Using the Canon EOS Spot and Multi-Spot metering. The first Canon 35mm SLR camera to feature the Spot metering was the New F-1 model, introduced in 1981. Rather than a built-in function, the feature was made available by changing the focusing screens of the New F-1 camera. This can be a hassle, especially in dusty environments. Six screens were available with the Spot metering option for the camera. In 1986, Canon came out with the T90, its most advanced manual-focus 35mm SLR camera ever, which has a built-in Spot-metering feature. In addition, the T90 also has a built-in Multi-spot metering option aside from Partial and the traditional Centre-Weighted Average modes. As I have stated in issue #14 of using the Evaluative-metering mode of the 35mm EOS cameras, both the Partial and Spot features were my favoured metering modes of my Canon New F-1 and T90 cameras. In the New F-1, the Spot metering occupied a 3 per cent diameter in the centre of the viewfinder or focusing screen, giving precise metering capability to almost every subject encountered during a photographer's assignments. It worked best in situations where the subject is small and surrounded with large bright or dark backgrounds that might fool the Centre-weighted Average metering that most of the 35mm SLR cameras have back in those days. These photos (below) of a beauty pageant final were shot with the New F-1 using the Spot metering focusing screen type SE. Notice how the overall dark or bright surroundings do not affect the correct exposure of the main subjects in each photo. The spot meter readings were taken off the face of the contestants and costumes of the dancers (last photo). Beauty queen finalists in a row One of the finalists in white evening gown Another finalist captured using the framing technique Back-up dancers lit by artificial lighting   << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 .