In article <3329e246.5903088@news.rain.org>, steven@rain.org says...

>I have a question regarding camera automatic photo exposure. The lenses
>for my Minolta Maxxum 3xi have an f-stop range between 3.5 and 5.6. I've >noticed when I let the camera perform all exposure settings (in P mode), I >notice that the camera is sometimes setting the f-stop way outside the range >of the lense design, say f/8 or above. In bright light, the camera will lower >to f/6.5, but still outside the design of my current lenses. Why is this >happening? [...]

Hmmm, if I understand what you are asking, I think you misunderstand
what the marked f-stops mean... (they are the maximum apertures
[changing with zoom position...] - the lens can use smaller stops
[to f16-22 or so] to control the amount of light passing through the
lens [along with changing shutter speeds, which also adjust the
amount of light hitting the film - the aperture and shutter speed
ranges combine to extend the overall light intensity handling range,
and are adjusted to control DOF and action-stopping]). Perhaps
reading a good basic book on photography would be a good idea
(camera instruction manuals are also sometimes good for the basics,
too).
Hope This Helps