On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 10:50 PM, Thaths <tha...@gmail.com> wrote: > Both good points. I too do not advocate complete manual metering. > However, in some cases there is a definite difference between center > weighted, spot and matrix metering. Having these options and using > them is good and often give you a better image than you would with the > default matrix metering. >
I don't even bother with this anymore. I shoot raw and treat the photo as raw data. As long as there are no highlights [1] and the exposure is leaning towards the right [2], any exposure is good enough. A good photo editing app with "Auto Correct" and "Undo" buttons does wonders. I used to like Lightroom, but since Apple doesn't make netbooks and I can't stand Windows, I've been trying F-Spot+UFRaw in GNOME and find it pretty usable (Picasa doesn't read EXIF tags in raw images). As someone holding a camera and having to make a quick decision, the only things I look for are (a) the frame, especially (b) focus on the eyes, (c) the balance of elements, and (d) the lighting contrast within the frame. The rest can be deferred to software. [1] For which, I use matrix metering and exposure compensation if there are highlights. No spot or centre weighted for me. [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposing_to_the_right -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://jace.seacrow.com/
