(Hyper Program) Mode - P

Program Line refers to the relationship between shutter speed and aperture and what emphasis a given mode applies.

A standard line is the straight relationship of one to the other. Open aperture by one stop and you move to a faster shutter speed by one stop.

An action based program line will hold onto high shutter speeds and change the aperture instead until the lens has no more apertures, before moving to a slower speed.

A landscape based program line will hold onto small apertures as much as possible before the shutter speed becomes too slow and it has to move to wider apertures.

Older cameras have nice little graphs in their instruction manuals showing what the camera will actually select at a given EV value (light level).

Since replacing the DS2 with a twin dial K10, Hyperprogram (P mode) with manual ISO control has been my preferred mode of operation through subsequent K mounts, with occasional dips into manual and (on the K5) TAv. It's pretty intuitive and the thing I miss most when using other cameras where I have to fall back to 'standard' Av/Tv (with Manual + auto ISO = TAv on some bodies)

Hyperprogram can't be beaten though - a press of the green button when putting the camera down means it's at the ready for a grab shot, with a quick tweak of either dial giving instant creative control. Brilliant, simple and why it hasn't been appropriated elsewhere I'm not sure.