[Swapnil]

Hello,

I was trying indoor shoot using my Pentax-A 50mm F2. I set my shutter speed and aperture and also my ISO to 100. Now here is the problem, room is not well lit so I kept the aperture wide open and sat shutter speed to 1/40 to reduce any accidental blur. What I see in the Ev section (one encircled in red), Since I dont have any control over that the value is set to -3 automatically, making the image heavily underexposed. Shouldnt the camera set Ev to some positive value to make the image well exposed?

Am I missing anything here?



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Thanks!

[Northern Soul]

In manual mode the camera doesn't control exposure. It's telling you though that it thinks the values you have selected equate to being 3 stops under. You need to manually adjust it.

[RioRico]

Yes, Manual mode means manual control of the exposure factors. The only automation is when you use the Green button to set the exposure, and you can override that. EV compensation, Auto ISO, those are ignored; set the ISO, shutter and aperture yourself.

[Swapnil]

It's telling you though that it thinks the values you have selected equate to being 3 stops under

Thanks for the clarification, I thought that it is underexposing my setting by 3 stops. On clicking the green button, I got the correct metering for the ambient lighting of the room.

Here is my second question, is there anyway to set ISO range in Manual mode or in any other custom mode?
So that I can fix my aperture and shutter speed and depending upon the ambient lighting, ISO set in according in the allowed range?

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Last edited by Swapnil; 11-22-2011 at 02:30 AM.

[darrenleow]

Thanks for the clarification, I thought that it is underexposing my setting by 3 stops. On clicking the green button, I got the correct metering for the ambient lighting of the room.

Here is my second question, is there anyway to set ISO range in Manual mode or in any other custom mode?
So that I can fix my aperture and shutter speed and depending upon the ambient lighting, ISO set in according in the allowed range?

EV compensation does work in M mode - but it just offsets the meter. So if you set -1EV then when you hit the green button/zero the meter, you'll be one stop underexposed. Pretty useful for protecting highlights in high contrast situations like stage concerts.

Regarding your 2nd question, that would be TAv mode, which the K-r lack but is present on the higher-end models with twin e-dials. Not sure if there's a workaround for that.

[sterretje]

Auto ISO does not work in M mode on the K-r; or at least I could not find it in the manual.

From your initial post, I understand that you want a 'decent' shutter speed and you're 'abusing' M mode for that I don't have a K-r but can come up with some possible workarounds.
1)
I usually use Av and fixed ISO; when starting I set a reasonable aperture depending on the lens (like f/4 or f/5.6), measure the light by half pressing, and adjust ISO till the shutter speed is what I consider better than acceptable for the lens in question (about 2x focal length). It gives me the flexibility to vary shutter speed depending on the need (either exposure compensation, or an area in the room might be darker than what I measured initially or DOF control).
In your example of the 50/2, I will set it to f/4 and adjust ISO till shutter speed is around 1/90s. This will allow me to go down to approx. 1/20s (which I consider safe with SR).
2)
Use one of the auto modes like Av or Tv and use auto ISO; disadvantage is that the camera might have different ideas of what you have about the combination of shutterspeed and ISO (in Av) or aperture and ISO (in Tv). As you want to prevent shake, Tv might be the way to go; select 1/45s and let the camera decide on the rest.

[hnikesch]

Here is my second question, is there anyway to set ISO range in Manual mode or in any other custom mode?
So that I can fix my aperture and shutter speed and depending upon the ambient lighting, ISO set in according in the allowed range?

To your 2nd question yes you can change the ISO in manual, just push the 4 way ISO button to select an ISO setting to get the correct exposure. Your EV correction acts as a meter for correct exposure with the shutter speed and aperture at the setting you want set ISO to center the EV "0"

Hans

[aleonx3]

Hello,

I was trying indoor shoot using my Pentax-A 50mm F2. I set my shutter speed and aperture and also my ISO to 100. Now here is the problem, room is not well lit so I kept the aperture wide open and sat shutter speed to 1/40 to reduce any accidental blur. What I see in the Ev section (one encircled in red), Since I dont have any control over that the value is set to -3 automatically, making the image heavily underexposed. Shouldnt the camera set Ev to some positive value to make the image well exposed?

Am I missing anything here?

Thanks!

As many have suggested, your best approach would be to use the Tv mode and set your shutter speed, let the camera choose aperture and iso (have to use auto-iso). I believe in this scenario, the camera will select the largest aperture first before increasing the iso. Therefore, looks like you are stuck with wide-open aperture at f2. However, your EV setting will also have a play here, which, depending on the EV +- setting, the iso will vary as well. If you have the more advanced camera such as k-7, k-5 (or older version k10 and k20), the TAv mode gives you finer degree control in which you can select the aperture as well as shutter speed (and don't care about iso). This is a very convenient feature that many of us use in low light condition with the k-5. And it appears that similar cameras from other brands don't have this feature that I am aware of (someone please correct me if it is not accurate).

[Swapnil]

If you have the more advanced camera such as k-7, k-5 (or older version k10 and k20), the TAv mode gives you finer degree control in which you can select the aperture as well as shutter speed (and don't care about iso).

I wish K-r had this feature, thanks for the guidance. I have more clarity about manual mode now.

[geru2000]

I wish K-r had this feature, thanks for the guidance. I have more clarity about manual mode now.

It does have that feature it's called TV for Shutter Priority or AV for Aperture Priority and you can set Auto ISO on (as well as limit the lower and upper ISO to use).

[geru2000]

Hello,

I was trying indoor shoot using my Pentax-A 50mm F2. I set my shutter speed and aperture and also my ISO to 100. Now here is the problem, room is not well lit so I kept the aperture wide open and sat shutter speed to 1/40 to reduce any accidental blur. What I see in the Ev section (one encircled in red), Since I dont have any control over that the value is set to -3 automatically, making the image heavily underexposed. Shouldnt the camera set Ev to some positive value to make the image well exposed?

Am I missing anything here?



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Thanks!

The light meter is telling you that at the ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed you selected the camera is underexposing by at least 3 stops (it could be 5 stops but the meter only goes to 3). In order to bring the meter to the center you could raise the ISO, or try shooting with the on camera flash. If you're trying to control DOF use AV (Aperture Priority) and put your ISO on auto, if your capturing movement then you'd want TV (Shutter Priority) and you can also use the Auto ISO.

In any case you want to zero out or slightly over/under expose the light meter before shooting the shot. This can be done by using the screen or looking in the view finder and adjusting the wheel on the back.

[Swapnil]

It does have that feature it's called TV for Shutter Priority or AV for Aperture Priority and you can set Auto ISO on (as well as limit the lower and upper ISO to use).

aleonx3 is talking about TAv Mode, looks like its hybrid mode where you can control Aperture and Exposure with set ISO range. I know what Tv and Av mode can do
thanks again for the information

[geru2000]

aleonx3 is talking about TAv Mode, looks like its hybrid mode where you can control Aperture and Exposure with set ISO range. I know what Tv and Av mode can do
thanks again for the information

Yup, not only did I miss that, I was also unaware that Pentax even had the option on the last few TOL camera releases.

[aleonx3]

aleonx3 is talking about TAv Mode, looks like its hybrid mode where you can control Aperture and Exposure with set ISO range. I know what Tv and Av mode can do
thanks again for the information

Actually, now that you mentioned about using EC in M mode with K or M lens on the k-7 or k-5.... If you have the m42 (aka screw mount) lens, you can use the Tv mode with auto-ISO just like TAv mode on the AF lens. That is really cool.

[arcturus]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I'm curious how the OP took a screenshot of the camera display?