[Wheatfield]

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I think what the OP is concerned about, is that all three exposure values begin blinking well before any value has reached its limit.
For example in Tv mode ( with a setting where it is slightly dark) with auto iso at 200, a shutter speed of say 2.5 sec and an aperture of 8, all three values will begin blinking. One then can change any value and watch the other value(s) change,(the camera must be still metering) but all values remain blinking.

The thing is, you don't have to have any particular parameter (or any parameter) at it's limit to hit the EV wall on the meter. The blinking is telling you that you are now metering below the range of accuracy, which is not quite the same thing as not having the meter working at all.

[Culture]

So what was the final explanation to the question. I also experienced this over the weekend. I have experienced this before.

I thought i had search the forum to see if there has been any explanation and came across this thread.

I was also shooting at dark time against a building with lights on the walls. All three exposure parameters were blinking even though they were not at their limits. I was shooting in Av mode. Interestingly when I change the aperture value the shutter speed also changes but keeps blinking.

Why will the exposure meter be out of range as it has been mentioned but with the exposure parameters not reaching their limits?

In any case I still took my pictures they came out ok. How do we explain this?

[Gimbal]

See the first answer by Stone.G, it is still true.

[cbope]

Street view. 1/100 F4 25600 ISO • Pentax DA 10-17mm f:3.5-4.5 fisheye

Wow, that is an amazing available light shot.

[ozlizard]

This was my first attempt at night shots with the K5. 50 sec @ f22, ISO 80, FL 10mm.

[Culture]

See the first answer by Stone.G, it is still true.

Yeah I read that and I understood that but, there was no solution to the problem.......

I have always learnt that exposure is important so if the camera cannot tell you what is going on then I guess some of us are screwed in these situations. I guess I was lucky that my shots came out ok.

[Stone G.]

Yeah I read that and I understood that but, there was no solution to the problem.......

I have always learnt that exposure is important so if the camera cannot tell you what is going on then I guess some of us are screwed in these situations. I guess I was lucky that my shots came out ok.

Well you see, all those "modern" features are your assistants - not your dictators that will tell you what exposure you MUST use. Behind every picture there is a photographer.

Take my K1000 and pull out the battery. Light meter won't work any more, but everything else will because shutter, aperture, film advance are all purely manual and with proper experience one will have a good feel of what exposures to use in various situations.

And I maintain that in low light situations there isn't such a thing as one, single correct exposure that the camera can "tell" you to use:

1. Is this a "correct" exposure of planet Jupiter?


2. Or, is this (same night, same gear but shorter exposure time) a "correct" exposure for planet Jupiter:


Answer: 1. is "correct" if I want to see the Jovian moons; 2. is "correct" if I want to see the cloud belts of Jupiter. So, both are "correct" but the camera couldn't guess what I wanted. I told the camera!

So, perhaps you weren't just lucky. Perhaps you were beginning to get that feel that light was very low and you needed ISO, aperture and shutter speed within certain limits?

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Last edited by Stone G.; 03-21-2012 at 03:01 AM.

[Schraubstock]

...when it's really dark - only a few light sources like windows and street lamps - it refuses to expose,

Hi
I think your expectations are a bit high and the camera you are lusting for has yet to be invented. If your night photography is any good with the Leica Digilux 3 then your experiences in this regard should be the same if not better with the K-5. The Digilux's 4/3 Live MOS chip made by Panasonic is not anywhere as good as the K-5's Sony sensor. If you are experiencing a different information readout with the Leica when doing night photography it simply means it is using a different interface protocol to convey messages to you eyes. (And perhaps not telling you as much as the K-5, but I don't know I don't have a Leica to compare).

In night photography, never rely on automatic settings the camera provides, if it can provide any info at all. It will most likely get it wrong. The reason? The K-5 is only a small computer with a lens attached and it has no brain, it can't think for itself and can't learn any new tricks from past experiences. You the photographer has the brain - use it ! Don't get hung up over the "threefold blinking", as you describe it, it only is a signal to the photographer behind the cam to wake up and engage brain.

And there is another thought. With very very few exceptions, night photography ought to be as nice and colouful to look at as daylight pictures. So if you only have a few window lights and a street lantern it probably does not make for a memorable image. Maybe your K-5 with its "threefold blinking" is screaming at you: - Find something better to shoot ! -

Greetings

P.S. Return the camera if you must, but dream up a new reason. Otherwise people will laugh at you.

[Schraubstock]

Well you see, all those "modern" features are your assistants - not your dictators that will tell you what exposure you MUST use. Behind every picture there is a photographer.

Hi
Your post went up when mine was still taking shape off the keyboard. But I guess they say the same. Different words, same meaning.

Greetings

[wick5449]

Not at all. Page 108 mentions (as I wrote) the blinking of only one value, not three:

"If the subject is too bright or too dark the aperture value will blink ..."

Check page 110 also.

[rawr]

I wish the original poster had posted an image, with full EXIF intact. That would help the diagnosis enormously.

For one, it would let me open the image in PhotoMe and look at the EV values of the scene as recorded by the camera, which would be handy for seeing exactly how dark the scene may have been - as per the image below:



Also using the K-5 and K-x with the FA 50 1.4, I've not had any special problems shooting low-light.

[wick5449]

I find the three fold blinking a nuisance at night. I turn off the lcd so it doesn't blind me. I Just bought the K5, but have had several other Pentax cameras since the 60's. In all the glowing reports I read about the K5 I never saw mention of the annoying blinking. Manual mode doesn't stop it either. So even though it may be designed to do this, I agree with others that mentioned a more subtle indicator would be greatly appreciated. But I don't do a lot of night shots, and for all the rest of my uses this camera is great. But I have found that even when blinking if I can focus the camera shoots, and exposures are as expected.

[Tom168]

I read this series with interest having experienced similar symptoms during a night photography session. So I did some testing & found a few things which might help others.
I was photographing an illuminated garden with a K5 IIs (f4, 5-10 Secs, ISO 200 – i.e. so dark that I needed a torch if I wanted to see the camera controls) with mirror lock up & getting under exposed shots – most by about 2 stops (so rescueable in RAW editing). I was also getting the “flashing” exposure indicators, which thanks to this blog I now know is the cameras way of letting me know, that “it's to dark for accurate metering, but it's doing its best anyway”.
Suspecting that my problem was letting light get into the eyepiece (one hand steadying the tripod & holding the dogs leads, the other working the remote), I made a cover so that I could shut off that source of light without removing the rubber eyepiece, waited for dark & then tested.
First I took a picture with Live view (f4, 10 Secs, ISO 200) & got an acceptably well exposed shot.
Then I did the same thing in normal mode (Av) with the view finder open & got a two stops under exposure (f4, 2 Secs, ISO 200) – so far everything as expected.
I then covered the view finder & got an indicated shutter speed of 3 secs!!! The only source of extra light that I could find is the illuminated display inside the view finder. (During Live View, it looks like that display is switched off). So it looks like at very low light levels it can affect the exposure.
Then I dialled in +1 & 2/3rds stops of exposure correction to get an indicated exposure of 10secs & took a shot with the view finder covered & got 1 stop under exposure (f4, 4 Secs, ISO 200).
With the same settings & 10 secs showing on the rear display I pressed AE-L & took another shot. This one was exposed the same as the initial Live View shot (f4, 10 Secs, ISO 200).
So it looks like the camera meters after the mirror moves up (& needs even more exposure correction for the view finder lights) & uses that for the actual exposure unless you over ride it with AE-L or use Manual mode.
Although Live View was accurately metered in my test, it might well be a case in practice of taking test shots & dialling in exposure comp until the histogram is about right (& remembering to use AE-L). +1 & 2/3rds stops with AE-L might well be a good starting point though at those light levels (or destroy your night vision with Live View!!)