In this mode, your camera will choose what it sees as the best settings for your current situation. This is basically a "hands–off" mode, allowing you to simply frame the image and take the picture.
This mode will allow you to focus on objects close up. The camera will open the aperture to allow in more light, which also gives a shallow depth of field.
The camera uses a wider aperture opening (2.8–5.6), allowing for a shallow depth of field. In essence, the subject will be in focus while everything in front or behind your subject will not be.
The camera uses a smaller aperture opening (11–22), allowing for a wider depth of field, meaning the foreground as well as the background will be in focus.
The camera uses faster shutter speed to capture motion without blurring. This mode often includes a continuous shooting mode, which allows for a quick succession of shots to be taken.
The camera uses slow shutter speed to blur motion.
This allows you to enhance certain colors within the image as well as highlight only one color leaving the rest of the image black and white.
The camera uses slower shutter speed and wider aperture opening along with a flash to get correct lighting in foreground and background.
These modes allow you to adjust the camera to a specific lighting situation so that a correct exposure is achieved (Example: Indoor, Beach/Snow, Foliage, etc.)
In this mode the last image taken is partially displayed on the screen so that it can be lined up with the next image to be taken.
This allows you to take short videos. The video length depends on the size of your memory card and/or individual camera specifications.