hippiepunkpirate wrote:Guys- I need somebody to explain metering to me.
The camera detects ambient light, and based on that determines how much light needs to be let in to ensure proper exposure. When set on auto, the camera uses the metering to automatically set the exposure. On manual mode, the camera tells you whether or not the exposure you choose will be too dark or too light. This will be shown as a series of numbers and lines at the bottom of the viewfinder/lcd screen. The order of numbers, from left to right, will be: shutter speed, f-stop, meter reading, ISO. There's actually a number to the right of ISO (it's 17 on my camera right now) and I don't know what that number means.
To trigger the meter: Press the shutter down about halfway, basically until you start to feel some resistance. The meter will then appear at the bottom of the screen. It'll disappear in a few seconds, but if you apply some pressure to the shutter again it'll reappear.
My camera right now:
2" 16 -2||1||V||1||2 iso 100 17
So right now it's set at 2 second shutter speed, f16, iso 100. Those are all settings that I chose.
To use the meter: The actual meter will read something like: -2||1||V||1||2 There will be a line underneath the meter reading, most likely bouncing around to different spots depending on where you point the camera. If it's underneath the "V", that means the shot will be properly exposed. Anywhere to the left of the "V" is underexposed, anywhere to the right is overexposed. You then adjust the shutter speed and f-stop accordingly until your shot is exposed properly.
That's basic metering. Anything beyond that you'll learn by trial and error. What the camera considers properly exposed usually isn't what you want the shot to look like, depending on color, shadows, etc. If you meter for the shadowed areas of the scene, everything else will be bright and blown out. If you meter for the highlights, the shadows will be dark and blocked out.
It's really pretty simple once you start doing it. Especially since it's digital, you can just keep shooting until it looks good!
Quick rundown of f-stop and shutter speed: (some of which you probably already know)
Shutter speed: how long the shutter is open. If the shutter speed is 1/100, the shutter is open for 1/100th of a second, therefore allowing light to hit the sensor for 1/100th of a second.
F-stop: Number representing how wide open the aperture is, which is actually the opening in the lens that allows light in. The smaller the number, the wider the aperture. The wider the aperture, the more light can be let in at once. If you have a wider aperture letting in more light, you want a faster shutter speed to counter that.
Related to that... In looking at the metadata on photos posted here, I often times see shots taken at ridiculously high shutter speeds with wide open apertures (i.e. 1/1000, f2.8 ). That generally doesn't do much justice to the sharpness of the lens. The sweet spot for most lenses is usually between f8-f11 (for normal landscape images). If you can stop it down to around that f-stop without making the shutter speed TOO slow (unless you have a tripod), I highly recommend it. The image will turn out sharper (especially in the corners). Don't go slower than 1/60, handheld if you want a really sharp image. 1/100 if you're a shaky dude. With longer lenses the number goes up even more.
Times you want a really narrow aperture (f16, f22): When you have a wide scene with a really close foreground and a far background, and you want all in sharp focus. That requires knowing the hyperfocal distance and focusing accordingly, which is a whole other thing. Google it or PM me if you're ever interested
Times you want a really wide aperture (f2.8, f4): When you want to isolate a sharp subject against a blurry, out of focus background. You won't have too much success with that with a wide lens, but that's the basic idea.
Sorry for all the info, I could type about it forever. Have fun!
. Maybe for my birthday in February 
