Hello, I have been experimenting with different metering types for taking pictures of flying aircraft and still have not been able to find the best. The only one that has a slight advantage that I can see is spot metering. What is your favorite metering type?

I tend to go for spot metering too. Matrix metering just underexposes the darker/underside of any aircraft in flight.

Matt

Hmm, I don't have matrix. How well does partial metering work?

c130lover wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2013 at 7:27pm:

Hmm, I don't have matrix. How well does partial metering work?

You don't have matrix and I don't have partial.............Looks like we need a third subscriber to this thread.... ;D

Matt

They're all explained pretty well here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metering_mode

Nikons have Matrix, Canons have partial. Not sure about anything else :P

If you're good at keeping the aircraft in the centre of the frame, and want the camera to meter to expose the aircraft then spot is the one for you. Personally, I normally use partial just in case I lose the aircraft off the centre.

I sometimes use centre-weighted average if I want to avoid blowing the sky out to achieve more detail on the aircraft and background :)

.mic

I, on the other hand, usually just keep it in manual. :P

I try to expose in such a way that I wont loose the shadows, and usually turn highlight priority on so I don't lose as much of the bright areas, in addition to shooting RAW + in a flatter picture style.

However, I havn't done too terribly much aircraft photography, so you should probably listen to Mich.  ;)