Originally Posted by explr1
I thought by using spot metering I just needed to point it at the darkest part of the scene, lock exposure and the shot would be properly exposed.
No, that would generally produced an *overexposed* image. The meter will try to reproduce the spot you metered as if it were medium gray. If it is actually darker than that - and in most scenes, it is - the whole picture will be too light.
In the first picture posted on this thread - the one using spot metering - it sure looks like it was the *sail* that is dead center in the frame. Hardly the darkest part of the scene; quite the opposite. So the camera made *that* look like medium gray, and everything else darker accordingly.
I'm use to point, shoot and forget about it.
In my experience, center weighted metering comes closest to matching people's expectations when used in this manner. But scenes that are largely or mostly sky will still confuse matters. Realistically, that's true of most P&S cameras too.