[mattwilde66]

My K1 was randomly over-exposing shots on various lenses. Now it's doing it all the time. However it works fine via live view. Any suggestions? Is this a known fault?

[Mikesul]

My K1 was randomly over-exposing shots on various lenses. Now it's doing it all the time. However it works fine via live view. Any suggestions? Is this a known fault?

Probably a setting issue. Do you have it set to spot metering? That is a useful but tricky setting if the spot happens to be on a very dark point in an otherwise bright scene. Select Multi and use if for a while to see if the problem continues. There might be other issues if that does not fix it.

[TwoUptons]

Sounds to me like it isn’t talking to the lenses properly...
Does lens aperture show up in your exif data? Or ‘F-‘?
If you get ‘F-‘...

If you are using older (pre-‘A’) lenses, they won’t meter correctly unless they are wide open or you use green button metering. You also should have ‘use aperture ring’ turned on in the options.

With newer lenses, it could be dirty terminals. If your ‘A’ or newer lenses have aperture rings, make sure they are on ‘A’

If the aperture shows up in the exif, you’ll need to revisit meter and ISO settings. First step there is also the exif... if you’re shooting iso 32000 outside at 1/100, everything will be overexposed unless it’s night... I may have done that

I’d try those things first...

-Eric

[photoptimist]

Three possibilities:

1) Sticky lens aperture: If the lens aperture mechanism is sticky, the aperture won't close down in time and be over exposed. DoF will be shallower than expected, too. But if it's happening with multiple lenses, it's not likely.

2) Loose exposure sensor: If the exposure meter sensor (located in the pentaprism) becomes dislodged, the sensor will see darkness and give long shutter/wide aperture/high ISO exposures compared to the live view exposure reading. Comparing exposure readings in normal and live view.

3) Dirty mount/lens contacts: dirty contacts cause the camera to mis-interpret the maximum aperture of the lens which affects how it computes exposure.

[derekkite]

Set the preview function to optical . P55 in the manual. Set the aperture to f11. Look through the viewfinder and move the power switch to the third position, towards the right. You should see the viewfinder darken as it closes the aperture.

That tells you whether the aperture mechanism is working.

Spot metering can be extreme when setting exposure.

[aleonx3]

Do you have another lens to test the over-exposure problem of the k-1? The problem may not be the camera but rather the lens (aperture opening), just to make sure that it is not the camera.

[Take-5-JB]

I use center focus and have AF set to back button. I have AE control separate from AF. I learned with film and manual control. When I use multi point focus and AE, I have issues with situations where there are a lot of limbs or small items at different distances from the camera but in the frame. Could this be part of the issue?

JB

[Bob 256]

Shoot an evenly illuminated blank wall (preferably gray or neutral in color) with your different lenses and see if they expose differently. You should have comparable exposures regardless of the setting of the spot vs multi point. This should tell you if a particular lens has problems.

If all your lenses expose within similar bounds, then it's a matter of determining what exposure setting is causing the issue as previously pointed out, and it may be a combination in that some lenses just won't work properly.

[builttospill]

My K1 was randomly over-exposing shots on various lenses. Now it's doing it all the time. However it works fine via live view. Any suggestions? Is this a known fault?

Let's start with the simple things first before we assume it's a fault with the camera or lens aperture. What mode are you shooting in? If Tv or Av, look at the rear LCD. Is the Exposure Compensation meter (looks like the light meter) centered at 0 (zero)? If not, rotate one of the e-dials until this is centered. If you use Manual mode, press the +/- button next to the shutter release button. What number is shown in the bottom row of the top LCD? It should be 0.0. If not, rotate the rear e-dial until the number is 0.0.

If none of the above helps, let us know and we can suggest next steps. An example photo shared often helps too so we see your camera settings.

[PentaxColombia]

Some times accidentally you can to press the back buttons moving the settings and affecting the exposure.