BebuLamar

While I don't like to use P mode, I am OK with it as I can handle it. As for the A mode? I can't handle it. I don't know what it may do. It drove me crazy.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

There are differences among camera brands. Consult your manual more closely, or get a third party book on your model.

USUALLY, ‘A’ does everything, but ‘P’ means “Program Shift.” That lets you push either shutter or aperture to a different setting, and the camera will adjust the other, for you. Then there is ‘iA’ and ‘iA+’...

So yeah, read model-specific info.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

First correct answer.

This information is also in the camera's Instruction Manual. Doesn't anyone read their manuals any more?

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

Ability and willingness to read is one thing. Ability to comprehend is another. Willingness to invest in learning is a third. Perhaps we should call it 'The Curiosity Triangle'!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Amen to that.

It amazes me how many otherwise brilliant people buy expensive cameras and let their eyes glaze over when they realize there is considerable work involved in learning how to use them!

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

What's even more surprising is that, although Program mode has been around for donkeys years, there are still some otherwise experienced photographers who could not answer the question until Bill_de replied.

OneShotOne18

Well, I resemble that remark! I considered myself as brilliant enough to enjoy the PnS camera I have and have taken some nice photos. Then I began thinking that I wanted a to take better photos and needed to get a little bit better camera. And I got a Nikon D3300 because of my budget and it would be better than what I had as I learn its ways. Now that I have it, I found it overwhelmingly difficult to find the time and it's many options that when I make one change I should make another change. I watch videos, read manuals and read comments here and other places. Guess what? I still don't get it. So, my short cut is to either shoot in "auto or "P" until all the other stuff sinks into my, not so brilliant, thick skull. Just glad I didn't get an even more expensive camera!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

In high school, I had a good friend whose father was a successful heart surgeon. He bought two Nikon FTn bodies and six lenses in 1972. When he died, years later, his daughter found them in a closet with film still in the bag, marked “expires 11/73”.

She said he could save peoples’ lives, but he could not find the time and patience to understand exposure control. He gave up on SLRs a few weeks after he bought his equipment.

It isn’t rocket science. But as PeterFF said, above, there does seem to be a trio of factors required for learning. I think the most important factor in learning is desire.

BebuLamar

As I was very much interested in the Sony A6000 so I downloaded the manual but I couldn't figure out exactly what the Intelligent and Superior Auto mode do. I gave up on buying the camera since I wasn't interested in buying the camera for me (because if it were for me I simply ignore both of those modes) but for my wife and she definitely use either one of those modes only. I would have to decipher what went wrong whenever she got bad shots with it. So it was best for me not to buy it.

dpfoto Loc: Cape Coral, FL

"A" is for Amateur, "P" is for Professional. JUST KIDDING! Auto will set everything, while P still allows SOME (but not many) adjustments. I personally use Manual most of the time.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

P is "Program auto exposure" where you choose the ISO, while the camera chooses both what it "thinks" are an appropriate lens aperture (f-stop) and an appropriate shutter speed to make a "correct" exposure. You get to make changes to other camera settings, such as choosing white balance, selecting the type of file to save, adjusting auto focus as you see fit for the situation, tweaking exposure with Exposure Compensation, etc.

Full "Auto" is basically a "point n shoot" mode that not only uses the P auto exposure (AE) mode as described above, but it also overrides and dictates everything else listed and more. You cannot make any of those other choices. The camera will only use Auto White Balance, only save large/fine JPEG files, force you to use the most automated auto focus mode, won't let you dial in any Exposure Compensation, etc. Think of it as a "SUPER Auto" mode... way more than just auto exposure and far from the same as "P".

Honestly, I cannot recall ever using full Auto (sometimes "A+") on any DSLR I've used the past 14 or 15 years. I have a couple compact P&S cameras where I've occasionally used it for "snapshots".

I do very occasionally use P on my DSLRs... Usually only when shooting very fast and I don't have time to give the settings much thought. Often this is when I'm switching modes to take a few shots under radically different lighting, then switching back.

But far more often I use either...

1. Av (also A on some cameras) "aperture priority" AE, where I select the aperture and ISO, the camera chooses a shutter speed. Useful when I want to control depth of field in images.

2. Or Tv (S on some cameras) "shutter priority" AE where I select the shutter and ISO, the camera chooses an aperture. Useful when I want to insure a shutter speed that freezes movement or deliverately allows blur.

3. Or M (full manual, without Auto ISO) where I select everything and don't allow the camera to make any settings. Useful when I really want to lock down my exposures, avoid issues from back lighting and other things that can throw off auto exposure modes.

4. Or occasionally M with Auto ISO, which many cameras now offer. When it's combined with M this makes for yet another form of auto exposure, where I choose the shutter speed and the aperture for the above reasons, but let the camera select an ISO. This is probably the most misunderstood and most overused mode now. I've just been experimenting with it for a year or so (first time I've had cameras where it's fully implemented and usable). Often folks use Auto ISO with M and think they're "only shooting manual", as if that's something special (it's not ). They're just kidding themselves though, because they aren't really shooting manual at all.... they are just using a relatively new form of auto exposure. (Further.... I'd never combine Auto ISO with P, Av/A or Tv/S... because with Auto ISO any of those would become a rather unpredictable "double AE" mode... and I really can't think of any situation where such a combo might be purposeful and helpful).

Hope this helps!

DanCulleton

Program mode in a Canon allows you to select the focus point manually, while aperture, shutter speed and ISO are set by the camera.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

I speak of Canon.
A is auto shutter, aperture, ISO, and whether or not to use internal flash and most all else.
P is auto shutter, aperture, but ISO, flash, exposure compensation etc are not automated.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

For my Olympus E-M1mrII, the camera does it's best to determine everything on "A". There can be times and conditions for its actual use. Although I have never used it, I know there may be a time in the future that conditions would call for its usage. "P" or program mode on the E-M1mrII has options to it as to what function changes. For me, I have it set for exposure compensation. This allows me to quickly lighten or darken the scene based on what I see as the need. You will have to go into your manual to find out exactly how your camera changes between "A" and "P".

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

Being a pro wedding photographer for over 30 years in film I welcome not to have to check and set everything before every shot. If you happen to have the wrong setting you can most likely correct it in the computer. Not a good way to depend on but I have saved some photos this way.