Your Alpha camera constantly measures how bright the reflected light is in an environment in order to calculate the optimal exposure. This is called metering and by understanding the various available modes, you can further control and adapt to different lighting conditions. The following are five metering modes and some practical advice when to use each one. You can change the metering mode under MENU → [Exposure/Color] → [Metering] → [Metering Mode] → desired setting. You can also change it quickly by assigning it to a custom button.

MULTI as a default 

If you want to stop reading right now and are looking for a decent default option this would be your setting. Your camera in this mode will measure the light after dividing the total area into multiple areas and then determine the proper exposure. The advantage of this mode is that it’s convenient and achieves accurate exposure as long as the lighting conditions are consistent.  Use this for everyday usage whether it’s scenery, people, and snaps.

If you do encounter scenes which need to be brightened such as backlit images, you can simply just increase or decrease the exposure stops measured in +/- EV to get the result you want.

Face priority in MULTI

An advanced feature of some Alpha cameras, you have the option to have it detect faces as they come to screen automatically. This dramatically improves on MULTI mode specially when capturing people, avoiding the need to change between SPOT or CENTER for faces. Look for a separate option to set Face Priority on.

CENTER is right in the middle

As the name would imply, it averages the entire screen’s brightness while emphasising the center of the frame. Use this when you find yourself shooting mostly portraits, close-ups and even backlit photos which have a tendency to create unflattering shadowy faces.

This mode does have its shortcomings as it’s hard to imagine only shooting centralised subjects.

SPOT is more precise

Measuring only inside the metering circle, this mode is suitable for measuring light on a specified part of the entire screen. The size of the metering circle can be selected from [Spot: Standard] and [Spot: Large]. The position of the metering circle depends on the setting for [Spot Metering Point].

Spot metering can be very useful in backlit situations. If you use MULTI in a backlight situation, the main subject can darken as the mode sets an average exposure between the background and subject. However, SPOT metering focuses on the subject’s exposure only, so it will not darken.

When you want the Entire Screen Average

This mode measures the average brightness of the entire screen ensuring stable exposure even if the composition or the position of the subject changes.

Preserve the Highlight

This mode measures brightness while emphasising the highlighted area on the screen. Many professionals use highlight metering to save bright areas such as skies and snow, which have a tendency to get ‘blown’ or overexposed, without data loss or additional re-touching in post.

What meters most

By now you’ll realise that there’s no perfect metering mode. There are too many lighting conditions to forecast that a single mode will never suffice. What’s best is finding out how these modes work and choosing which one you’re most comfortable with. Armed with your new knowledge, you can then compensate and adjust the rest of the settings in your camera to get that perfect exposure.