NIKON METERING

Master the art of exposure with your Nikon D-SLR

3D COLOUR MATRIX

This is just a representation of the zones

01 in matrix mode. In reality, the scene may be split into hundreds, even thousands of zones. The central area will not necessarily get

02 priority – it depends on the light distribution across the rest of the scene. Matrix mode will often give priority to

03 darker areas to prevent underexposure.

SPOT METERING

Spot metering measures a very small area

01 of the scene, but needs to be used with care. On amateur models the spot zone is slightly

02 larger to allow more leeway for errors. The spot is not always in the centre of the

03 frame. It’s linked to your manually selected AF point, making it possible to meter off-centre subjects. Keep this in mind when metering.

CENTRE-WEIGHTED

This relatively small central area plays the

01 biggest part in the exposure measurement. On more advanced Nikon D-SLRs you can

02 change the size of this central area to suit your technique. The outer areas play a smaller part in the

03 exposure measurement, but they are still taken into account.

AVERAGE (not on all BODIES)

Some Nikons (see p71) offer average metering

01 as well as centre-weighted. The light across the whole frame is averaged into a single reading. Average meter readings are very susceptible

02 to small bright areas in the scene. The advantage of averaged metering is that

03 it’s easy for experienced photographers to interpret the reading and adjust the settings.

01 02 03

03 01 02

01 02 03

01 03 02

Spot metering measures a precise area of the scene, but it’s not always in the centre.

Nikon’s enthusiast and pro modes can simulate the simple ‘averaged’ metering of older film cameras.

Centre-weighted metering takes a reading from across the frame with a bias towards the centre.

Your Nikon’s light meter is actually an RGB sensor – the resolution depends on the model.