When do you use spot metering?

[Drizzt321]

I'd like to expand on the question:

How does one use spot metering in AI Servo mode when your focus point isn't center or linked to the meter.

I think my EOS-3 can meter at the focus point, but Canon took this feature away from most digital cameras for some reason...

I don't think the EOS 3 can do spot metering at the non-centre AF points, because I checked the manual for my EOS 1V and found that it can't - and they share the same AF system.

Never used either of those, but the 5d3 & 1DX have the same AF system, and the 1DX can do spot metering at the AF point. Just saying, they don't always put the same features in with the same system.

[smithy]

I'd like to expand on the question:

How does one use spot metering in AI Servo mode when your focus point isn't center or linked to the meter.

I think my EOS-3 can meter at the focus point, but Canon took this feature away from most digital cameras for some reason...

I don't think the EOS 3 can do spot metering at the non-centre AF points, because I checked the manual for my EOS 1V and found that it can't - and they share the same AF system.

Never used either of those, but the 5d3 & 1DX have the same AF system, and the 1DX can do spot metering at the AF point. Just saying, they don't always put the same features in with the same system.

Point taken, but the 1V is a superior camera to the EOS 3, so if one of them is going to have spot metering at the AF point, it's going to be the 1V... and it doesn't.

[bdunbar79]

Correct.  NEITHER the 1V nor the EOS-3 has AF point-linked spot metering.

[bdunbar79]

I use center-weighted average mostly.  In landscape it doesn't matter, so I usually use evaluative or center-weighted average.  In sports however, I find spot metering with the 1D Mark IV very useful!  Imagine a track meet or football game with sun overhead, and the player's jersey is shadowed.  Select spot metering, meter on the jersey, use Av mode with ISO safety shift and auto ISO and you've got it.  Make sure you're shooting in RAW though because the exposure won't be exactly perfect, but it'll work.  Another instance is bird photography whereby you want a bird shot of a flying bird with a bright sky behind it.  Spot meter on the bird itself with a bit of EC and again, you've got it.  Portrait photography for sure as I find that preserves skin tones, but you again may have to play with EC to get it just right.  Hope this helped.

[risc32]

I don't use spot metering, and with the instant feedback of an LCD i don't know why anyone would. I really don't know why i would want it linked to differing AF points either. But i'm weird....

[Drizzt321]

I don't use spot metering, and with the instant feedback of an LCD i don't know why anyone would. I really don't know why i would want it linked to differing AF points either. But i'm weird....

This is something I would love in the 5d3. Lets say you have a composition where the center is something very bright, say a window on a very bright day, but you're subject is inside in a fairly dark room. The metering would automatically expose for the very bright light from the window, so your subject would be very underexposed. If the metering was linked to the AF point, and you put the point over the subject, it'd meter for the subject instead of the window. You can still do similar to that, you just need to put the center over your subject, hit the AE-lock button, then recompose. But that's a bit of a pain sometimes, and one more thing to remember to do.

[smithy]

I don't use spot metering, and with the instant feedback of an LCD i don't know why anyone would. I really don't know why i would want it linked to differing AF points either. But i'm weird....

This is something I would love in the 5d3. Lets say you have a composition where the center is something very bright, say a window on a very bright day, but you're subject is inside in a fairly dark room. The metering would automatically expose for the very bright light from the window, so your subject would be very underexposed. If the metering was linked to the AF point, and you put the point over the subject, it'd meter for the subject instead of the window. You can still do similar to that, you just need to put the center over your subject, hit the AE-lock button, then recompose. But that's a bit of a pain sometimes, and one more thing to remember to do.

Yep - it's more than a pain.  I was taking shots of my mischievous nieces running around recently, and it's just not possible to AE-lock at centre and then suddenly shoot on an outer AF point within the millisecond time frames available.  So I just had to make sure that the background was similar enough in brightness to the girls' skin tones.

[paul13walnut5]

@bdunbar79

Correct.  NEITHER the 1V nor the EOS-3 has AF point-linked spot metering.

Corr-wrong!

I don't know about the 1V, but the EOS-3 does.

Custom function 13.

Focusing Point-Linked Spot Metering.
With Custom Function CF-13, you can limit the manually- and eye-selectable focusing points to only 11 of the 45. This makes focusing point selection faster.

Spot metering (about 2.4% of the viewfinder area) is also linked to the eye-selected or manually-selected focusing point.

&

The selectable focusing points are limited to 11.
This makes focusing point selection faster and links spot metering to the focusing point you select.
This setting is effective for spotlighted subjects on-stage, etc., when you want to maintain the framing of the subject.

From pages 56 & 119 of EOS 3 manual.

[mb66energy]

I use spot metering exclusively.

Av + spot + AE lock
or
M + spot

The most important thing for me is to set the active spot region to that part of the picture where I see the "gray card"-gray - sth. like "medium brightness" - this works very well after 5 years of training 

[bdunbar79]

@bdunbar79

Correct.  NEITHER the 1V nor the EOS-3 has AF point-linked spot metering.

Corr-wrong!

I don't know about the 1V, but the EOS-3 does.

Custom function 13.

Focusing Point-Linked Spot Metering.
With Custom Function CF-13, you can limit the manually- and eye-selectable focusing points to only 11 of the 45. This makes focusing point selection faster.

Spot metering (about 2.4% of the viewfinder area) is also linked to the eye-selected or manually-selected focusing point.

&

The selectable focusing points are limited to 11.
This makes focusing point selection faster and links spot metering to the focusing point you select.
This setting is effective for spotlighted subjects on-stage, etc., when you want to maintain the framing of the subject.

From pages 56 & 119 of EOS 3 manual.

Interesting.  I'm reluctant to shoot film in difficult or harsh conditions where I'd even need spot metering, but I'll have to try it out.  I did not know about this custom function. 

[paul13walnut5]

There are 3 modes to the custom function so please consult the handbook to see what may work for you.

All this talk of EOS 3's might just see me cracking open a cheeky wee roll of XP2 this weekend.

[smithy]

@bdunbar79

Correct.  NEITHER the 1V nor the EOS-3 has AF point-linked spot metering.

Corr-wrong!

I don't know about the 1V, but the EOS-3 does.

Custom function 13.

Focusing Point-Linked Spot Metering.
With Custom Function CF-13, you can limit the manually- and eye-selectable focusing points to only 11 of the 45. This makes focusing point selection faster.

Spot metering (about 2.4% of the viewfinder area) is also linked to the eye-selected or manually-selected focusing point.

&

The selectable focusing points are limited to 11.
This makes focusing point selection faster and links spot metering to the focusing point you select.
This setting is effective for spotlighted subjects on-stage, etc., when you want to maintain the framing of the subject.

From pages 56 & 119 of EOS 3 manual.

Interesting.  I'm reluctant to shoot film in difficult or harsh conditions where I'd even need spot metering, but I'll have to try it out.  I did not know about this custom function.

Me neither - I'll have to go back to my 1V manual to check.

[bdunbar79]

There are 3 modes to the custom function so please consult the handbook to see what may work for you.

All this talk of EOS 3's might just see me cracking open a cheeky wee roll of XP2 this weekend.

Thanks.  I think now you have a bunch of people going out and shooting film this weekend   Time to grab the EOS-3 again...

[paul13walnut5]

Cool.  What film are you all choosing?

[bdunbar79]

Cool.  What film are you all choosing?

Oh I don't know.  We have a crapload of Fuji.  And I mean a lot!  What's good in your opinion?