'P' for proffessional ?

[Banjo]

Being new to photography and new to my Nikon D5100, I have been advised to take all photos on the 'P' setting as this will auto ajust the shutter and aperture. Is this good advice?

[ricktas]

to start with, yes. But if you want the creative results that your camera is designed to allow, you need to get off P mode. See the New To Photography learning guides in our site Library, as that is specifically what they are there for, to teach you how each camera function/feature works and how it interacts with the other functions/features.

[ameerat42]

But anyway, "P" setting? Does Nikon have M for Manual? I thought P was for Program, which you could set up like a custom setting.
Am.

[Kym]

Why not use the AP learning plan?
That way you get everything in order and in bite sized pieces.
Have a look at the New to Photography book and the Learning Plan in the e-book.

[jim]

'P' for professional

Sounds like someone's been reading Ken Rockwell.

[kiwi]

Great advice - learn to see light, get sharp shots and to compose first and foremost

[geoffsta]

Nothing wrong with "P" Mode. If all you are after is happy snaps. It will give you reasonably good images. What you can do with "P" mode, is once you have taken the shot, you can check the exif data (Look up how to do it) and see what settings the camera has made. Then you can go into "M" (Manual) change the settings to what you have seen in the exif data, and take another shot. You can then change the shutter speed, or the Aperture, or ISO, and see what results you get. All part of learning....

But good advice is above. Go through the learning plan. One section at a time. Also in the CC section of the forum, if you like an image, and are unsure how it was done, Just ask. Most of the members here will gladly help you out. You can download an Exif Viewer for your browser as well, and check what settings others have used for certain shots. All part of using this forum to it's full potential.

[Banjo]

Thank you all for your advice, l have been doing lots of reading in our library section.

[arthurking83]

I don't like P mode.
I just can't get my head around what it is that it's supposed to be doing!

One minute it's looking all good, then you change the aperture and it's wanting to add under or over exposure through compensation but the aperture value stays relatively the same, then the next time you try the same adjustment on the aperture control, it's simply changing the aperture and no compensation.
The Shutter control also does inconsistent weird stuff and in an inconsistent manner too.

It's just easier to use [A] or [M] mode for 99.999% of situations that arise ... [S] mode for the other 0.001%

[kiwi]

THE best book to get is "understanding exposure" by Bryan Peterson