Startin' to like "Program" mode...

[Chairman7w]

Do any of you guys use Program Mode?

I find myself using it more and more. It's very handy in a pinch (bird lands, get a quick shot!).

What do you guys think?

 

[Alpha]

I almost always shoot in program unless I have a specific reason not to. Granted, I often have a specific reason not to, but for shooting on the fly I see no reason to go into full manual unless you're a luddite or practicing shooting without the aide of your camera.

 

[MikeBcos]

My camera is always on P simply so I can just grab a shot without having to worry about settings, 90% of the time it does a great job. For the other 10% I use S, A or M as necessary.

 

[RONDAL]

im always on p unless i dont need to be

 

[Josh66]

I have to admit that I don't really know what program mode does. I always thought that it was basically the green box with RAW, but even 35mm cameras have program - so it must be something else.

What does it do, and what can it not do?

 

[Alpha]

It's more or less interchangeable with auto-metering aperture priority.

 

[captainkimo]

Program mode is good for snapshots or for shots especially when you have to shoot it quick that you don't have enough time to tweak the settings. But if you want to enjoy more flexibility and learn more, Manual mode is the way to go.

Cheers!

Captain Kimo

 

[fwellers]

I almost always shoot in program unless I have a specific reason not to. Granted, I often have a specific reason not to, but for shooting on the fly I see no reason to go into full manual unless you're a luddite or practicing shooting without the aide of your camera.

Well I shoot manual all the time, and don't consider myself a luddite. I just haven't decided to trust program mode yet. I think I can do better.

 

[pez]

I usually shoot aperture priority (sometimes manual), but keep it set to program in case I suddenly want a fast shot with less chance of a "DOH" moment (slapping the forehead that hard destroys brain cells).

 

[Overread]

Generaly I prefer aperture priority or shutter priority for walking around with. Aperture priority is my favourite as I understand aperture and depth of field better and I like controling it - -shutter priority is what I tend to stick to on dimmer days as I mostly shoot animals - so I need that faster shutter speed even if sometimes I get an underexposure but a bit (I can brighten and for websize it does not look half bad - but motion blur one can't lose!)

Manual mode I keep for macro and when flash is dominating as a light source - often then I want an apertuer and shutter speed that the auto modes just won't give me

 

[manaheim]

I use program quite a bit. I use aperature a lot as well. Shutter only occasionally. Manual when I'm doing something specific and I have the time to compose the shot.

On Nikons I occasionally find that Program mode doesn't use a wide enough aperature to get the DOF I want... I think it's trying to avoid using the widest aperature possible, likely just because a lot of lenses have issues at the widest. I'm speculating, however.

 

[mrodgers]

My camera is not the greatest. 99% of the time it sits at f/3.5, occasionally outside with the kids I am up to f/5.6. I haven't done any "photography" in a while because I haven't gone anywhere for a while. Most of my shots have been the kids or the dog in the backyard playing. I usually just meter on the sky and set it in manual.

My wife likes to pick up the camera during the day. I've tried to have her shoot in P mode telling her to change the ISO depending on if she is inside or outside. My camera has a max of 400 limit set by me because of noise. In auto mode, it will boost up to 800 or 1600 and that's not good at all with my camera.

Problem is, she refuses to listen on how to work the camera. Thus, she gets indoor shots at ISO64 or outside shots at ISO400, depending on where I was previously. Doesn't really matter though because all her shots are throwaways anyways. She also refuses to use the zoom so the kids take up about 1/100th of the frame. I finally told her to go ahead and use it in auto.

 

[Dagwood56]

If I'm really feeling creative and my subject isn't going to fly, hop, crawl or run away and I have the patience to do so, I'll use manual mode, but most often I use program shift, shutter priority or Ap priority. I also prefer to shoot at ISO 100, but will sometimes when conditions really warrant, use 200, 400, or Lo80.

 

[epp_b]

I used to use P mode a lot, but I use aperture priority and manual almost exclusively now. The problem with P mode is that it can only guess makes a technically even and correct exposure, but it can't know what you want to capture in terms of depth of field and motion. Most of my subjects are still, so I shoot in aperture priority most of the time and switch to manual when I want an exposure that I can't otherwise tell the camera to make.

 

[bigtwinky]

I haven't really shot in Program mode mainly because I'm still learning and prefer to have the flexibility of using Aperture or Shutter priorities, as well as Manual when I have the time to compose / think.

So Manual when I can, else Aperture / Shutter. I'll have to give a go at Program though.