Question about metering mode

[Kajito Nagib]

Could I select one of the 4 metering mode while in movie shooting or is it limited only to photo mode? . If limited to only photo mode which of the 4 metering mode does the camera use as default while in movie shooting mode? I always seem to be under exposed I'm trying to figure out why.

[Jon Braeley]

Yes you can. If you move the shooting mode switch to anything other than M (manual) you will be in some sort of auto aperture or auto shutter speed mode where exposure is determined by the camera.

But would you really want this for video - no. Here is what I do for exposure.

First you need the mode to be in a pre-determined mode - C1 switch. This is a user setting that you can assign picture profiles, shutter speed, ISO and white balance etc. This saves endless time in set-up. There are many posts on how to create a user setting and assign this to C1 - also in the manual and on youtube.
If this is not to your liking then switch to M (manual).
In C1 I have all manual settings. To determine perfect exposure you should use the histogram. Just before I shoot I switch back from video to picture (the stop-start button) then press info button to bring up the histogram (its not available in video mode). Look at the histogram and adjust exposure iris at the same time - you will see the histogram move - from blacks to white - shadow to highlight. Once it looks good (not going into detail here) then I switch back to video mode and shoot .... with perfect exposure.

[Norman Pogson]

I do the same as Jon, will even take a photo for review before switching back to video sometimes if there is a large dynamic range in the scene, all manual all the time for video. I have custom 2 for regular video shooting and custom 3 for over cranking at 60fps.

[Kajito Nagib]

hi Jon, I only use manual mode and yes I've been using this method of switching back and forth from movie to picture mode to use the histogram. It would be nice if a future firmware update could add the histogram into the movie mode. So you're saying that I can switch to different metering modes via C1 and store my user setting ? I'll have a look. thanks man!

[Kajito Nagib]

i have a 7" marshall monitor which helps a lot with exposure but when I'm in a large crowd i avoid bringing the extra gear with me so i rely on the camera metering system. Taking a picture for review is a good idea.

[Jon Braeley]

If you are checking histogram you should be getting good exposures. I tend to shoot half a stop under myself as I hate blown highlights, so on the histogram the extreme right-side is empty for at least 10%. Make sense?

As a doc-maker I move fast with little set up time - not time for reviewing a photo. So after one careful exposure check, I note the settings then keep my finger on the rear exposure dial and the ISO - adjusting both very fast as I move into shadow-daylight and outside or inside exterior and interior. This is usually done as I walk....!
Only a white balance change forces me to review anothe exposure check again.

So far, I nail the exposure 19 times out of 20.

[Kajito Nagib]

i shoot at half stop under as well. i avoid a spike of pixels within the histogram against the right side or shadows on the left but that's easier to fix in post. I'm just wondering if there's something wrong with my metering system or me.

[Norman Pogson]

I do notice that different lenses I have can have up to a one stop difference on the same scene, I have some old Nikkor lenses and they meter differently to the Canon 50mm I have.

[Kajito Nagib]

yeah but i'm 2-3 stops under:-( it looks fine when i review it on camera but when i get home and look at it on my desktop monitor its really under exposed and yes my desktop monitor is calibrated with spyder3 so it can't be that.

[Norman Pogson]

Then adjust the brightness of you cameras LCD until it matches your computer monitor.

[Kajito Nagib]

ok i'll give that a try.