Program Line

Please Help

What actually is the Program Line.
I've read the differences between them in the manual, but what do they really do. Is it better to use any of the other three instead of normal.

Richard

I think it's better to ditch Program exposure modes of any kind and for the photographer to think for themselves. I don't believe it's possible to create the vision by using a program.

However, the difference could be a program that keeps the shutter speed as high as possible, for sport and action shots. Or one that keeps the aperture small, for maximum DOF.

But all these things can be achieved just as simply with either Av or Tv, as one prefers.

There's only a limited number of possibilities for a given light level.....

Do you really need anything other than aperture priority, even for this?

No, absolutely agree, you don't. IMHO Manual and Aperture Priority are perfectly satisfactory for every conceivable purpose.

not to advocate one way or another, but here how and why I set up Gerri's k10....

MTF...
rear dial exp comp...
front dial program shift...

mtf chooses whichever aperture the camera deems sharpest for each individual lens. We are selling more and more HUGE enlargements.

I set most of the modes to have the exp comp on the rear dial for consistancy, and ease of use.
Gerri or I can then shift the program for DOF or slower/faster shutters when needed.

You'll understand why I didn't kick up a fuss, then, when the ex wanted the Super A, and I was happy with the ME Super.

Agree!Agree!Agree! But I always leave the bodies on 'P' just in case I have to rip them out of the bag for a 'grabbed' shot. The SFX generation gave a few useful varions on P mode for DoF and 'sports' but I guess that has evolved into 'auto pict'

Auto pict is much maligned but if you're going to use one of those modes anyway I have yet to see it pick the wrong one.

That said I agree with John, Av and M are all you need. Tv and P are almost never used on my K10D. Sometimes I use TAv.

Why is it that every time a simple question is put forward eveyone has to say what they believe is right or wrong and move away from the original question. It does'nt help those who really want a straight answer to what has been asked.

I sometimes use Tv or TAv for action/wildlife shots.

Threads do eventually find their own direction regardless of the original question. This is perhaps one of the good things about forums, although sometimes I agree the point gets missed.

In this case I think the question was answered and since then there has been an expansion that explains why program is perhaps not the best way to go anyway.

Some forums elsewhere (not necessarily photographic) are so highly moderated that such deviation from the point is not allowed, but to be honest that gets a bit over the top and is certainly not necessary here.

I agree but all i want to know is what is the difference between the 4 Program line settings. the Program Line is there for a reason. Is MTF a better setting that normal.

The Program setting enables the camera to select the shutter speed and aperture according to the brightness of the scene.

Normal is an average setting that is suitable for everyday subjects.

Hi Speed keeps the shutter speed as high as possible and therefore apertures will tend to be wider. Suitable for action photography.

Depth keeps the aperture as small as possible for increased depth of field, at the expense of shutter speed, so a tripod may be adviseable in dull light.

MTF selects the optimum aperture for the lens in use to get the highest resolution possible, usually arounf f8 I would think.

The point being made was that all these things could be achieved more easily using aperture prioirty (or, to be fair, shutter prioirty if that's what is preferred)

Hope that clarifies and helps.

Thanks thats more or less what i wanted to know, which one do others use.

let me use an analogy, with booze.
think of a proper exposure(at any given iso) as a combination of aperture, shutter.

now pretend you're mixing a black russian. You got vodka (say aperture), and you got kaluah (say shutter) that your going to mix (porportionally for any given sized glass).

do you like you black russians a little on the sweet side? (two parts kaluah, one part vodka) or not so sweet (two parts vodka one part kaluah?)?

the important thing is that however you mix it up, you must fill the glass full.

therefore the program line will affect how the camera biasses the exposure, but the exposure (as in how much light hits the sensor) should be the same.