# Program AE Mode?



## theraven (Oct 31, 2012)

Google is useless! Can someone give me a brief overview into this setting on the Sony A200 please?


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## Kolia (Oct 31, 2012)

Professional mode !

Seriously, it's the mode where the camera takes care of the exposure and adjust the speed and aperture on its own.


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## theraven (Oct 31, 2012)

Kolia said:


> Professional mode !
> 
> Seriously, it's the mode where the camera takes care of the exposure and adjust the speed and aperture on its own.



Wow, really? I'm gonna go out tonight and take tons of perfect pictures and be a millionaire tomorrow!


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## Kolia (Oct 31, 2012)

Don't forget me when you do become a. millionaire !


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## theraven (Oct 31, 2012)

Kolia said:


> Don't forget me when you do become a. millionaire !



Lol,

In all seriousness though, I've been reading about it and I think it may help me in my exposure issues at night, am i right in thinking that it will calculate the exposure, then you can adjust your fstop to create the desired depth of field, then it will calculate the correct shutter speed to compensate and keep the exposure correct?


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## Kolia (Oct 31, 2012)

I don't know the specifics of the a200. 

Usually it scans the image you are about to take and try to figure out what is your subject. Landscape, portrait, multiple people, night shoot etc. using this it selects an an aperture, speed, iso combination that should work. 

I know that on my camera I can overrule the speed or aperture. But that is basically using aperture or speed priority so I go to those modes instead.

You should be able to add/remove exposure with the compensation buttons.


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## Kolia (Oct 31, 2012)

You might want to shoot in Aperture priority and set your ISO to a level of noise you like instead.


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## unpopular (Oct 31, 2012)

I am not 100% sure about program mode, but it actually seems pretty useful for some people. If I am understanding it right, what it's doing is saying "for x amount of light, you can get all these exposures" meaning, as you dial through the options, at one end you'll get the maximum shutter speed/minimum aperture and at the other you get maximum aperture/minimum shutter, wile maintaining the same exposure value for the given meter reading.

While Program Mode isn't for me, mostly because you can't teach a middle-aged dog new tricks - I think it does get a bad wrap.


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## theraven (Oct 31, 2012)

I do usually use aperture priority, but I must admit, I do struggle with it in very dark areas, now I've sussed my infinity focus on my lens, the next thing is the exposure. 

Example.

The other day I looked up and thought oooh pretty clouds all lit up by the moon. Then I took the shot it was either not focused enough because of DOF or the shutter speed was too long and made the clouds move more than I wanted.

I'm looking to this as a teaching tool, to show me what settings I can get away with in certain scenarios...


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## gsgary (Oct 31, 2012)

I wouldn't use program at night, in fact i would never use program mode


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## theraven (Oct 31, 2012)

gsgary said:


> I wouldn't use program at night, in fact i would never use program mode



Any reasons?


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## Kolia (Oct 31, 2012)

We'll, as far a movement blur goes (yours or your subjects) higher shutter speed is what you need. 

DoF shouldn't be an issue when shooting clouds because you would be in the hyper focal range of your lens. 

If the exposure isn't what you expect, try using spot metering. Aim at the subject that need proper exposure and lock the exposure reading using the AEL button. The owner manual explains that.


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## unpopular (Oct 31, 2012)

You can aim your spot meter anywhere, provided that you provide enough exposure to compensate the reading. One of the biggest mistakes people make when looking at exposure is the conclusion that "proper exposure" exists.

*there is no such thing as proper exposure

*Instead of looking at exposure as a matching game, lining up zeros and triangles, consider instead the metered tone on a scale, with each step represented by one stop.

Zone System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, simply pointing your meter at the place where you want it to be "properly exposed" won't do the trick, unless your model is indian or hispanic, is green grass or a deep blue afternoon sky. Pointing the meter at a light subject will cause the subject to under expose, pointing it at a dark subject will cause it to over expose. But you can compensate for this by adjusting exposure accordingly.


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## gsgary (Oct 31, 2012)

theraven said:


> Kolia said:
> 
> 
> > Professional mode !
> ...



Nice horse is it a Welsh cob x, it look like my partners old horse


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## gsgary (Oct 31, 2012)

theraven said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > I wouldn't use program at night, in fact i would never use program mode
> ...




Because you have no control


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## unpopular (Oct 31, 2012)

^^ are you thinking full auto or program?

Program feels weird, i'll admit. But I don't think it's that different from Av or Tv.


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## Kolia (Oct 31, 2012)

unpopular said:
			
		

> You can aim your spot meter anywhere, provided that you provide enough exposure to compensate the reading. One of the biggest mistakes people make when looking at exposure is the conclusion that "proper exposure" exists.
> 
> there is no such thing as proper exposure
> 
> ...



Spot metering will measure the specific focus point only instead of the whole field of view. 

I have yet to not expose properly a target using the spot metering. 

Unless I'm missing something in your post, I don't see how that helps the OP ?!?


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## Overread (Oct 31, 2012)

Far as I know program works like this:

1) The photographer half presses the shutter button, thus engaging the cameras built in meter to work. Based upon what you aim the camera at and upon the metering mode that you select the scene is now metered by the camera.

2) The camera processes the light from the meter and selects a shutter speed and aperture based upon the available light and the ISO set by the user (if you use auto ISO the camera will also select an ISO). This is a bit where you'll get a bit of difference camera to camera as different ones do different things in the background with regard to metering and how it allocates the various 3 settings. 

3) The upshot is that in a split second the photographer is given an aperture, shutter speed and ISO for the exposure. However the photographer can also use the control wheel to change those 3 values to one of 8 or so different combinations. Each combination will give the same exposure; but each will have a different assortment of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. 

The idea is that the photographer has some control over the exposure properties, but the camera does all the legwork in setting them. It's kind of a middle way between full auto, where the photographer has no contro, and the priority modes.


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## unpopular (Oct 31, 2012)

Kolia said:


> Spot metering will measure the specific focus point only instead of the whole field of view.
> 
> I have yet to not expose properly a target using the spot metering.
> 
> Unless I'm missing something in your post, I don't see how that helps the OP ?!?



If you spot meter without using exposure compensation (either in AE or manually) then you have to find a middle-grey reference. You can't just point it at anything and hope it works.

Try the following experiment. take a white piece of paper, in a dimly lit room spot meter the paper, adjust the exposure to "zero" and expose. Repeat the experiment in a well lit area. When you examine your file, both exposures will yield the same luminance in the exposure. Now do the same exercise, but adjust the exposure by +2 1/3 stop. Again, exam the files and you will find that once again the two look exactly the same.

The question is, which one appears more similar to what a white sheet of paper should look like - the exposure at ±0 or the exposure at +2 1/3? The exposure at +2 1/3 is. This is because a meter at null does not indicate "proper exposure" but rather that it meets similar conditions to that which it was calibrated.

Realizing this means that you don't need a middle grey reference to get expected results, and from there it is evident that any metered region can be placed into any zone. With this understanding, the photographer has control over how the scene is rendered, rather than limited to the "one size fits all" approach of middle-grey referencing.


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