Program mode underrated?


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That's the issue here I suppose. People think M makes them appear and feel good about themselves, but in most shooting scenario, the other modes do the same thing faster and with the same result. If you don't need any creative element in your photographs, there's really no need for M.
 

And A stand for amateur !

Haha. And what does M stand for? Mature? :sweatsm:

Anyways, I use M 90% of the time. I don't see why one should use any other mode if he/she already knows what settings to dial in. I don't like my exposures to be jumping all around the place...
 

If you don't need any creative element in your photographs, there's really no need for M.

And have you shot events before where the lighting is more or less constant?
 

Wow guys thx! reading through all the posts gave me a really good feel on how i should take my next picture ;)
 

haha, Av mode is always on for me... i dont like to leave the settings to the camera itself because it might not give me the exact exposure or noise level i want...
 

Haha. And what does M stand for? Mature? :sweatsm:

Anyways, I use M 90% of the time. I don't see why one should use any other mode if he/she already knows what settings to dial in. I don't like my exposures to be jumping all around the place...

M for Master :cool:

If you are very good in knowing where to meter instantly, and you manage to communicate with your camera well, P/S/A mode is the way since it will give you a proper exposure on your subject under any lighting conditions. Or maybe as surrephoto had proposed, "Auto-ISO" mode.

But for me, I usually go M mode even though it's a fast pace event, with potential light changing conditions. Of course I need to turn the dials, but just my own preference :)

Some people might think that they are far superior by using M mode... But how about camera manufacturers who spend so much effort in improving the metering or scene reading systems? If they think Pro will be very happy to manually adjust the aperture/shutter speed, they will be more than happy to save the effort.

So, it's only your own preference :)
 

Honestly, once you use a camera with good auto-iso mode, it's either full manual or auto-iso.

Punch in your favourite or preferred shutter speed & aperture combination, and adjust as according to calculated iso. :thumbsup:

i dun really trust auto ISO mode... sometimes even in broad daylight, it can shoot up to 1200 or 1600. :dunno: that is what happens to my 5DMKII when i started using it initially.
 

i dun really trust auto ISO mode... sometimes even in broad daylight, it can shoot up to 1200 or 1600. :dunno: that is what happens to my 5DMKII when i started using it initially.

Did you try it in manual mode? Or does your camera not allow auto-ISO in manual mode? I noticed my camera does have the tendency to screw up the ISOs in aperture priority mode.
 

Did you try it in manual mode? Or does your camera not allow auto-ISO in manual mode? I noticed my camera does have the tendency to screw up the ISOs in aperture priority mode.

u mean try manual mode with auto ISO? nope.

but if i use AV mode with auto ISO, sometimes even if under broad day light, it can shoot up to very high ISO.
 

i dun really trust auto ISO mode... sometimes even in broad daylight, it can shoot up to 1200 or 1600. :dunno: that is what happens to my 5DMKII when i started using it initially.

Did you try it in manual mode? Or does your camera not allow auto-ISO in manual mode? I noticed my camera does have the tendency to screw up the ISOs in aperture priority mode.

u mean try manual mode with auto ISO? nope.

but if i use AV mode with auto ISO, sometimes even if under broad day light, it can shoot up to very high ISO.

Unfortunately, 5D Mark II does not feature a true ISO in Manual mode, it defaults to ISO 400.

For 5D Mark II in AV mode, it will tend to choose the lowest handholdable shutter speed. Eg. 1/50 for 50 mm. Which may not be preferred for your shooting situation (eg. freezing subject motion). Having tried it under sunlight so I can't comment about the whacky high ISOs you might be getting.

For 5D Mark II in Tv mode, it is more usable but tends not to use the largest apertures. So there is no true "Time + Aperture Value ISO priority mode" for canon.

In Nikon models, auto iso is customazible for Av mode by setting the lowest acceptable shutter speed before pushing ISO. In the 1D3 model for canon, I believe this is known as "ISO safety shift" (correct me if i'm wrong).

In Nikon models, auto iso in manual mode immediately calculates the correct ISO (based on whatever metering you set the camera to) for the user determined shutter speed & F-number. In the instance where your shutter speed and F-stop will inevitably over-expose the image even at the lowest ISO, the meter bar will display the EV overexposed. Obviously you can correct this by stopping down or using a faster shutter speed. :bsmilie:
 

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I am so surprise to see so many people still insist on not using P mode with todays digital camera... For me if I am doing event indoor, I will select P mode, flash, and custom WB plus auto ISO. Today's digital camera is built so much better, and faster, compare to the older film cameras, whereby your own fingers are still more accurate.

I will still use M/A/S for shots that is impossible to achieve with the default settings in P mode.

anyway, which mode to use is not important, as long as you can get a good picture out of the camera...
 

I have tried the auto iso mode on my D3100 and it works great for me. but I figured that if I am taking some important events I will decide on the iso myself just in case auto iso screws me up
 

I have tried the auto iso mode on my D3100 and it works great for me. but I figured that if I am taking some important events I will decide on the iso myself just in case auto iso screws me up

Then use Auto ISO in manual mode. It works for Nikons. You can have full control over aperture and shutter speed to achieve whatever effect you want, and the camera can decide the ISO for you.
 

there is no such best (exposure) mode, the very fundamental thing is you need to understand what is exposure, and how camera meter works. without this basic knowledge, you will just rely on your camera to make decision for you, and when things don't work out you will never understand why went wrong.

for an instant, you shoot a black T shirt like this, without the basic knowledge, the black T shirt will simply turn out gray, and if you understand what is exposure and how camera meter works, you can use ANY exposure mode still able to get the correct exposure without trial and error.

so whatever modes work for you, just use it.


 

without this basic knowledge, you will just rely on your camera to make decision for you, and when things don't work out you will never understand why went wrong..

well said:)
 

I use a and c1, c2, c3, m and p. Really depends on wat situation.

A - most general usage
c1-c3 for studio preset settings
M - studio usage
P - candid, last min shots where u got only 1 sec to shoot
 

I am so surprise to see so many people still insist on not using P mode with todays digital camera... For me if I am doing event indoor, I will select P mode, flash, and custom WB plus auto ISO. Today's digital camera is built so much better, and faster, compare to the older film cameras, whereby your own fingers are still more accurate.

I will still use M/A/S for shots that is impossible to achieve with the default settings in P mode.

anyway, which mode to use is not important, as long as you can get a good picture out of the camera...

You know how some people spend so much time with auto transmission in cars that they completely forget how to drive manual transmission?

Same logic goes for anything else, which includes photography as well IMHO. Let the built-in automation spoonfeed you long enough, and in time you become crippled by it should the automation fail unexpectedly.