In photography, the metering mode refers to the way in which a camera determines the exposure.

Cameras generally allow the user to select between spot, center-weighted average, or multi-zone metering modes.

Various metering modes are provided to allow the user to select the most appropriate one for use in a variety of lighting conditions.

With spot metering, the camera will only measure a very small area of the scene (between 1-5% of the viewfinder area). This will typically be the very centre of the scene, but some cameras allow the user to select a different off-centre spot, or to recompose by moving the camera after metering. The first spot meter was built by Arthur James Dalladay, editor of The British Journal of Photography in about 1935 and described it in the BJP Almanac of 1937 on pages 127 to 138.

A few models (including the Olympus OM-4, Canon T90 and in the digital world, the Olympus C-5050z) support a Multi-Spot mode which allows multiple spot meter readings to be taken of a scene that are averaged. Some cameras, the OM-4 and T90 included, also support metering of highlight and shadow areas.