[mdodrill]

There is a very interesting discussion of TAV mode in the K-5 section.
Which brings up for me: how does the P mode function; how do you use it? (I have a k-r)
thanks for any advice

[jase036]

Place the mode dial in P, make sure the lens cap is off, compose as desired, press shutter button.
Mode P is Program Auto, which is to say it's everything on auto (the camera will set both the aperture and shutter speed for you, and if you have auto ISO, it will set the ISO as well) but you can make minor adjustments such as Exposure compensation, Flash compensation, etc...

[Docrwm]

P allows you to override the Automatically selected settings via the wheel and other input devices on the camera. If you do nothing than it acts essentially like the Auto setting. However, it allows you to go in an change nearly anything you wish, unlike the Auto setting.

[SpecialK]

Don't know about the K-r, but the K20 and K5 allows you to bias the settings toward hi speed, depth of field, or lens MTF.

[JinDesu]

My understanding with P-mode is that it is Auto until you move one of the two dials on a k-5. One dial will turn it into Av mode, while the other turns it into Sv mode.

On the k-r, I am not sure.

[blackcloudbrew]

One other aspect of P-mode is that you set the camera for your preference program in the custom menu. That's custom menu item 1 on a K5. You can set it to favor things like: depth of field, shutter speed, MTF, so called 'normal' etc. This mean that when the camera is in P-mode (and actually others as well), if you have the program (the P in P-mode) say in depth of field preference, the camera meter will give you an exposure that tries to maximizes the depth of field (by slowing the shutter down) at a given ISO.

[derekkite]

It is an almost automatic mode where you can control how it adjusts. If you want to prioritize shutter speed, it will adjust the iso and aperture to get a faster shutter speed. Same with depth of field. The Program line setting is what controls it.

I tried it for a while. I was using TAV but ended up with quite a few mis exposed shots. I then tried P mode, and what I found was if I had it priority shutter speed, and a situation arose where I wanted to control depth of field, or to stop down to avoid aberrations, it wouldn't let me do it. Or not easily. I ended up using AV mode most of the time for general shooting. If I am in a place where most is consistent, I set to TAV and let the iso wander.

[bwDraco]

Don't know about the K-r, but the K20 and K5 allows you to bias the settings toward hi speed, depth of field, or lens MTF.

The K-r does not have this functionality.

--DragonLord