Nikon D1X - Manual (Page 109)

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OGRAPHY—AUT
O-EXPOSURE LOCK
Auto-Exposure Lock
Auto-exposure lock makes it possible to use spot or center-weighted metering to
measure exposure for a subject that will not be in the metering area in the final
composition. With the subject positioned in the metering area, press the AE-L/AF-L
button to measure exposure. Exposure will be fixed at this setting while the button
is pressed, allowing you to maintain the metered value for exposure while recom-
posing the photograph.
To use auto-exposure lock:
1 Press the metering selector lock release (1) and rotate
the metering selector (2) to select center-weighted or
spot metering. Matrix metering, which measures expo-
sure for the entire frame, will not produce the desired
results when used with auto-exposure lock.
2
After positioning the subject in the focus area (select the center focus area when
using center-weighted metering), press the shutter-release button halfway and
confirm that the in-focus indicator (● ) appears in the viewfinder (A). Keeping
the shutter-release button pressed halfway, press and hold the AE-L/AF-L button
(B).
When spot metering is in effect, the camera measures exposure in the selected
focus area (or in the center focus area when a non-CPU lens is in place or closest
subject priority is in effect). When center-weighted metering is selected, the
camera measures lighting conditions in the entire frame but assigns the greatest
weight to an 8-mm circle in the center of the viewfinder.
Exposure will remain locked while the AE-L/AF-L button is pressed. In single-
servo or continuous-servo autofocus, both focus and exposure will be locked
while the AE-L/AF-L button is pressed. While auto-exposure lock is in effect, an
EL indicator will be displayed in the viewfinder.
A B