Actually, having aired the discussion, it might be interesting to put a âhotspotâ on the Exposure Compensation part of the EXIF palette that could be clicked on to ânormaliseâ it.
What do folks think of that?
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Both false and trueâŠ
True: Blown highlights are gone and cannot be recovered. They can still be âimprovedâ e.g. for printing by tone curve manipulations that youâve illustrated a few times.
Not universally true: Never over-expose. Overexposing is common practice for bright low contrast subjectsâŠ
Hmmm. I remain unconvinced but open to examples of how this would work 
Youâre right, Mike.
Iâd vote for a normalizer tool too, be it as proposed by Joanna and/or for something more universally applicable, like the normalizing tool that exists in Capture One (pick up a colour and apply it to a few images by clicking on the respective areas in these images)
It doesnât âworkâ; it just shows him what he wants to look at, no more, no less.
(I wondered about doing that also, but didnât realize how easily I could un-do my exposure compensation setting⊠I wonder about far too many things, but I only concentrate on what you suggest, as thatâs something I always need to learn.)
Ok, got it 
â âdiscardâ the cameraâs exposure compensation setting, readout from metadata âŠ
Being not very familiar with ETTR +1,7 (doing people and concerts, but seldom landscape) I donât know really, if to simply revert the +1,7 in-camera-correction is suffcient.
Tried now with Mikeâs pic, but also had to use SmartLighting spot weighted
and Selective Tone / Shadows
To revert exposure correction didnât work on itâs own â such a drop down option is questionable.
Yup. I always create a new VC before I do anything at all to an image. That way, I can go back or compare a VC with it at any time. If I want to try something out, without being sure of it, I just create another VC, try it out and, if it works, delete the previous VC and carry on from the new one.
That way I can select which previous version I want to compare the current one to when I press the Compare button.
ETTR was a technique originally developed for early sensors and is not even worth considering using on modern sensors. I read an article some some back which completely debunked ETTR for modern sensors.
I have never bothered with ETTR because my photography is generally wildlife and birds and you very rarely get the time to do ETTR. Besides, the noise reductions in PL now are so good that it gives way better results than what ETTR would give. Another thing that Joanna mentioned is that the histogram is for the jpg and not the raw so if you rely on the histogram to implement ETTR then you will not get the best results. Concentrate on your composition, the result you are after and the exposure you are after. ETTR gives you so little it is not worth even considering.
This is my opinion and I am sure I will take some flack for this but I hear of so many people trying to implement ETTR and miss the shot they are after in the process.
The Nikon has a âHighlight-weightedâ exposure mode that I find very useful for shooting concerts
Now that is interesting. I tend to use the expression when trying to explain to âstudentsâ about placing exposure rather than get into too much complexity with explaining how the Zone System works when adapted to digital sensors.
Indeed. If you have to shoot, chimp, shoot, chimp, etc., it all takes time. On the other hand, getting to know your camera and its limitations will win you shots hands down.
Thereâs no figure you can use to correct the over exposed image. In the image from @mikemyers there is no overexposure. The +1.7 EVC is due to the way they determine the right exposure.
I didnât know that. Must check that out.
George
Sure, it was about how to revert âŠ
Highlight-weighted:
When I checked my cam, I realized this possible setting and had to look up in the manual
â Auto adjust ETTR exposure - #14 by Wolfgang
So, I quickly took some shots â not precise, but to get an idea. And it looks like the measured Spot metering value is corrected by about 1 EV. I have to check more.
Center weighted
Spot metering Highlight-weighted
Iâve never compared but thatâs interesting to know.
Iâm not sure, but I think highlight weighted is not a spot metering. I think you must use matix metering to compare with.
George
Well, in the D750âs Custom menu there is âb4 Matrix meteringâ (w/ or w/o Face detection) and âb5 Center-weighted areaâ (from 8mm âcircleâ to Average metering).
â With top metering button plus custom dial (backside) one can flick between Matrix metering, Center weighted, Spot and Spot Highlight-weighted.
I just took 2 quick shots right into a 40W bulb to get an idea, whatâs about this nebulous explanation from the manual, resulting in 1EV difference in this case, which of course is not representative.
â That has to be proven in a realistic enviroment. While I donât measure changing spotlights on stage, I try to get them in the composition when I canât or wonât exclude them.
Just out of interest, I took this in 2019, 10,1000 ISO, 1/400 sec @ f/5.6, highlight-weighted, aperture priority, no compensation, minimum work in PL4
I love this mode - it just works!
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yes, saw it and have been wondering about
Highlight-weighted meteringâs first priority is to reduce washout, which may make pictures seem overexposed. Use exposure compensation to achieve the desired result.
as when I have to use additional exp comp ⊠I just skipped the article, so maybe I misunderstood
Well, you learn something new every day. @mikemyers, you might like to try this on your cityscapes, both day and night.
Hello everyone.
What I meant was what Darktable already provides as âcompensate camera exposureâ: automatically remove the exposure compensation with one click.
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