PBase

Can someone explain what "Spot metering (3)" means or how to set it up on a Nikon D200 as a metering mode? I've noticed several photographers that use this setting for their portrait work.

Spot metering just means that the camera only uses a small percentage of the frame in the middle to determine exposure. I don't have it right in front of me, but IIRC there's a dial near the viewfinder with three different choices. The spot metering is the on that has a circle with nothing around it, the circle that has 2 lines curving around it is centerweighted, which is like spot but with a larger area, the last one is matrix, which looks at the whole frame.

On most cameras, spot metering is based upon about 1-3% of the total image area. It can be useful for portrait shots, but I usually stick with center weighted.