P Mode on Canon

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Richard
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I'm a complete novice trying to get my head round my Canon 450D. I am getting the hang (or at least understand) the differences between the 'Av' and the 'Tv' modes but confused with the 'P' modes and how this differs from the Automatic mode :thinking:

Any ideas would be much appreciated!!
 
P mode is the auomatic mode.. Av and Tv are semi automatic ..
 
Not quite Kipax. On the Canon xxx and some xx models there is a green square mode which is auto and then there is P as well so I can see the confusion.

I think the green square is fully auto ie. camera does the lot and P allows you to let the camera do it's best but you can shift the exposure in that mode (Don't quote me, it's been a while!)
 
Ali b is right on this one the Auto really is child proof and the P is priority mode its still auto but you can ajust things a little too.
 
The green square is fully automatic.

In P mode the camera automatically sets shutter and aperture for correct exposure (although you can shift it to prioritise shutter/aperture). You can freely set the AF mode,drive mode and flash functions in P mode but in fully automatic the camera will decide.
 
AliB said:
Not quite Kipax. On the Canon xxx and some xx models there is a green square mode which is auto and then there is P as well so I can see the confusion.
Click to expand...

Apologies to the OP for missinformation.. I thoguht all canons followed the same thingy...oops :)
 
The P mode will set the aperture and speed depending on what lens you have attached and the focal length of the lens. You can adjust most of the other manual settings in P mode and leave it to decide the speed and aperture. The longer the focal length your lens is the faster the speed and the smaller the aperture it sets. You can if you wish adjust this by turning either dial and it will reduce the speed and reduce the aperture to match. I leave mine in P mode ready for a quick shot, because it's so easy to adjust either the speed or aperture from this setting. Unlike A or T mode, P will reset itself after you have taken the first picture to the settings that it feels are best for that shot.

Hope that makes sense.
 
The other benefit of P over green square, you get control of the ISO, format saved and a number of other settings, like the camera deciding flash is needed and popping it up when it isn't ....

So in P you can capture in RAW for instance, but in Green Square it's JPG only.


I use P as the OH mode... although I do like the sound of it for the real quick grab shot.
 
The nice thing about it for the quick grab shot is that if you are using a zoom it will automatically increase the shutter speed as you zoom in to stop camera shake.
 
Having said that ...... . I have to say TP forums and the people in it put the manuals to shame !. The explanations given are sooo explicit and helpful . Thanks people . Take care (again ) Ron
 
lol. Now don't you go mocking good old P mode.

I'll let you into a secret (Pro's use it too) there, keep it to yourself :)

Seriously Manual is right when manual is right and equally P CAN be useful. Might as well use all those fancy electronics from time to time.

I'm starting to use if for some very quick flash functionality. Pop camera on P, dial in a stop or two EV and fire the flash off camera using the ST-E2 and I get ETTL. I can still zoom it if I want a more concentrated beam of light.

Tested it on the washing the other night and will be giving it a bash. :)
 
P will select a speed and aperture for your fixed asa with speed a priority
i use this for 'auto' shooting at asa 64

auto changes everything to get the shot with speed a priority..i never use this

i also may revert to aperture priority or speed priority
and as a long shot fully manual

i find P with spot metering the best..
 
I think this may help here:

Program (P) mode flash.

The overriding principle of Program (P) mode in flash photography is that the camera tries to set a high shutter speed so that you can hold your camera by hand and not rely on a tripod. If that means the background is dark, so be it.

Program mode operates in one of two modes, depending on the ambient (existing) light levels.

1) If ambient light levels are fairly bright (above 13 EV) then P mode assumes you want to fill-flash your foreground subject. It meters for ambient light and uses flash, usually at a low-power setting, to fill in the foreground.

2) If ambient light levels are not bright (below 10 EV) then P mode assumes that you want to illuminate the foreground subject with the flash. It sets a shutter speed between 1/60 sec and the fastest X-sync speed (see above) your camera can attain. The aperture is determined by the camera’s built-in program.

Because the camera tries to keep the shutter speed at a reasonable speed for handholding the camera you will end up with dark or black backgrounds if you take a flash photo in P mode when ambient light levels are not bright.

On most if not all EOS cameras, P mode is not shiftable when flash (internal or shoe-mounted Speedlite) is used. Note also that DEP mode cannot work correctly with flash - its metering settings basically revert to P mode if you try it.


Taken from http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index2.html#fillflash

HTH
BOM
 
Check out the thread...
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=144223

AV mode allows you to set the aperture (F8) and the camera sets the shutter...
TV mode allows you to set the shutter (1/320) and the camera sets the aperture...
P mode (Program autoexposure), the camera chooses the shutter speed and aperture combinations. You can toggle either the aperture or shutter speed and the camera will compensate to maintain the same exposure value. Designed ready for quick and easy shooting while retaining some control over camera settings. You can change ISO settings to get the desired combinations....

Peter
 
Thanks everyone for clarifying this! Much better than the manual!

I'm planning on testing it out this weekend...if I get any good shots I'll be sure to post them.

Pretty impressed at the amount of responses from my first post!!
 
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