1. Matrix metering - I use it most of the time unless there are areas of high contrast in the picture. Might not work well when the image has mostly light or dark areas.
2. Center weighted metering - I understand what center weighted metering is (i.e. it takes the exposure reading from roughly 70% at the center of the scene) but I have never understood why it still exists in modern Nikon DSLRs. It seems like a legacy mode (pre-FA) before matrix metering existed. People suggest to use this for portraits or when the target is in the middle of the frame but Matrix metering isnt dumb anymore and wont give you those black faced/bright landscape shots often anymore. You should activate your fill-in flash in these situations anyway. One explanation when this mode still exists is to use it when the matrix meter tries to be too smart or is fooled to giving the wrong exposure you want. My solution is to use spot metering in these cases.
3. Spot metering - use it when you want to tell the camera which area of the scene you want to take a reading from. On most Nikons, this still relies on the center sensor. IMHO, this mode is the most important of all and all cameras should have it together with a manual exposure option. It should be possible to take all your shots using spot metering. You just have to select a target that is middle grey (18% grey) to get a balanced exposure. A good tip I use is to meter from the blue sky as often as possible.
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