.
Can be used with autoexposure lock to meter off-center
subjects.
Center-weighted
Camera meters entire frame but assigns weight of
80% to area in center of frame occupying roughly
1/4 of total.
Classic meter for portraits; preserves
background details while letting lighting conditions
at center of frame determine exposure.
Can be used with autoexposure lock to meter
off-center subjects. AE Lock
Spot AF area
Links spot metering to active focus area.
Available when auto or manual focus area
selection is in effect. Focus area selected automatically
or manually is used for metering.
AE Lock