"Norm Dresner" wrote:
1. In P-mode with both film and digital Nikon SLRs and even my EVF camera,
I can choose any equivalent exposure (shutter speed/aperture combination)
the camera allows which gives me complete control over motion-stopping and
depth of field. I also apply exposure compensation (+/-) on top of this to
correct for situations in which the light fools the meter.
That doesn't make sense. In Program Mode the camera chooses
both speed and aperture, and you have *no* control at all. If
you apply exposure compensation, the *camera* decides whether to
change speed, aperture, or both. You have *no* control over
that choice.
That is as opposed to either Shutter or Aperture Priority Mode,
where you *do* have control, because you can preset one or the
other and the camera (either automatically or in response to
changes in the exposure compensation settings) changes the
other. Or, of course, Manual Mode where you set everything.
2. Since most of the time now I'm shooting as a "tourist" with no
correlation of subject or lighting from one shot to the next, I can't decide
in advance whether A or S would be more appropriate for my "next" shot.
Which is exactly what Program Mode is for, and you let the
camera totally decide everything.
3. If I get into a situation in which there's a high degree of similarity
between shooting conditions from one frame to the next, I'll most likely
switch to either "A" or "S" as appropriate -- e.g. "S" when shooting from a
moving car or playing grandchildren and "A" when walking around a flower
garden.
I don't see the correlation to "a high degree of similarity".
What you meant, I think, is that in situations where you want
more flexibility because the required exposure does not fit into
the "average" situation where the Program Mode will be
correct, you switch to one or the other of the more flexible
modes.
4. With 50+ years of experience, I've learned to be very conscious of the
settings the camera chooses for *each* shot (assuming it's not an unexpected
Then why would you ever want to use Program Mode?
grab-shot) and I think I never press the shutter release without looking at
both the speed and the aperture first. At least by keeping the camera in
P-mode, I'm guaranteed that I'll get something reasonable when I don't have
time to do anything else.
Why bother looking if you aren't inclined to make adjustments
and instead are looking for "guaranteed ... reasonable"?
5. I'd estimate that only about 1/3 of the pictures I take are actually at
the first P-mode setting and that I change the exposure to something
equivalent the rest of the time, at least for the first exposure on a
digital -- then I look at the LCD and determine if exposure compensation is
also required, though sometimes I'll just go that way for the first shot as
well based on prior experience and prior results.
That certainly is reasonable. But it doesn't match your
description above! In practice *this* (using Program Mode)
is exactly what you want to do when there is a series of very
similar shots to be made. You don't need flexibility...
6. When I use MF & LF cameras, I always work at the equivalent of M-mode
since none of my larger-than-35mm cameras has even an internal meter.
Do I recommend that everyone shoot the way I do. Hell, NO! But after
decades of shooting in a large variety of situations on three continents,
I've found that the older I get the more selective I am about what I shoot
and I can take the time to modify each exposure to suit the shot. That
said, I feel that P-mode gets me "close" and I feel comfortable using that
as a starting point.
That sounds very reasonable, and is essentially what I do most
of the time too. Program Mode gets me close, and shows me what
I'm working with. But more often than not, one look at what it
is and I know that I want either Aperture, Shutter, or Manual
mode instead of Program Mode.
--
Floyd L. Davidson
http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)