I use the shutter and aperture settings more and more now on my still pretty damned good Nikon D40. These settings do wonders in getting good shots, like depth of field, in difficult situations. In this respect I actually like my old manual camera better because I loath menus in cameras and anything else except restaurants.

I keep it in Auto when I hike around. If a mountain lion pops up I won't have time to screw around.

Most often I keep it in Program mode, programmed with my own default settings. This works for most situations.

Good thing about digital is that you can take a lot of shots! It took me a long time not to be cheap with my shots, since I was used to 35mm where one has to conserve film (and money).

Blown highlights are a universal digital problem. I have had the best luck underexposing them some because it is easier to fix the shadows later. Some shoot raw because it can sometimes extract detail out of some of those bright white areas. You still have to pay attention to those bright areas in your viewfinder.

Sharpness is an odd thing. Some camera makers have a default kind of low sharpness in-camera, expecting that you will sharpen your keeper photos on your computer. In the end, photos from cameras and lenses with similar specs will ultimately look pretty much the same if they are sharpened, adjusted, etc. properly on your computer.

Right now I am experimenting with film again, having it scanned and then I adjust the image and print it myself at home. Hopefully, I can get a good old film camera for landscape and architectural photography and get good results on the cheap.

Besides, I miss my old film camera and manual controls (for landscapes and other still subjects only. I am spoiled by automation.