TheUnblinkingEye
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In my opinion the confusion stems from ambiguity about which metering system is being used and which metering mode. No one ever specifies which they're using.
If you use a handheld incident meter you can adjust your shutter speed and aperture independent of ISO in a way that you know will reduce noise—placing your shadows, midtones, and highlights to get the best performance out of the sensor for the particular scene.
If you use the in-camera meter you're stuck in an endless loop of uncertainty because when you change one parameter, the camera's "invisible" adjustments are making their mischief under the hood.
For my normal shooting the scene dynamic range makes the biggest difference. If I'm shooting a moody portrait of a pale-skinned North Dakotan but I want lots of shadow detail I'm going to have more trouble with noise because I can't capture the skin tone detail without the danger of crushing my blacks. Trying to bring up the shadows risks evoking noise.
Situational is the short answer.
If you use a handheld incident meter you can adjust your shutter speed and aperture independent of ISO in a way that you know will reduce noise—placing your shadows, midtones, and highlights to get the best performance out of the sensor for the particular scene.
If you use the in-camera meter you're stuck in an endless loop of uncertainty because when you change one parameter, the camera's "invisible" adjustments are making their mischief under the hood.
For my normal shooting the scene dynamic range makes the biggest difference. If I'm shooting a moody portrait of a pale-skinned North Dakotan but I want lots of shadow detail I'm going to have more trouble with noise because I can't capture the skin tone detail without the danger of crushing my blacks. Trying to bring up the shadows risks evoking noise.
Situational is the short answer.
![C = information capacity, W = resolution [1] C = information capacity, W = resolution [1]](https://www.dpreview.com/forums/data/attachments/2749/2749908-ba8145b45210feaaea3b518318ff1e03.jpg?hash=YmeKIeutHW)