Nikon new metering settings

[ndwgolf]

Guys
Nikon has introduced a new metering setting called “highlight weighted metering”. I tried it today shooting birds but not sure if I would use it again. I found the images were all at least -1 under exposed and when trying to pull them back the IQ was definitely degraded…….. is anyone else using this setting?

 

[ashishtamhane]

It's definitely one of lesser used metering setting for me. The benefit is that you are sure that no highlights are blown. I found that using this option along with some exposure compensation it gets a bit easier to push the histogram to the right.

Here is a photo that I had shot using this metering method and then processing it.

Farmers during monsoon season

 

[Ed Sutton]

I use it quite a lot in some situations but it often needs a little increase in exposure compensation to my eyes. If you want to pull a lot of detail from the underexposed areas it needs a low ISO.

 

[toohuge]

It's been around a while... I use it when necessary, i.e. trying to keep highlights in check, where it's important. It's not something you can set and forget about, unlike their matrix metering imo. I've used it when shooting sport on an athletics track before, where the sun position was varying a lot depending on event etc.

 

[ndwgolf]

Here is what I’m talking about
Before

After

ISO was 320 1/250 F6.3

 

[Ed Sutton]

Here is what I’m talking about
Before
View attachment 397595
After
View attachment 397594
ISO was 320 1/250 F6.3

That's not a situation where highlight priority is useful. It's exposed for the bright green spots top right. If you had a white bird against a dark background it would have worked well. I use it for photographing sheep and sheep dogs which often have black and white patches. When it's sunny the white can overexpose using matrix for example, but highlight priority retains detail in the white areas. It can require a little exposure compensation to keep the blacks from blocking up. It's a useful setting, but as mentioned above not one you can set and forget.

 

[sk66]

I use highlight weighted metering almost exclusively with most Nikon bodies that have it (except the D5/D6).

You are using the Z9 and and there is absolutely *no discernable image degradation when recovering an image that was underexposed by using a lower ISO... except that there is a 1 stop increase in actual light sensitivity which kicks in at ISO 500 (i.e. underexposing at ISO ≤400 can be a small penalty).

There is also no advantage other than ensuring it retains all highlights... which may, or may not, actually matter. If you had to raise the exposure 2 stops globally in post, then the image is equivalent to having used ISO ISO 1280... which is going to be a bit noisy at the 4 micron pixel level. But it would be equally as noisy if you had actually used ISO 1280 instead.


*it is quite possible that LR's default adjustments/settings are making it look worse than it should.

 

[yzfmike]

It's been around for a while. I used it extensively with my D500 for cricket shots to avoid the white kit getting blown out - it was great.

However, since moving to a Z9 things have changed - the images appear underexposed and need significant adjustment in post.

Thom Hogan mentions that Nikon have changed the way highlights are metered using this mode. Highlights, instead of being to the right on the histogram, are exposed as a mid tone.