[RickC]

This weekend I ran into a situation in which the K-3 overexposed pictures. I was shooting outdoors under cloudy skies. About 4 pm. The sequence of event was as follows:

Selected aperture priority (A) mode
Pressed the Green Button.
Took a shot to check actual results.
The scene was horribly blown out with a calculated shutter speeds were set from about 1/15 to 1/50. ISO was set at 400, aperture 6.3

I proceeded to go through all settings on the dial. Green mode, program, etc. Green mode came out good as did program (P). When I got to the other options, I always pressed the green button before shooting. I did everything through and including Manual. Results were the same always blown out.

As the green mode worked well, I figured It had to be some combination of settings I had put in and did a "reset". From that point on, the camera behaved as I expected. I recall having made the following settings:

Auto aperture: 100-1000
Dynamic Range settings: Both off
High ISO Noise Reduction: Off
Slow Shutter Speed NR: Off
Program Line: Normal
Exposure Setting: "P"
Auto EV: Off
WB: AWB
Lens: Occurred on two different lenses. Tamron 18-250 and Sigma 150-500.

Has anyone else run into this? Anyone have a hypothesis about what combination caused the problem? As I said, once I did the reset, it is working fine.

Here is an example of what happened on one of my attempts to start out by pressing the green button. (1/160, ISO 400, f6.2, .3 EV)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8641077@N05/11890254524/

This is what I eventually settled upon after switching to manual mode. (Picture taken at the same location. 1/400, ISO 125, f6.3, .3 EV)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8641077@N05/11889844735/

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Last edited by RickC; 01-11-2014 at 10:12 AM.

[aurele]

You picture was taken in M mode according to FlickR exif display. Spot metering.

Start by using center weighted metering, it's will be better for moving object.

When you press the green button on M mode, it just stop down the lens (to see the difference in DoF) and tell you with the setting manually choosen if it will be overexpose / underexpose, but it don't chose setting.

That's why M stand for MANUAL.

(if you want the body to auto calculate, press the +/- exposure comp button that will calculate and propose appropriate combo of aperture and speed, if the K3 work as my K-x)


You have a wonderfull body, us Av or Tv or Sv, it will be easier to get what you want.

[RickC]

You picture was taken in M mode according to FlickR exif display. Spot metering.

Start by using center weighted metering, it's will be better for moving object.

When you press the green button on M mode, it just stop down the lens (to see the difference in DoF) and tell you with the setting manually choosen if it will be overexpose / underexpose, but it don't chose setting.

That's why M stand for MANUAL.

(if you want the body to auto calculate, press the +/- exposure comp button that will calculate and propose appropriate combo of aperture and speed, if the K3 work as my K-x)


You have a wonderfull body, us Av or Tv or Sv, it will be easier to get what you want.

You are correct about being in manual mode. It was the only example of what happened when I pressed the green button to get a "starting point". However, I did not know about pressing the exposure comp button while in manual mode to get it to calculate an appropriate aperture and speed. Thanks for that pointer!

I really like the K-3, especially coming from the K-5. I also figure a number of the problems I will encounter will most likely be a P.I.C.N.I.C!! (Problem in chair, not in camera!) LOL.

Thanks again for the tip...

[Mareket]

When you press the green button on M mode, it just stop down the lens (to see the difference in DoF) and tell you with the setting manually choosen if it will be overexpose / underexpose, but it don't chose setting.

That's why M stand for MANUAL.

(if you want the body to auto calculate, press the +/- exposure comp button that will calculate and propose appropriate combo of aperture and speed, if the K3 work as my K-x)

On the K-3 it's the same as the K-5, if you press the green button in manual you can set it to auto calculate exposure, because Pentax actually puts some sense into their exposure modes. Using an optical preview with a manual lens will do as you've said above, so I'm assuming that you're got your green button set to optical preview. Either way you can set it to auto calculate exposure as, by the sounds of things, RickC did. It'd be worth doube checking your settings.

The only thing I can think of is to try and clean the contacts on the lenses and your camera mount, check that the mount isn't loose or anything, and if you can, try the lenses on a different camera.

Also when you press the green button it'll only meter for the spot if you have it in spot meter. You might want to try going for matrix metering, perhaps you missed your target when pressing the green button. I know shooting in manual with spot metering has it's uses but if you're green button metering anyway why not shoot in P and use the matrix meter? You can still use HyperAv/Tv (my favourite Pentax feature right there).

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Last edited by Mareket; 01-11-2014 at 01:04 PM.

[Giklab]

+1 to Mareket.
Also, there is no need to use the Green button unless you're in Manual.

[RickC]

I had not changed the programming of the green button. I thought about the contact possibility and that was part of why I used the two different lenses. The possibility of me missing my target might have happened. It was interesting that once I did the reset, and tried my same approach, it not only worked similarly to my K5, but as I expected, too. What I am getting is a sense it is a combination of user error and/or an anomaly.

I now have a couple more techniques to try and appreciate the feedback! Thank you...

[johnyates]

If you are metering in spot mode, you must be careful as to what is in the center of your screen.

[IchabodCrane]

This weekend I ran into a situation in which the K-3 overexposed pictures. I was shooting outdoors under cloudy skies. About 4 pm. The sequence of event was as follows:

Selected aperture priority (A) mode
Pressed the Green Button.
Took a shot to check actual results.
The scene was horribly blown out with a calculated shutter speeds were set from about 1/15 to 1/50. ISO was set at 400, aperture 6.3

I proceeded to go through all settings on the dial. Green mode, program, etc. Green mode came out good as did program (P). When I got to the other options, I always pressed the green button before shooting. I did everything through and including Manual. Results were the same always blown out.

As the green mode worked well, I figured It had to be some combination of settings I had put in and did a "reset". From that point on, the camera behaved as I expected. I recall having made the following settings:

Auto aperture: 100-1000
Dynamic Range settings: Both off
High ISO Noise Reduction: Off
Slow Shutter Speed NR: Off
Program Line: Normal
Exposure Setting: "P"
Auto EV: Off
WB: AWB
Lens: Occurred on two different lenses. Tamron 18-250 and Sigma 150-500.

Has anyone else run into this? Anyone have a hypothesis about what combination caused the problem? As I said, once I did the reset, it is working fine.

Here is an example of what happened on one of my attempts to start out by pressing the green button. (1/160, ISO 400, f6.2, .3 EV)
2014-01-09 blowout 1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

This is what I eventually settled upon after switching to manual mode. (Picture taken at the same location. 1/400, ISO 125, f6.3, .3 EV)
2014-01-09 normal | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Call me clueless but what does the Green button do in Av mode on a K-3? I don't think it does anything on the other bodies unless it was specifically programmed for jumping from fixed to auto ISO (I think).

[derekkite]

Be careful with spot mode on the K3. The spot is small and will give you unexpected results. I use it in specific situations, but the center weighted is more consistent.