The Nikon D700’s Matrix metering mode is actually the 3D Color Matrix II metering system, one of the most powerful and accurate automatic exposure meters in any camera today (see Figure 2-2).

There are characteristics for many thousands of images stored in the camera. These characteristics are used (along with proprietary Nikon software and complex evaluative computations) to analyze the image appearing in your viewfinder. The meter is then set to provide very accurate exposures for the large majority of your images.

A simple example of this might be a picture where the horizon runs through the middle of the image. The sky above is bright, and the earth below is much dimmer. By evaluating this image, and comparing it to hundreds of like images in the camera’s database, the camera automatically determines the meter setting for you.

The meter examines four critical areas of each picture. It compares the levels of brightness in various parts of the scene to determine the total range of EV values. It then notices the color of the subject and surroundings. If you are using a G or D CPU lens, it also determines how far away your lens is focused so that it can tell the distance to your subject. Finally, it looks at the compositional elements of the subject.

Once it has all that information, it compares your image to tens of thousands of image characteristics in its image database, makes complex evaluations, and comes up with a meter value that is usually right on the money, even in complex lighting situations.

However, I’d like to qualify that with the following considerations.