Metering Modes

[Keltic Ice Man]

On the 350d I have

(1) 35 Point Evaluative (linked to all AF points)
(2) Partial metering at centre (approx. 9% of viewfinder)
(3) Centre weighted

Normally I use the Evaluative one. I'm about to do a wedding which would you recommend, as I hear a lot of folks talking about about spot metering, where spot is available - should I therefore use Centre Weighted?

Thanks

Allan

 

[Marcel]

Partial is the closest to Spot Metering you're going to get.

It all depends on how you want to shoot.
With wedding dresses and (usually) darkish suits, the metering is going to be fooled.
I would possibly give partial metering a try, and keep an eye on the histogram, using compensation exposure to suit if you can.

 

[Keltic Ice Man]

am I best to meter on the faces?

 

[pxl8]

Depends on the skin tone ultimately. An old trick is to take a reading from the back of your own hand which is something you can calibrate to beforehand - take a reading and then work out how much +/- you'll need. Then you can quickly take a reading as often as you need to. Even then you might need to tweak depending on the dress and suit tones/colours.

 

[King_Boru]

I take a reading from the back of my hand as per the cameras suggestion (spot mode). This will slightly under expose the skin tones (as the camera sees them as bright) which will allow for the ttl flash to fill in the darker areas and bring the normal skin tones to even exposure. Hope this is of help.