Help with Daughter's D40

[Fleetwood271]

I have a D90, but I bought my daughter a D40 and gave it to her yesterday. I gave her a 30 minute overview of most of the modes, settings, controls, etc. Last night after she played with it for awhile, she asked me a question that I couldn't answer.

She noticed that in A and S modes, when she rotated the rear dial, she could see the aperture and shutter speeds change. But when she put it in P Mode, and rotated the dial, they do not change.

On the screen, there is a "P" to show the current mode. And if you rotate the dial, an asterisk appears beside the "P" to show that you've changed the settings. And if you take a picture and review the data, you can see the difference, and that they changed. But before you take the picture, if you rotate the dial, since the numbers do not change, you have no way of knowing what aperture or shutter speed you have changed to.

What am I missing here? If she wants to shoot in P Mode, how can she know the aperture and shutter speed before taking the pic?

Thanks!

 

[Moe]

I had to dig out the ole D40. I never used P mode, so I'm not that familiar with it. I'm not sure if I understand what you're asking, but when I rotate the dial, I get the *P, but it also shows the changed aperture and shutter speed. The only thing I can think it might be is you've reached your minimum aperture and it won't go any larger. For example, if it has chosen the aperture at 2.8, I can make the aperture smaller (bigger numbers) and it changes the shutter speed accordingly. However, if I try to turn it the other way, it does nothing, but the *P is still there.

Here's KR's guide to the D40:

Nikon D40 Controls

 

[cnutco]

I believe that when you chose to shoot in P mode, then you are giving the camera full control. Automatic if you will.

Good luck.

 

[ann]

P mode is a step up from auto. You can change the white balance and ISO, but that is about all that is different than auto. I would encourage her to learn how to use aperture and shutter priorty .

 

[Flash Harry]

"P" is program mode as far as I'm aware and anything you change in that mode doesn't work, you set this mode and the camera picks whichever settings it needs to get a correct exposure, its auto, beginner mode if you like, just like a P&S camera, not very creative but should give a decent exposure every time. H

 

[Josh66]

P mode is a step up from auto. You can change the white balance and ISO, but that is about all that is different than auto. I would encourage her to learn how to use aperture and shutter priorty .

"P" is program mode as far as I'm aware and anything you change in that mode doesn't work, you set this mode and the camera picks whichever settings it needs to get a correct exposure, its auto, beginner mode if you like, just like a P&S camera, not very creative but should give a decent exposure every time. H

There has to be more to it than that...

Even my film cameras have P mode, and you can't change the WB (without filters) on those...

I've never been able to figure out what the difference was between P and Auto, but there has to be *something*... Or, why have them both...?

Granted, I never really looked into it much, as I don't use it - but it has to do 'something' that Auto doesn't do...

 

[ann]

film cameras don't have built in white balance functions.

a d40 is a digital camera.

there are times when one wants to be in control of wb /iso. Auto will not allow one to change anything!

 

[Josh66]

film cameras don't have built in white balance functions.

a d40 is a digital camera.

there are times when one wants to be in control of wb /iso. Auto will not allow one to change anything!

Yeah, I know - that was my point. Everything I've heard about P mode mostly only applies to digital cameras... Even film cameras have it, so there has to be something else that it does other than let you change the WB and ISO...

 

[Destin]

I have a d40.

The difference between P mode and auto mode are:

In auto mode the camera selects focus mode, focus point, metering mode, white balance, iso, EVERYTHING. All you do in auto is point, zoom, and shoot.

In P mode the camera controls aperature and shutter speed, leaving you to control focus point, focus mode, metering mode, etc....

 

[Josh66]

I have a d40.

The difference between P mode and auto mode are:

In auto mode the camera selects focus mode, focus point, metering mode, white balance, iso, EVERYTHING. All you do in auto is point, zoom, and shoot.

In P mode the camera controls aperture and shutter speed, leaving you to control focus point, focus mode, metering mode, etc....

Now, that makes sense. If only for the option to spot meter as opposed to Auto mode's evaluative/matrix - it would be a nice improvement.

Being able to select focus points/modes is a nice plus too.

 

[Moe]

In P mode you can change the aperture/shutter speed, it just gives you a base from which to work.

 

[Fleetwood271]

I appreciate everyone's reply, but no one has answered the question. I already understood what P Mode does. The question is why do the aperture and shutter speed not change on the info screen when the dial is rotated in P mode? When in S or A Mode, they change when the dial is turned. In P, they do not.

For those of you who own a D40, do the numbers change on the info screen when you turn the dial, while in P Mode? Or does an asterisk simply appear beisde the P, letting you know that you have changed from what the camera recommended?

If you are in P Mode and you turn the dial and the asterisk appears beside the P, how do you know what shutter speed and/or aperture you are shooting?

 

[Fleetwood271]

I had to dig out the ole D40. I never used P mode, so I'm not that familiar with it. I'm not sure if I understand what you're asking, but when I rotate the dial, I get the *P, but it also shows the changed aperture and shutter speed. The only thing I can think it might be is you've reached your minimum aperture and it won't go any larger. For example, if it has chosen the aperture at 2.8, I can make the aperture smaller (bigger numbers) and it changes the shutter speed accordingly. However, if I try to turn it the other way, it does nothing, but the *P is still there.

Here's KR's guide to the D40:

Nikon D40 Controls

Thanks. I have already downloaded Ken's D40 guide and read the entire thing. It tells what the P Mode does. But it doesn't answer my question.

 

[Fleetwood271]

In P mode you can change the aperture/shutter speed, it just gives you a base from which to work.

I agree - You can change aperture and shutter. The camera just gets to control the combination. In A, you pick the aperture and the camera picks the shutter. In S, you pick the shutter and the camera picks the aperture. But in P, everything I have read says the camera picks both. And if you don't like what it picks, you can turn the dial and it will pick another combination of the two for you. It will always pick two that will work together to get you the best possible exposure.

However, my question is why can you not see what the aperture and shutter speed change to, when the dial is turned? All I get is the asterisk showing that they changed. I have no way of knowing what they changed to.

 

[Josh66]

It's possible that you have to hold down another button while you turn the dial in P mode. I don't shoot Nikon, but I would try that. Not sure what the button would be though... On a Canon camera, I would think it would be the * button...