Which mode should I use on my camera?

Question

On the top of most cameras is a selector knob which will allow you to select different modes. These range depending on the camera, my camera (Nikon D5100) has several choices.

I have been told conflicting things about which mode to use. From my understanding most DSLRs have M (Manual) S (Shutter Priority) A (Aperture Priority) P (Program Mode) and possibly Auto mode. Some models (specifically entry level) have other modes some of which could be Night, Macro, Landscape, Portrait, etc.

I have been told by one person to use all available modes the camera has to offer as I learn more about photography. While another person said only use M, S, A, P modes and avoid all the rest while you learn.

Which of the statements is generally more correct?

A few notes: I have every intention and am currently attempting to learn as much as possible about the camera and how to capture great photos but I am a beginner. I shoot in RAW most of the time. And I want to capture the best possible shot with the camera (not have to process it in post extensively to get the best shot).

Asked by Lynda

Answer

Which of the statements is generally more correct?

I believe the first one is correct which is

Use all available modes the camera has to offer as I learn more about photography.

I'll explain how:

Most entry DSLR cameras have the following modes:

• Full Auto Mode: use this mode if you just want to get the shot, perhaps you saw something that will go a way and you want to shoot it fast but if you started to set your settings you will miss the shot, the fastest way to take the shot is to dial in Full Auto and snap the shutter.

• Scene Modes: the actual names differ from camera from manufacturer to another, but functionality is similar. You may find Portrait, Night, Landscape or Scene, Macro, Sports or Pets & Children. These scenes are still auto but each one is trying to set the settings according to the chosen mode. For example, if you choose Sports (sometimes called Pets & Children) the camera will raise the shutter speed to freeze the moment/action. Night will raise the ISO, open the aperture more, lower the shutter speed, raise the flash. So these modes are still auto but when you choose one of them you help the camera to make a faster decision about its shooting settings. Use these modes with the Full Auto mode to learn about your camera decisions by looking at the chosen settings in your post processing program. You will build a feeling about the shot if it looks nice or not and what are the settings that the camera used to develop this shot.

• Programmed Mode: This mode is more advanced than Auto Modes, it gives you more control on the camera settings. Basically you can control almost all the settings except for Aperture and Shutter Speed. You want to use this mode if you want to enhance your learning skills regarding changing everything except aperture and shutter speed. Learn when you should raise or lower ISO, when to raise your flash, and also how to compensate the exposure.

• Aperture Priority Mode: This mode allows you to control aperture and sets the shutter speed automatically. Learn how to control Aperture and the different effects by different apertures. narrow aperture allows great depth of field (for landscape) while wide aperture allows shallow depth of field (for portraiture)

• Shutter Speed Priority Mode: This mode allows you to control shutter speed and sets the aperture automatically. Learn the effects by slow shutter speed and fast shutter speed.

• Full Manual Mode: Full manual mode allows you to control all settings in camera. In my opinion, this mode is there in DSLR to force you to THINK before you snap the shutter. My father has been a serious amateur 35mm film photographer for 30 years. When I got my first P&S camera almost 7 years ago, he was very annoyed by how fast I used to snap the shutter button and telling me this is not the right way to do it.

• Bulb Mode: Keeps the shutter open as long as you are pressing the shutter button. Use this to learn about very long exposure photography and its effects.

Use all the modes to learn and practice. After time you will tend to use the mode that you feel it suites your needs, but you can't tell which one is it until you've tried all of them. Also get yourself into the habit of looking on your photos in your post-processing program and pay attention to the settings values, you surely will learn from that.

Answered by Akram Mellice

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How do DSLRs figure out what aperture to select in P mode?

Question

In program mode, DSLRs adjust not only the ISO and the shutter speed, but also the aperture.

The aperture has a huge impact in some situations. For example, when shooting a close subject in front of a meaningless background, the aperture must be large so the background is blurred as much as possible; on the other hand, when shooting landscape, nobody wants a ƒ/1.4. How do cameras determine the aperture to set? More precisely:

• Are there some general rules applied by most brands?

• If not, given some camera model as an example, what rules are applied by this camera?

Answer

This is secret sauce and you there's no general answer; each brand (and probably each camera) has a different algorithm. Or, multiple algorithms; as an example, my Pentax camera offers the following choices:

• Normal — Pentax calls this "Basic Program Automatic Exposure", and it tends towards middling values for everything.
• Hi-speed Priority — The documentation says "prioritizes high shutter speeds" (helpful, guys). Based on experience, the basic program for shutter speed takes the focal length into account (faster speeds for longer lenses), and I'm not sure if this acts as a weighting of that factor or if it has a pre-set idea of "high" in this mode.
• DOF Priority (shallow) — Pretty self-explanatory: the program attempts to hold aperture as wide as possible, unless it can't to make the exposure work. Shutter speed is informed by the focal length, and how that and ISO are adjusted depend on the auto-ISO setting (see below).
• DOF Priority (deep) — The opposite, of course.
• MTF Priority — When used with a Pentax lens with electronic coupling, prioritizes the lens's technically-best "sweet spot" (see this question on MTF charts)

And to add complication, there's also an Auto, which has no technical documentation, but presumably chooses one of the above programs based on... who knows, actually. Maybe focus mode, probably the metering. Maybe the current zodiac sign.

If you have auto-ISO enabled (a separate choice from that "Auto"), there's a complex interaction with the program mode choices and the settings for auto-ISO, which can be "slow", "standard", or "fast". If you have it set to "slow", something else — shutter or ISO, depending on how that fits the program mode choice — will be increased first. If you have it set to "fast", raising ISO is the preference, and "standard" is somewhere in between. The upper and lower bounds of automatic ISO are chosen in by yet another set of customizable parameters.

Other high-end cameras will have similar complex parameters to tweak. Lower-model cameras will just keep everything secret — although "scene modes" like sports or landscape will serve a similar function.

In general, though, if you really care about getting a certain aperture, that's what Aperture Priority mode is there for. My informal impression (see for example many of the answers to this related question) is that aperture priority is the most commonly used automatic mode for more technically-inclined photographers.

One could try to remember all of the complicated interactions above and choose the intersection that best matches your intentions for a given situation — or you can just, y'know, choose directly. That actually seems easier than all the automation.

I leave my camera's P mode set to MTF Priority — there, the automation is actually doing something useful for me, since the camera knows the MTF for my various lenses at different apertures, and I don't carry that in my head.

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How DSLRs figure out what aperture to select in P mode?

Question

In program mode, DSLRs are adjusting not only the ISO and the shutter speed, but also the aperture.

Since the aperture has a huge impact in some situations (for example when shooting a close subject in front of a meaningless background which must be blurred as much as possible; on the other hand, when shooting landscape, nobody wants a ƒ/1.4), how do the camera determine the aperture to set? More precisely:

• Are there some general rules applied by most brands?

• If not, taken some camera model as an example, what rules are applied by this camera?

Answer

This is secret sauce and you there's no general answer; each brand (and probably each camera) has a different algorithm. Or, multiple algorithms; as an example, my Pentax camera offers the following choices:

• Normal — Pentax calls this "Basic Program Automatic Exposure", and it tends towards middling values for everything.
• Hi-speed Priority — The documentation says "prioritizes high shutter speeds" (helpful, guys). Based on experience, the basic program for shutter speed takes the focal length into account (faster speeds for longer lenses), and I'm not sure if this acts as a weighting of that factor or if it has a pre-set idea of "high" in this mode.
• DOF Priority (shallow) — Pretty self-explanatory: the program attempts to hold aperture as wide as possible, unless it can't to make the exposure work. Shutter speed is informed by the focal length, and how that and ISO are adjusted depend on the auto-ISO setting (see below).
• DOF Priority (deep) — The opposite, of course.
• MTF Priority — When used with a Pentax lens with electronic coupling, prioritizes the lens's technically-best "sweet spot" (see this question on MTF charts)

And to add complication, there's also an Auto, which has no technical documentation, but presumably chooses one of the above programs based on... who knows, actually. Maybe focus mode, probably the metering. Maybe the current zodiac sign.

If you have auto-ISO enabled (a separate choice from that "Auto"), there's a complex interaction with the program mode choices and the settings for auto-ISO, which can be "slow", "standard", or "fast". If you have it set to "slow", something else — shutter or ISO, depending on how that fits the program mode choice — will be increased first. If you have it set to "fast", raising ISO is the preference, and "standard" is somewhere in between. The upper and lower bounds of automatic ISO are chosen in by yet another set of customizable parameters.

Other high-end cameras will have similar complex parameters to tweak. Lower-model cameras will just keep everything secret — although "scene modes" like sports or landscape will serve a similar function.

In general, though, if you really care about getting a certain aperture, that's what Aperture Priority mode is there for. My informal impression (see for example many of the answers to this related question) is that aperture priority is the most commonly used automatic mode for more technically-inclined photographers.

One could try to remember all of the complicated interactions above and choose the intersection that best matches your intentions for a given situation — or you can just, y'know, choose directly. That actually seems easier than all the automation.

I leave my camera's P mode set to MTF Priority — there, the automation is actually doing something useful for me, since the camera knows the MTF for my various lenses at different apertures, and I don't carry that in my head.

Check more discussion of this question.

Is there a good use for program exposure modes?

Question

The question about how programed exposure modes work made me wonder. Are there situations where a program mode is good for some reason, not just as a convenience or because you don't understand exposure?

I've so far been scared of program modes because I don't know what the camera might pick. There are various tradeoffs, so there are various programs, so you have to think and select something anyway. Picking two of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed doesn't seem harder than guessing the right program mode to me. Also, selecting the program mode is usually a lot harder than changing the f-stop. For most things, I select ISO up front for the conditions, then change the aperture on the fly while watching the shutter speed the camera picks.

Am I being a control freak and there are cases where it would be good to let the camera decide, or are program modes for "dummies"? You professionals out there, do you ever use a program mode?

Answer

Program exposure mode is there to choose ONE correct exposure. While it is not entirely random, you can consider it that way. Paired with a good multi-segment metering system, you can get a good exposure 90% of times with the press of the shutter-release.

The primary advantage is that it gets you a shot faster than any other mode. This is great for events when things move fast and lighting is uneven. News and journalistic situations are good example where the shot is more important than artistic choices.

You can also combine Program mode with Program-Shift which lets you get both a shot quickly or take the time to prioritize a different exposure. This is like an semi-automatic mode without the commitment. Finally, you can use exposure compensation to adjust the metered and overall get give a good amount of indirect input to Program mode.

That being said, I am not a photojournalist and I take time with my shots, so most of the time (at least 85%) I use Aperture priority. I also know two other professionals who taped their mode dials to the A position! On my camera, I also set the second control dial to control ISO, so the only thing that is left if for shutter-speed to be selected.

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What automatic modes are appropriate, if any, for outdoor vs. indoor situations? [closed]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Why would I use manual camera controls instead of the automatic modes?

I am asking this question particularly relevant to photography in

1. Sunlight
2. Indoors

I hope the answer will give me some insight on how to use my camera better. Should I use auto mode often? I am newbie.

Adding : I am familiar with aperture, shutter speed, ISO and I have Nikon D5100.

Answer

I use a program mode the majority of the time that I am not in a studio. An example of that would be aperture priority mode - where I get to set the aperture and ISO that stays consistent, and my camera is allowed to determine the shutter speed to keep the exposure proper.

Full Auto mode, which many entry level DSLR cameras have, is great if you hand your camera to someone who is unfamiliar with the unit. Other then that, I rarely find a use for it. It simply does not provide enough options for what I want to typically do.

In sunlight for example - you may be concerned about the depth of field, which is controlled by the aperture. So you may choose to keep everything in focus by selecting a higher aperture value(eg f/8). Selecting this in the "aperture priority" mode will allow the camera to select a suitable shutter speed as needed.

Indoors you may be concerned with freezing your subjects. In this case you may way to select a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action. Shutter priority would be well suited to this.

Experiment and you will find what you like!

Check more discussion of this question.

When using your digital SLR, how often do you keep your camera setting on Auto mode? [closed]

Question

I am asking this question particularly relevant to photography in

1. Sunlight
2. Indoors

I hope the answer will give me some insight on how to use my camera better. Should I use auto mode often? I am newbie.

Adding : I am familiar with aperture, shutter speed, ISO and I have Nikon D5100.

Answer

I use a program mode the majority of the time that I am not in a studio. An example of that would be aperture priority mode - where I get to set the aperture and ISO that stays consistent, and my camera is allowed to determine the shutter speed to keep the exposure proper.

Full Auto mode, which many entry level DSLR cameras have, is great if you hand your camera to someone who is unfamiliar with the unit. Other then that, I rarely find a use for it. It simply does not provide enough options for what I want to typically do.

In sunlight for example - you may be concerned about the depth of field, which is controlled by the aperture. So you may choose to keep everything in focus by selecting a higher aperture value(eg f/8). Selecting this in the "aperture priority" mode will allow the camera to select a suitable shutter speed as needed.

Indoors you may be concerned with freezing your subjects. In this case you may way to select a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action. Shutter priority would be well suited to this.

Experiment and you will find what you like!

Check more discussion of this question.