Metering
Like the AWB mode, the camera’s exposure will mostly be set using the NEX-5’s 49-zone, multi-segment metering setting. In almost every situation in which I used the multi-segment metering mode, the NEX-5 produced well-exposed images that are suitable for printing or displaying straight from the camera. When photographing landscapes in overcast conditions the NEX-5 exposes for the foreground, lightening it enough to see details but stopping short of doing it so much that skies become completely blown out.
While the exposures from multi-segment metering mode are very good, there is always going to be some compromise in scenes of particularly high contrast. In these situations the NEX-5 tends to sacrifice highlight detail to make sure that midtones are correctly exposed. If the camera hasn’t produced the desired exposure, then thankfully the exposure compensation setting is one of the few features that is quite rightly deemed worthy of its own shortcut button. However, there is a catch. Exposure compensation can only be applied in P, A, S and M exposure modes, and not when using any of the NEX-5’s scene or iAuto modes.
For those wanting to use the NEX-5 as a point-and-shoot camera, its Intelligent Auto (iAuto) feature is extremely handy. It works by identifying certain characteristics of a scene and then adjusting the exposure and colour settings accordingly. For example, if it detects a face in a scene it will switch to portrait mode and face detection will be used for focusing. Similarly, it can recognise a backlit scene and automatically adjust the exposure for this.To get the best possible exposures in scenes that are more difficult to meter, centreweighted and spot metering modes are also available.
