The 3 metering modes on S9600

Togglehead was almost correct in what he said above, except that the multi-mode uses automatic scene recognition to decide where in the scene it should use to set the exposure. Most modern cameras have this sort of mode now (Canon call it Evaluative Metering) and it is a little more sophistocated than just the middle x % of the frame. The Fuji splits the image into 256 zones to make it's decision.

The multi mode should be your default mode for most shooting purposes. If using spot, you should be careful to ensure you point the centre of the image on your subject, half press the shutter to focus and set exposure, and then recompose before fully pressing. Spot metering is not even included on many entry level DSLRs as it's not actually that good for general purpose shooting.

Also worth remembering that the spot mode using only the middle 3% of the frame so if someone is wearing a black suit and that just happens to be in the centre, the camera will assume the scene to be darker than it really is and will over expose the shot.

As for the use of these exposure settings in MANUAL mode, although they actual exposure is decided by the user, the camera still uses the exposure mode to compute what it thinks is the optimum, and uses this in displaying the over/under exposure bar at the bottom of the screen which appears only in the manual mode.

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