Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

How long is a piece of string? It could be days or weeks to a life time. It depends on how much is to be learned and the aptitude and dedication of the individual. I got my first SLR in about 1972 - the Zenit E (see above), fully manual everything, but I had been using cameras since around 1962 (Brownie 127). First Canon (AE-1) in 1976. First digital (P&S - Elph) around 2004, T3i in 2012, now 80D. Each had/has a learning curve, and as technology advances the learning curve typically gets steeper if you wish to understand what is happening rather than let the device make all the decisions.

For myself, I'm happy that I haven't yet stopped learning. I have much to learn about photography, but it's less intimidating to me than cyber security, cyber currency, or quantum computing, fascinating as each of those are. However, they deprive me of time with my camera!

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

Thanks for the reply. The only reason I said "I'll buy that" is because the Hog I was replying to said "After a few days of getting great shots,...."
I was just thinking that if we're only talking a few days then go for it. What's a few days? Like you pointed out, you've been doing the picture taking thing for, um, more years than I care to count. Someone just getting started can shoot in full auto for a few days without any serious drawbacks. Don't ya think?

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Yes, if composition is the goal. If the goal is to learn about photography faster I would set ISO to a fixed number, and use program mode. There may be a few more failures, but then one can ask why and perhaps learn from that. If the goal is to snap and be happy auto mode is fine, if the goal is to learn then it isn't so helpful. Modern cameras have so many variables that it makes it harder to learn. The only time I put my camera(s) on auto mode is when someone else is using them - doesn't happen often - but trying to explain all my settings such as BBF etc. isn't really an option.

Learning is a tricky thing, and teaching or mentoring people is quite a bit harder. There is both art and science behind it, and each individual learns in different ways. We don't really know where the OP is starting from or what they actually care about. In part, that is what makes it hard to give good / valuable answers on a site such as UHH.

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

I'll buy that. I'll stck by my first reply when I said "Start out shooting full manual, so you get an idea of what's happening when you change the settings."

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I believe composition is the most important thing to be learned, but I would agree that "P" will probably produce more learning. The most important thing is finding some way of having a "debriefing" after each session, some way of honestly looking at each image and determining how it could have been better.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Yep!