What is the difference between metering mode and AF area?

TurnipFarmer

TurnipFarmer

Messages
554
Name
Aaron
Edit My Images
Yes
I know this might be a stupid question but I am still trying to work out all the setting on my A200.

I have struggled a couple of times when using the camera for it to focus on the bit I want it to and it will focus on the wrong bit, does this have anything to do with the setting above?

The metering mode is set on at the moment - multi segment. I have options of center weighted and spot, what do these do?

In AF area I have it set on - Wide. Have options of Spot and Local.

Any help would be great :)
 
I'm not familiar with the A200 but...

Metering mode is how the camera reviews the lighting of the scene - multi-segment means it takes an average of the whole scene. If you chose "spot" it would choose settings based on only a small portion of the scene (normally the centre of the frame)

AF mode determines where exactly your focus point will be in the scene, I normally fix this on my camera to select on a single "centre" point - probably the equivalent of "spot" on the A200 - this means that you decide exactly where to focus, rather than the camera choosing what it thinks is best.

Hopefully this ties in with the A200, I'm sure someone familiar with that model will let you know for sure

Simon
 
cheers, yeah that does clear a few things up. Il give it ago next time I go out and use me camera. I do find that the camera does focus on the wrong thing when out shooting, especially when in low light and what looks good on the LCD of the camera does not look good once you upload the image to photoshop.
 
As said, metering is the camera measuring the amount of light in order to select the correct exposure settings. Depending on what shooting mode you are in, the camera will set the appropriate parameters to allow enough light into the camera for a decent exposure (but making certain assumptions about things which is why sometimes things get caught out).

Different exposure modes measure the light across different areas of the view. The most restricted is spot, then various other modes depending on the camera.


The AF points are used to focus, and in this case the camera is looking for contrast difference in the AF area/point.

In poor light the camera will have trouble autofocusing because it cant find points of contrast. This is why some cameras have an AF assist light (usually a red light which will strobe on and off to add some illumination to the scene). If you have the flash on then you may also get a couple of flashes which the camera uses to illuminate the scene while looking for contrast. You can also use a torch to illuminate the area of interest when invoking AF.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top