The Canon 1Ds Mark III and Nikon D3X have their manufacturers' standard metering options. Both have spot and evaluative systems. Nikon's spot falls under the active AF point, presumably metering the most interesting spot in the frame. The 1Ds's spot is fixed at the center of the frame. Nikon's spot is a very tight 1.5 percent of the frame. Canon goes with a looser 2.4-percent circle. In our test, both left the action figure's face dark, though the 1Ds was significantly better. Nikon has a center-weighted option, which reads the whole frame, with an emphasis on the center. Canon also offers a “Partial” metering pattern, essentially an 8.5 percent spot meter. It's useful in manual shooting if one treats the camera as a light meter, and moves in on the subject to take several readings from various parts of view. We haven't found it helpful when metering a composed shot – it definitely hasn't offered an advantage over the evaluative system.

Evaluative/Matrix Metering

Canon 1DsMkIII	Nikon D3x

Center-Weighted Metering

Canon 1DsMkIII	Nikon D3x

Spot Metering

Canon 1Ds MkIII	Nikon D3x

Partial Metering

Canon 1Ds MkII