>>3766854Metering for the highlights is exactly the same as manually setting a higher ISO because all it's doing is telling the camera that it's okay to use faster shutter speeds.
Photos are captured ONLY through aperture and shutter speed, and then this signal is amplified according to the ISO setting.
So look at your comparison of three images again, and look at the shutter speeds. Do you understand why your highlights are not lost when you're shooting at 1/125 instead of 1/8?
In case it's not clear, if you have a higher shutter speed (1/125), less light is captured. Less light means darker highlights and darker shadows. Darker highlights means that more information is retained in the highlights. Darker shadows means more information is lost in the shadows. This is the result you're seeking. But it's not *because* of the ISO. It's thanks to simply using a faster shutter speed.
The only thing 3200 ISO is doing is bringing this darker 1/125 raw signal back up to +-0 EV. Just like metering for the highlights (shooting at an EV <0) and then brightening the image back up to +-0 in post.
