Nikon 5400 - Manual (Page 80)

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Mor
e on Photogr
aphy
Metering (P, S, A, and M)
In P, S, A, and M modes, the metering menu of-
fers a choice of four metering methods for deter-
mining how the camera sets exposure (in
and
modes, matrix metering is used). Choose a
metering method suited to the composition and
lighting conditions.
METERING
Matrix
Spot
Center-weighted
Spot AF area
Option How it works
Matrix
Camera compares mea-
surements from 256 ar-
eas of frame with library
of typical compositions
to produce optimal ex-
posure for entire picture.
Best choice in most situations.
When to use it
Spot
Camera meters area
shown by square in
center of monitor. Only
about
1
32
of frame is me-
tered.
Ensures that subject in metering target
will be correctly exposed even when
background is much brighter or darker.
Can be used with autoexposure lock (
30) to meter off-center subjects.
Center-
weighted
Camera meters entire
frame but assigns weight
of 80% to area in cen-
ter of frame occupying
roughly ¼ of total.
Classic meter for portraits; preserves
background details while letting lighting
conditions at center of frame determine
exposure. Can be used with autoex-
posure lock (
30) to meter off-center
subjects.
Spot AF
area
Camera meters active fo-
cus area when Manual
or Auto selected for Fo-
cus options
> AF area
mode ( 69).
Links spot metering to active focus area.
Use instead of autoexposure lock to me-
ter off-center subjects. Matrix metering
is used when focus-area selection is off; if
monitor is off, spot metering is used.
Metering
At settings other than Matrix, the current metering
method is indicated by an icon in the monitor.
Spot metering exposure target