Most cameras have a “P(rogram)” mode, which selects the aperture and shutter speed using some heuristic and allows the user to change these while keeping the amount of light more or less invariant.
I have yet to figure out a use case for this. I can see that it may make sense in theory, but in A(perture) mode I can dial in what I want much quicker. If I really need a specific shutter speed, I go for S mode, or M mode, depending on how much time I have to compose.
I tried to figure out why this mode exists but cannot really find an explanation that makes sense. Some guides suggest that novice photographers use this mode before graduating to A/S/M, but come on, it is not that complicated.
Is this a holdover from a bygone era? Did it ever have a use case? If anyone is using P mode, ever, can you please explain why it makes sense?
I use full manual or either shutter speed or aperture as priority. I never understood the P mode. IMO the best system is Fujifilm that lets you set individual parameters in auto and quickly set a defined value in case you need it.
No, I never use it… my favorite mode is A with auto ISO. I’m still allowed to set a baseline ISO though (I use 100), and there’s a minimum shutter speed setting too (depends, I often use around 1/60s).
At least on my Nikon, it works like this:
If the shutter speed (SS) calculated is faster than minimum SS, ISO stays at 100 and that SS is used. If the SS were to drop below minimum, ISO starts rising instead to compensate.
This effectively makes me able to shoot most things at ISO 100 and I don’t have to worry about drops in ambient light that would overwise give me SS like 1/2s.
Unlike M with auto ISO, I can stay at or close to ISO 100 and if I get to 100, I don’t have to worry starting to overexpose if there is any more light (the SS will just compensate).
If I need to shoot action, I can just set minimum SS to something like 1/500 and effectively have a better M + auto ISO (which I think is necessary only if you want a specific amount of motion blur).
This mode is sooo universal, I love it. Besides full M that I use for panoramic shots and such, I don’t use anything else… I hope I explained it well enough
I like to call it Auto with semi-manual override. By default it’s just like Auto, but won’t try to fire the flash for no good reason. And if you want, you can change if the camera should prioritise shutter or aperture, although you’ll have to do it for every shot, so can get pretty tedious.
One bygone era is that of a separate light-meter (e.g. Weston, Sekonic) with a foot candle needle and the two circular scales of aperture versus shutter time which, like the P mode, give a constant exposure all the way around once set.
Also a bit like older cameras which used EV to set exposure and linked the settings so that turning up (increasing) the aperture diameter reduced the shutter time to keep a constant EV.
You described it succinctly, exactly what I’ve recently figured out I need to do.
I currently spend valuable time manually doing just what you describe auto iso doing. Been thinking about digging out the manual to figure it out, your description just short-circuited that procrastination.
To understand the “exposure triangle” is a step to pass in photographic development, and until then, using P-mode is a viable alternative for one who is curious about starting to use a system camera. It allows spouses to start practicing without first having to be taught technology stuff by a partner who says, more or less condescending: “Come on, dear, it is not that complicated!”
In digital work, to understand the “exposure triangle” is a step to ignore so as not to be told that the ISO setting “changes the sensitivity of the sensor” - which it does not.
Especially dismaying when you read your camera manual and find that the manufacturer has used the term “ISO Sensitivity” to describe the function’s behavior. Geesh…
The context says “the camera’s sensitivity to light according to the light available”, not the sensor’s sensitivity to light - which has a fixed value on all four of my cameras and your Nikon.
So all your context means is that there is a gain control called “ISO” somewhere in your Nikon as opposed to a direct connection to the sensor that magically changes the electron-to-photocell-output over the range of the REI (not talking Aptina-licensed).
Mine says: The photo-sensitivity of digital cameras is described in terms of “ISO equivalent” like silver-halide film cameras.
Note: it does not say “of digital camera sensors”.
May I ask responders to stop using the common phrase “ISO Sensitivity” as if that somehow disproves my original claim that the camera’s ISO setting does NOT change the sensitivity of the sensor?
In use it occasionally on my Linux Lumix LX7. That camera is a bit special: it has a built-in ND filter, and P mode has a setting called MTF, where it sets the aperture to the value that achieves maximum sharpness at the given focal length. The ND filter is enabled automatically, if the fastest speed the camera supports would lead to overexposure.
