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12-17-2011, 01:12 PM   #1
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What do you use USER mode for?

The USER mode looks really useful to me, however I have not thought of a really good use for it yet!

I am wondering about:
1) a dedicated setup for flash (to get around the over exposure)
2) a setup for my 500mm mirror which has not electronic connections to feed focal length etc. to the camera

What else are other people doing with USER mode please?

12-17-2011, 01:17 PM - 1 Like   #2
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I use mine for bracketing since there is no dedicated button for that any more.

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12-17-2011, 01:17 PM   #3
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Some info which may be of interest on forum at pentaxuser.co.uk :
What do you set in the "User mode"
12-17-2011, 01:20 PM   #4
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On my K20D I use USER mode for just one thing: my usual settings, plus High-Continuous drive. So there's no menu-diving, just a quick twist to go to Continuous. So, the best use of USER mode is for whatever you use the most that you don't want to dive for.


Last edited by RioRico; 12-17-2011 at 02:36 PM.
12-17-2011, 01:33 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by oldlens Quote
What do you set in the "User mode"
Link does not work?
12-17-2011, 01:58 PM - 1 Like   #6
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Perhaps this is the thread oldlens meant to link to:
What do you set in the "User mode"
12-17-2011, 03:22 PM   #7
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I'm probably an odd one out, but I don't use the USER mode for anything, and never had. Not for my K-5s, nor K-7 nor K10D when I still had it.

12-17-2011, 04:27 PM   #8
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Here's what I said in a previous thread on this very topic:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/123588-5-user-modes-how-...ml#post1451088

Still applies. Thank the manufacturer that we have 5 User presets on the K-5. I now use all of them! (Wish it was easier to switch between them while still on the USER part of the dial, but oh well...)
12-17-2011, 04:48 PM   #9
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I have 3 modes:

1) Sports - continuous drive, shutter priority over focus for fast action, instant review off, JPEG instead of RAW, High ISO NR ON for indoor sports, (too many shots to do this post processing).
2) HDR Capture - HDR on, JPEG (required), Shake reduction off, 2 second delay drive
3) Wildlife - Lower auto ISO (80-800), Slow ISO, NR Off, Program MTR mode

In general I find them useful, but I always get confused when switching out of User mode. Not sure what settings the camera keeps, that bothers me and I find myself double checking everything after using a USER mode. I guess I could setup a new USER mode and always switch to it before coming out of USER. Hmmmm...
12-17-2011, 04:52 PM   #10
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1 is jpg
2 is concert, all the lights and beeps are off then.
12-18-2011, 08:35 PM   #11
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I have one set up for wireless flash. It selects wireless on the camera, sets the ISO to max out at 800, and a few other things.
12-18-2011, 09:15 PM   #12
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I use one to recreate the green mode as best I can but with RAW turned on. (I want the green mode for handing my camera to people who don't know how to use it, not to get pictures I can't post process properly.)

And sometimes I think about other possibilities, but this is what I use it for in practice.
12-18-2011, 10:11 PM   #13
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I use all 5, set up like this:

1. ISO 80 (manual) and RAW with the slow program line, for tripod max quality shots.
2. Low light, with expanded sensitivity auto ISO up to 12800 and fast program line.
3. Night slow sync flash, with auto ISO up to 6400 and fast program line.
4. B&W with ISO up to 6400 and increased contrast and sharpness, for nice high contrast monochrome images in almost any light.
5. Experimental flash mode, with -1 FEC and a few other related settings that I don't remember at the moment.

I think the user modes are a great idea and I'm glad Pentax gives you 5. My Canon G9 has 2 custom modes, which I use but it's mainly my P&S camera.
12-18-2011, 10:40 PM   #14
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Every time i have tried to a user mode it has been for a Manual based mode, and I get put off by the way the camera forgets what ISO I have set each time it goes into standby.
Having to check/re-set the ISO every time the camera goes to sleep is amazingly annoying, and totally prevents me from using User mode.
Is there a means of reporting such things? (which i consider to be a bug)

QuoteOriginally posted by robheath Quote
2) a setup for my 500mm mirror which has not electronic connections to feed focal length etc. to the camera
This is exactly what I want to use it for, two big catadioptrics, to easily set FL (despite the camera not having a setting high enough for the 1000mm, even though its a pentax lens - /me rolls eyes), and to bind ISO to the rear dial (which i would otherwise never do in Av mode - which is what these lenses revert to in almost all modes, regardless of what you actually set)
...the only problem is that ISO gets reset all the time.

Last edited by BETLOG; 12-22-2011 at 01:24 AM.
12-19-2011, 05:30 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by BETLOG Quote
Every time i have tried to a user mode it has been for a Manual based mode, and I get put off by the way the camera forgets what ISO I have set each time it goes into standby.
My K-5 is not exhibiting this problem. But perhaps I don't understand the difficulty.
The K-5 will remember ISO settings if you tell it to in the Memory settings (item 5 on the fifth page of the first tab of the menu)

Now, that menu item is grayed out when you're actually in a User mode -- could that be why you say your memory settings are not remembered? If you set ISO while in M mode, and with the Memory option checked for sensitivity in the menu, then save as a User mode, the camera will indeed remember the ISO you set when it's turned off. But you can't change the memory options from within a User mode.

Sorry if I'm off track; perhaps I misunderstand the issue.
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