Is shooting in "P" mode ok?

[mrshaleyberg]

S mode is for photos of Sons !

ha ha good one!

 

[rpm]

Derrel some of your metaphors are a bit extreme lol

 

[Steve01]

I'm still learning about how to shoot in Manual..

Shooting in "P" mode all you have to change is ISO and the camera automatically does the f/stop and shutter speed. Is this better than shooting in Auto?

There are some times when it's really important to use M mode but if you don't know what they are or why I'd put learning Manual pretty far down on the list of things to you need to know.

Aperture priority is the most commonly used setting but depending on the camera P could be pretty much the same.

In P you can adjust the ISO, choose to use the flash or not, etc.

When I put my DSLR in P mode, rotating the dial changes the aperture and shutter speed. So P mode isn't much different with that camera than Av or Tv.

On my S90 in P mode the dial adjusts the ISO and I have no idea what the aperture or shutter speed is.

That's totally unacceptable.

 

[Geaux]

I don't think I've ever put my camera on P mode. I shot in auto for about a few hours, then instantly went to A mode and M.

 

[Overread]

I don't think I've ever put my camera on P mode. I shot in auto for about a few hours, then instantly went to A mode and M.

I did the same though I spent a few weeks longer in auto mode
Infact I've never even used P mode!

My first advice however is

"It does not matter what mode you shoot in, only that you shoot in the mode that will give you the shot that you want/the best shot possible in the current situation that you are in"

The other side of the coin however is to push your limits - starting out auto and (on lower level camera bodies) the scene modes (macro, landscape etc....) is where many start, but if you want to develop and improve your control and understanding you have to slip into another mode. I would recommend avoiding P and moving straight to aperture priority mode. That mixed with a good book (like Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson) should start to give you control and understanding over the camera.

Also never fall into the mindset that "shooting full manual all the time makes you better" remember its about achieving the best possible settings that let you create the shot you want at the time.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

You need to understand how to catch, behead,
gut,and pluck a chicken before you can make good fried chicken.

Nope. But you might work off some of that extra weigh you're carrying.

 

[Derrel]

You need to understand how to catch, behead,
gut,and pluck a chicken before you can make good fried chicken.

Nope. But you might work off some of that extra weigh you're carrying.

Good one clownwalker! I always enjoy a personal insult from the feeble minded. As the French say when a telling point is scored in Fencing, "Touche!" (only in your case, it's spelled with a D at the start.)

 

[Gaerek]

You need to understand how to catch, behead,
gut,and pluck a chicken before you can make good fried chicken.

Nope. But you might work off some of that extra weigh you're carrying.

Good one clownwalker! I always enjoy a personal insult from the feeble minded. As the French say when a telling point is scored in Fencing, "Touche!" (only in your case, it's spelled with a D at the start.)

You know Derrel, I usually don't find your humor funny...but I laughed at this...

 

[shmne]

Derrel some of your metaphors are a bit extreme lol

Lol and incorrect. Saying learning how to use shutterspeed, ISO, and aperture is like a race care driver being able to take apart and rebuild an engine being one of the more extreme ones xD

I had a very long and complex theory written out explaining that combining manual mode with the AV and TV settings is the quickest way to learn. Instead I decided to just say it. So the quickest way to learn is to use manual mode as your shooting mode, and AV as well as TV to learn more about it.

Honestly there is little reason not to shoot in full manual :| It is best to learn how your camera works, of course unless all you want to do is shoot some nicer than normal snap shots! If that is the case none of this applies to you.

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

S mode is for photos of Sons !

lol:lmao:

 

[Rekd]

Derrel, seriously... that was a lame comparison. Knowing how to build a camera and knowing how to shoot good picts are two different things.

You need to learn how to spell, construct a sentence, paragraph and story before you can write anything worthwhile. You need to learn how to flip a switch before using indoor lights.

You must know how to take a corner, accelerate, pass and brake before becoming a successful race car driver. You need to understand how to prepare a chicken, season it and cook it before you can make good fried chicken.

A real photographer knows the importance of lighting, aperture and composition. He/she DOESN'T need to know how to assemble one.

There, fixed. :twak:

 

[Derrel]

Derrel, seriously... that was a lame comparison. Knowing how to build a camera and knowing how to shoot good picts are two different things.

You need to learn how to spell, construct a sentence, paragraph and story before you can write anything worthwhile. You need to learn how to flip a switch before using indoor lights.

You must know how to take a corner, accelerate, pass and brake before becoming a successful race car driver. You need to understand how to prepare a chicken, season it and cook it before you can make good fried chicken.

A real photographer knows the importance of lighting, aperture and composition. He/she DOESN'T need to know how to assemble one.

There, fixed. :twak:

Rekd,
I am forever indebted to you! You are a master wordsmith, a gentleman, and a scholar. No wait,wait, I take that back, well, It take part of it back! I think Steve up a ways has a good point: in his d-slr, and most others, P mode is not fundamentally much different from using Av or Tv mode as Canon calls them, or A or S mode as Nikon and some others refer to Aperture-Priority and Shutter Priority automatic.

I am actually old enough to have come up in ther era when the chief Canon vs Nikon argument was the merits of Nikon with its APERTURE-Priority ONLY automatic cameras, versus the merit of Canon with its cameras that offered ONLY Shutter Priority automation. Same with Konica--Konica had only Shutter-Priority automation. In those days, of the mid-1970's, the photo magazines raged with debates about the merits of the two opposing systems. There were many more makers of 35mm SLR cameras in those days than there are now, and cameras had either one or the other mode of automatic exposure--there was no "Program" mode and there was no "multi-mode" camera, until I believe, the Canon A-1, which was a 5-mode camera, and a real technological breakthrough. Within two years the camera companies scrambled, and every maker tried to get an A,S,P,M multi-mode camera into its lineup.

Yes, my methaphors were over the top--and that was deliberate, to draw attention to the stubborn,dogmatic attitudes that have existed relating to this subject for 40+ years, concluding in "we don't need no stinkin' autofocus". The entire field of amateur photography has been filled with people who think that the beginner must learn to shoot exactly the way he,the old-timer, learned to shoot. Glass plate shooters felt that the need to know how to mix,and coat an emulsion was a "fundamental necessity"...pre-light meter shooters eschewed the early selenium meters...today, there's a segment of old-timers who insists that you must learn to shoot exactly as they did, or not be capable of creating anything.

So, maybe you can re-read the methaphors and actually think about why they were chosen...they were chosen to make the reader think about dogmatic attitudes about how one needs to learn x and y and z before making any photos.

 

[Gaerek]

Honestly there is little reason not to shoot in full manual :| It is best to learn how your camera works, of course unless all you want to do is shoot some nicer than normal snap shots! If that is the case none of this applies to you.

What is it with people who think that the only way you can take real photographs is in full manual? Everything else is a snapshot? I agree it's important to learn how your camera works, but you don't need to play the "follow the needle" game to learn exposure. You can do it just fine in the semi-automatic modes.

Remember, if you're picking the exposure the meter gives you in manual, you're not doing anything different than using a priority mode. People say you get more control with manual, and it's true, you get a bit more control, but there's very little you can do in manual that you can't do in (say) Aperture Priority using Exposure Compensation.

The admonition that manual is the way to make real photographs is just an elitist, I'm better than you, statement meant to make that person feel better about themselves, and more superior to you. Your camera has a computer in it way more powerful than the one that put men on the moon. But it's ok, it's better to take your sophisticated, modern piece of equipment and turn it into something better suited to the 1950's.

 

[shmne]

Honestly there is little reason not to shoot in full manual :| It is best to learn how your camera works, of course unless all you want to do is shoot some nicer than normal snap shots! If that is the case none of this applies to you.

What is it with people who think that the only way you can take real photographs is in full manual? Everything else is a snapshot? I agree it's important to learn how your camera works, but you don't need to play the "follow the needle" game to learn exposure. You can do it just fine in the semi-automatic modes.

Remember, if you're picking the exposure the meter gives you in manual, you're not doing anything different than using a priority mode. People say you get more control with manual, and it's true, you get a bit more control, but there's very little you can do in manual that you can't do in (say) Aperture Priority using Exposure Compensation.

The admonition that manual is the way to make real photographs is just an elitist, I'm better than you, statement meant to make that person feel better about themselves, and more superior to you. Your camera has a computer in it way more powerful than the one that put men on the moon. But it's ok, it's better to take your sophisticated, modern piece of equipment and turn it into something better suited to the 1950's.

When did I say that you have to shoot in full manual in order to be a good photographer? I was talking about learning how to photograph so please don't distort and twist my words.

If anyone is being an elitist here it is you, and your unnecessary attack on me for having an opinion on how learning manual first makes things easier.

Even with what you said, the only time manual isn't the way to go is when you do not need or want full creative control over the exposure. Next time don't attack someone who is actually adding constructive arguments to the conversation. it is not very nice and misguided.

 

[Rekd]

Yes, my methaphors were over the top--and that was deliberate,

You'd think I knew that about you by now. Point taken.