Hi there!

Here's a beginner trying to get out the most of my equipment. I'm mainly interested in day to night timelapses with full moon rise. I use Canon EOS 200D, iPhone Xr, latest qDSLRDashboard and LRT Pro Timer.

I've been reading this forum in order to find the best metering mode to use in my camera, but it's not clear to me. Somewhere I read that it doesn't matter... does it mean that qDSLRDashboard does all the metering? If so, is it better to use the "Region" feature within qDSLRDashboard to evaluate luminosity of a certain area?

I'm currently using the centre-weighted average, since I thought it was the best choice for this purpose. Should I use a different one? Does it really make a difference? What do you guys use?

Thanks in advance and cheers from Spain!

Yes, qDDB will analyze the previews, there is no metering of the camera involved. Camera will be in M mode.
In some situations, it can be helpful to set a reference area, but mostly this is not required.
You might want to get my ebook, where I explain everything in detail, you'll find the link in the banner on the right or bottom of this page.

Sent mobile...

Thanks for the quick reply!

As soon as I discovered your technique and intervalometer, I realized your ebook is a must and I bought it along with your amazing intervalometer. Best investment in years!

Regarding full moon rise, what would be the best approach? Luminosity changes a lot when the moon is up, and the reflection over the sea is usually a problem... would it be better to just leave the ramping settings as they are when qDSLRDashboard finishes its work or would it be a good idea to change reference once the moon is up and shining?

Thanks a lot again, the previous four years I've been recording timelapses with just my iPhone and Moment lenses. This summer my attempts were so frustrating that I started looking for another way and I came up with your website, technique and accessories... you've changed my workflow forever!

Cheers from Southern Spain!

You could switch to sunrise mode when the moon rises, or you could do the adustments manually.
You need to carefully balance the exposure to not blow the moon and the reflections too much but still preserve some structure in the shadows. It's usually impossible to have details in the moon and in the landscape, the moon itself will always be blown out, if you want some landscape, the dynamic range is just too large.