Bunkershot Loc: Central Florida

I shoot a Nikon D7100 in raw and 95% of the time in manual, the rest in aperture priority or shutter priority. Can anyone explain to me why I would ever shoot in Program mode?

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

I don't know why anybody seriously interested in photography would use P, Auto, or the Scene modes. I think they are there for people who want to use a big, fancy, expensive camera as a Point & Shoot.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

I did for about the first month or so when I purchased my first DSLR, although I did use "progam shift" a fair bit.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

1) learning process
2) no time
3) laziness

3 is the problem the rest is part of a learning process and can be due to the lack of time to set things up properly. P can be a 'capture saver' in these circumstance.

When you say you use 'manual', A and S modes... This is fine but do you also set the ISO to manual? If not, you are not much better than those in the P mode. Just saying.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
--Bob

fantom Loc: Colorado

Pls enjoy the great shot of the bear running across the road----assuming, of course, that I had been in P mode, that is---- and was not fiddling with manual adjustments. I had just exited the black timber and camera was set for those conditions (slow shutter speed and wide aperature in the deep forest).

Not being in P mode in certain situations, where there will be no time to make camera adjustments, is the same as leaving your camera at home. "P" is there for a reason and if you ignore it when in these situations are not only naive but are not taking full advantage of your camera's capabilities.

Great missed bear shot

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Stop snipping at me!!!
:hunf: :hunf: :hunf:
:XD:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Rongnongno Loc: FL

:shock: :shock: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Bunkershot Loc: Central Florida

I do set ISO manually as well.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Had you taken the time to adjust your settings for the lighting conditions, when they changed, you would have gotten the photo, and still been in manual mode. Just sayin'.
--Bob

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

:thumbup:
--Bob

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Program mode is like both of the priority modes rolled into one. It makes most sense in situations when you do not have a specific aperture or shutter speed value in mind and you are somewhat flexible with either. When you are in program mode, you can rotate through all the possible aperture/shutter combinations (that give you proper exposure) using the dial wheel, and select the combination that you find most appropiate for the shot.

Anyone who suggests program mode is nothing more than a fancy name full auto exposure mode doesn't understand its possibilities, and likely only picks the very first combination the camera recommends when in program mode. I don't use program mode often, but there are times when it is the most efficient mode to work with.

fantom Loc: Colorado

And, if I had picked the right six numbers in the lottery I would not be writing this message from here but instead from my $60 million mansion on the Mediterranean.

Your suggestion is impractical for many reasons and it appears you have not been in similiar circumstances and are not familiar with the minute by minute by second, changing light conditions frequently encounterd in the high mountains--- to say nothing about trying to steer with your knees on a poor four wheel drive road while making the setting adjustments.

Its useful to generally take a camera all the time (in case a foto op occurs) but I was not on a "photo safari" and the purpose of the trip was not photography. Even if I had been out soley to take pix the constant changing of settings would be silly, inefficent and unrealistic due to the overwhelming number of continously changing setting choices---do I set for middle distance, foreground or far distances? Should I be exposing for a light blue sky or the dark blue lake in the middle distance or the gray granite cliffs above the bright yellow aspen grove, next to the dazzling white snow bank? I would make those choces when I decided to take a pic and in the meantime keep the camera on P for the unexpected brief foto-op. In addition the settings would need to be changed at every turn in the road or blink of the sun behind the constantly moving clouds. Being in the P mode would have given an acceptable pic that was unfortuneatly lost becuz I had forgotten to reset to P.

Not all shots are taken in the comfort of a studio nor from a tripod at a "scenic overlook" and it sounds a bit elitist to think otherwise. It seeems to be a disservice to novice shooters to tell them to ignore camera features that will be useful to them in certain situations.

I have been documenting things all over the world in manual, Tv and Av modes for more than half a century and can only say "Thank goodness" for the P mode as it has saved the day on numerous occassions. But, then again, I am not an armchair photographer but prefer to get out and about to take pix in countless varied situations and conditions. Probably 90% of my tens of thousands of pictures have been taken outdoors.

I am not declaring that P mode should be used exclusively but that it has its own set of attributes that should be utilized when appropriate. You know, just sayin'.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Oh, if you only knew. I've been in worse situations than you describe. In addition, I didn't have P mode. I had aperture, shutter speed, ISO That's it. Being cognizant of the surrounding lighting situations, was imperative. I realize that that is beyond some people's capabilities.

Regardless of the situation, lighting, etc. I always got the shot I needed. At worst, I'd simply set the f-stop, shutter speed, and hyperfocus the lens. As I said, I never, or at least rarely missed a shot I needed. It's simple and cognizance becomes second nature when you do this long enough.
--Bob

jcboy3

I never shoot in Program mode, but that's because I either care about DOF or motion blur and want to have control over my aperture or shutter speed.

If you just want a correct exposure, you can shoot in Program mode. I guess. Since I never do it.