[defroost]

> oh boy. that's actually the mode that keep novices clueless about what's going on with the settings.

Of course. Criticizing it for not having Program mode stuck me as similar to saying "Nice sportscar, if only it had Automatic transmission". People buy high end DSLRs and don't take the time to learn what the various A-S-M-P modes do. It is the fault of the mode and the manufacturers who put P or Green modes on the SLRs, and recommend them as idiot proof modes.

[eftpotrm]

I know how to use my SLR, I regularly use it in full manual tuning every last exposure variable in manual focus, sometimes with multiple manual flashes too.

Yet, I still try to remember to leave the camera in P when I put it away and often shoot in P. It's a relatively idiot proof mode; it's unlikely that, if I just pick up the camera and shoot because I'm in a hurry for whatever's in front of me, P will give me a ridiculous, unusable exposure.

[barrkel]

The chances that you want to deliberately underexpose or overexpose your photo are lower than the chances that you want to specifically control aperture (for DoF) or shutter speed (depending on how you want to capture motion in your scene). It makes lots of sense to automatically set the ISO while you control the other parameters (while being aware of the quality loss inherent in high ISO, and keeping track of it).