For myself I put it on Aperture mode and use the matrix metering. This seems to overexpose so often dial back a bit.
WB and colour in SPP give me the most trouble, so I have gone back to something I stopped a long time ago with other cameras i can directly import into Lightroom or ACR - I carry a Colour Passport Checker with me which I photograph from time to time as the light changes. I can then set a WB preset in SPP and apply it to various images in a batch process. I process out to 16 bit tiffs and then correct properly in LR4.
I try and do as little as possible in SPP. The biggest problem I have is clipping highlights. There is a surprising amount of headroom in the X3F to bring them back by reducing the exposure slider. There is a highlight slider but I can't see that it does anything useful at all.
What is odd - and I would welcome anyone else's experience here - is that I find I can reduce the exposure a little bit so that the highlights still show as clipped, but if I then increase the fill light not only do the shadows come up but the highlight clipping stops.
I think the best way to use is to get things as close to neutral and possible and then finish off elsewhere ( I use Lightroom). With 16 bit tiffs there is still a considerable amount of leeway to play with in LR or PS. Undoubtedly the best thing is to try and identify similarly exposed photos, create a preset in SPP and batch export them. Going through individual pictures, adjusting them in SPP - even just tweaking WB and exposure - and then exporting them individually is a pain.
What are you guys doing for metering and WB? Just letting the matrix metering do its stuff or adding exposure compensation where necessary and ETTR? WB - auto or selecting Sunlight or whatever?
How many changes are you making in SPP? Very few and other adjustments in LR?
Just wondering really how much PP is being done on the wonderful shots here in general?
Or, put it another way: what are the best camera settings and minimal tweaks required in SPP to render a good starting point (or even finishing point!) for minor adjustments in LR?
Thanks and please keep the images coming!
Lee