30D - Do you guys realise how nice SPOT metering is?

That is worth the extra $'a alone, in my book. Biggest thing I missed when I switched over from Minolta 7D was Spot Metering, 2.5"LCD & knobs, not the anti-shake.

With the 30D, Canon has an affordable body that has two of the three things I missed most.

Now, if I could only get Canon to do away with Menu's and give me more knobs, levers and switches...

--
Dave Patterson
---------------------
Midwestshutterbug.com

LOL, I must say that I agree with you. Spot-metering is a BIG selling-point for me.

midwestshutterbug said:

That is worth the extra $'a alone, in my book. Biggest thing I
missed when I switched over from Minolta 7D was Spot Metering,
2.5"LCD & knobs, not the anti-shake.

With the 30D, Canon has an affordable body that has two of the
three things I missed most.

Now, if I could only get Canon to do away with Menu's and give me
more knobs, levers and switches...

--
Dave Patterson
---------------------
Midwestshutterbug.com

Click to expand...

While this cam may not be the update that many wanted in terms of image quality, it is a giant leap in terms of usability IMHO.

Spot metering is a biggee, but combine that with all the other nice "tweaks" and you get a darn fine cam with most of the 20D holes plugged!

So it's not 10mp... woop-doop!! 8-10mp is stuff all difference anyway. If the whingers want megapixels, there are other options available.

Personally, I think Canon might be consolidating it's range into market segments where they provide what is needed specifically for those user segments.

The problem here at DPR is that many people want 1DS2 features at a 350D price, but out in the real world many users will be happy to purchase an 8mp cam, as it will easily meet their requirements for years to come.

--
Rusty
My Gallery: http://www.pixelpix.com.au

diana

Curious what's the benefit of spot metering in a digital camera ?
(I've managed to take ok pictures for 35 years without it !).

If I'm uncertain of the exposure for an image I just shoot
some test frames and dial in the exposure using the camera's
histogram. What would a spot meter get me that I can't
achieve with the historgram technique ?

--
Misha

That and the AS coupled with the Sony purchase of KM had me thinking of picking up a D7D instead of staying with the Canon line but Canon finally giving us guys on the low end a spot meter has really made this interesting!

midwestshutterbug said:

That is worth the extra $'a alone, in my book. Biggest thing I
missed when I switched over from Minolta 7D was Spot Metering,
2.5"LCD & knobs, not the anti-shake.

With the 30D, Canon has an affordable body that has two of the
three things I missed most.

Now, if I could only get Canon to do away with Menu's and give me
more knobs, levers and switches...

--
Dave Patterson
---------------------
Midwestshutterbug.com

Click to expand...

--

'The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me.' -- Abraham Lincoln

For some poeple there's just one shot: the elusive "decisive moment" of HCB...
--
Cheers,
Ricardo

Yes, I have been using spot metering for years now and agree that it is a nice feature but lately I have found that I use it less and less in favor of the partial metering. For the type of photography I have been doing (wildlife/birds) I find that I usually do better with partial metering. I would have much rather had the 5D AF system or more MP’s in the 30D than a spot meter and ISO in the viewfinder or 1/3 stop increments…

Greg

--



http://www.pbase.com/dadas115/

Spot metering.........Yawn!
--

http://www.pbase.com/paulyoly/root

Its like partial, only smaller

I agree its nice to have spot but you still need to know where to meter.

midwestshutterbug said:

That is worth the extra $'a alone, in my book. Biggest thing I
missed when I switched over from Minolta 7D was Spot Metering,
2.5"LCD & knobs, not the anti-shake.

With the 30D, Canon has an affordable body that has two of the
three things I missed most.

Now, if I could only get Canon to do away with Menu's and give me
more knobs, levers and switches...

--
Dave Patterson
---------------------
Midwestshutterbug.com

Click to expand...

If you know how to use a spot meter then you know that using the Histogram approach has always been a poor technique chosen by those without the spot meter to justify their choice in brands...

Honestly, say you bought a D60 and Canon rated it at 20,000 clicks for the shutter life... What would you do, waste a few clicks trying to get it right (effectively cutting your shutter life anywhere from 33-50%) or get it right the first time with the spot meter?

Also, the histogram approach assumes you should know where each segment should be and if you get it wrong then your images are wrong even if you haven't blown any highlights... The truth is that a shot taken of a caucasian model with the Sun at his or her back should never be a perfect histogram if you want the models face to be properly exposed and yet this is how most people opperate their histograms... Oh and the camera functions differently if you have a live histogram but it still isn't perfect.

So here's a real question for you, what should your histogram look like if you have a caucasian model in the image but the lack of any tone on the level of true black or true white? When you figure this answer out then you'll see even more benefits of the spot meter!

dboreham said:

Curious what's the benefit of spot metering in a digital camera ?
(I've managed to take ok pictures for 35 years without it !).

If I'm uncertain of the exposure for an image I just shoot
some test frames and dial in the exposure using the camera's
histogram. What would a spot meter get me that I can't
achieve with the historgram technique ?

Click to expand...

--

'The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me.' -- Abraham Lincoln

It is AE/FE lock with Partial Metering... The truth is no Canon camera below the pro line has had spot metering until the 30D...

misha said:

--
Misha

Click to expand...

--

'The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me.' -- Abraham Lincoln

Spot metering isn't essential to getting the right exposure, but it can provide nuanced exposure control.

Just because one doesn't avail themselves of, or find a need for, any particular feature doesn't mean others won't find it invaluable. Which is why in this case expousre mode choices are a nice thing to have.

--
...Bob, NYC

http://www.pbase.com/btullis

You'll have to ignore the gallery's collection of bad compositions, improper exposures, and amateurish post processing.

But I've grown to prefer using Manual, so as long as the AF points are accurate and I'm on my toes, I'm fine.

--
Todd Muskopf
professional fine art painter, aspiring photog
http://www.muskopf.org

midwestshutterbug said:

That is worth the extra $'a alone, in my book. Biggest thing I
missed when I switched over from Minolta 7D was Spot Metering,
2.5"LCD & knobs, not the anti-shake.

With the 30D, Canon has an affordable body that has two of the
three things I missed most.

Now, if I could only get Canon to do away with Menu's and give me
more knobs, levers and switches...

Click to expand...

And there lies the rub. If the spot metering is buried in a menu or requires numerous "push and turn" movements on control dials and buttons to engage it then it is much less useful.

If you have come from a KM 7D you will know you can change the ae lock button to take a spot reading and lock it (and can customise how long it locks it for etc).

No need to first select spot metering and THEN take a reading.

Oly did this years ago on the old 35mm OM4 and KM did it with cameras like the A1 pro-sumer and carried it over to the 5D and 7D d-slrs.

If the ae lock button on the 30D can be customised to work as I described, then brilliant.

If you have to first select spot metering, then take a separate reading and for the next exposure re-select normal metering it's a waste of space in my opinion as it will discourage its use.

Dave

I only really use spot when shooting film. I think the benefit of spot metering is a little suspect with digital. If you have time to use the zone system - evaluate and meter all over the composition, and then make adjustments - you're shooting something that can be shot again. It's not a time-critical working environment. In those cases, reshooting with different settings works just fine.

Since I shoot RAW, I exposure for maximum signal-noise ratio consistent with my min. shutter speed and DoF requirements. This means exposing to the right and controlling exposure compensation and the tone curve during RAW conversion to determine the proper placement of tones in the final output image. I've yet to find a case where spot metering helped out in this paradigm (although I can appreciate its utility if shooting JPEG, where the resulting file is your final output file).

David

It sure would be a help in bird photography where quite often you get one shot and that is it. No time to review a histogram and shoot again.
--
Bob Sheldon
Photo Gallery at
http://www.bobsheldon.com

When Canon first took it out from D30, D60, 10D, and 20D, I have learned to live without it. Thanks to digital, I do NOT need it any more. All I care is the histogram and Photoshop.

Not a factor to be consider a feature to add price.

I think the 30D spec really sucks. Canon is certainly kill a lot of expectations from its audience.

Eric.

midwestshutterbug said:

That is worth the extra $'a alone, in my book. Biggest thing I
missed when I switched over from Minolta 7D was Spot Metering,
2.5"LCD & knobs, not the anti-shake.

With the 30D, Canon has an affordable body that has two of the
three things I missed most.

Now, if I could only get Canon to do away with Menu's and give me
more knobs, levers and switches...

--
Dave Patterson
---------------------
Midwestshutterbug.com

Click to expand...