[RedRuff]

Hi! So I only have vintage lenses for my K1, and the green button is great as I'm used to back-button focusing on other DSLR's so pressing/holding a button before shooting is fine. My "problem" is I just bought a CS-205 cable switch so I could use my Frankenstein's Nikon 1000mm lens on a tripod and not have to touch the camera... upon receiving it I remembered I still have to press the green button to get a meter reading.

Is there a way to set the green button to a shutter half-press so I can use only the remote? Is it a non-issue? I do like obsessively hammering that green button in case the lighting changes by 0.0001% but in reality I guess once I'm set up for the shot I can press it once and everything's fine.

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[photoptimist]

I do like obsessively hammering that green button in case the lighting changes by 0.0001% but in reality I guess once I'm set up for the shot I can press it once and everything's fine.

If you underexpose by 1 stop, shoot in RAW, and post-process, you can easily handle huge changes in the lighting.

And is "the lighting" really changing? Yes, the reflected-light meter reading might change if the subject moves, the composition changes, and more or less dark or bright things show up in the frame. But usually "the lighting" doesn't change much unless there are fast-moving small clouds.

Oh, and you could also use exposure bracketing to fire off a set of shots at different +/- exposure settings to be sure at least one photo had the "correct: exposure.

[RedRuff]

If you underexpose by 1 stop, shoot in RAW, and post-process, you can easily handle huge changes in the lighting.

And is "the lighting" really changing? Yes, the reflected-light meter reading might change if the subject moves, the composition changes, and more or less dark or bright things show up in the frame. But usually "the lighting" doesn't change much unless there are fast-moving small clouds.

Oh, and you could also use exposure bracketing to fire off a set of shots at different +/- exposure settings to be sure at least one photo had the "correct: exposure.

Thanks for the reply! I'll try a combination of bracketing and not worrying about it

Looking at the SD card I hastily bought... it's "up to" 20MB/s... that's crazy slow

[kypfer]

With a fixed-aperture lens one can set the camera in Av mode (aperture priority) and cope with lighting changes "on the fly". Just remember to cover/shield the viewfinder (use the "ME Viewfinder Cap", if one was supplied with your camera) when operating remotely, if you take this route, to prevent stray light affecting the meter reading

[stevebrot]

Is there a way to set the green button to a shutter half-press so I can use only the remote?

No

Is it a non-issue?

There often is no need to adjust the exposure settings between shots. The rule of thumb, back-in-the-day when stop-down metering was common, was to meter and adjust exposure once and shoot at will until either the light or the subject change.


Steve

[pschlute]

Just remember to cover/shield the viewfinder (use the "ME Viewfinder Cap", if one was supplied with your camera) when operating remotely, if you take this route, to prevent stray light affecting the meter reading

Great advice. If the OP does not have his eye to the wiefinder, then with a strong backlight , green button metering will be off.

All he needs to do is meter once in Manual, with viewfinder covered

[Lowell Goudge]

With a fixed-aperture lens one can set the camera in Av mode (aperture priority) and cope with lighting changes "on the fly". Just remember to cover/shield the viewfinder (use the "ME Viewfinder Cap", if one was supplied with your camera) when operating remotely, if you take this route, to prevent stray light affecting the meter reading

but the op is not asking about fixed aperture lenses specifically, and av mode does not work with manual aperture lenses, except wide open.

for the OP, green button metering will not change significantly between looking through the view finder and pressing lens release, set the green button and unless the sun goes behind the clouds leave it alone.

note bracketing wil be shutter speed bracketing with manual aperture lenses , you may not want this

[RedRuff]

Thanks for the replies all. I'm currently using it in Manual mode using the green button to get exposure. My lens is stuck wide open at F/4 due to my Leitax adaptor (or rather the weird TC it's attached to), but I think for all intents and purposes this acts more like my vintage lenses with an aperture ring than a "fixed aperture" people mentioned here.

And yes, I understand now that I'm being quite trigger happy with the green button . I bought the camera on a whim and haven't had a chance to use it a whole lot.

note bracketing wil be shutter speed bracketing with manual aperture lenses , you may not want this

Bracketing sounds like a good option that I haven't really explored. Is there a downside to shutter speed bracketing? The only alternative I can think of is ISO bracketing if that's even a thing. Sorry for the dumb questions!

This is the lens in question if anyone's interested. Pic taken with my ME-F in case i wanted some wide shots of anything

[Lowell Goudge]

Thanks for the replies all. I'm currently using it in Manual mode using the green button to get exposure. My lens is stuck wide open at F/4 due to my Leitax adaptor (or rather the weird TC it's attached to), but I think for all intents and purposes this acts more like my vintage lenses with an aperture ring than a "fixed aperture" people mentioned here.

And yes, I understand now that I'm being quite trigger happy with the green button . I bought the camera on a whim and haven't had a chance to use it a whole lot.




Bracketing sounds like a good option that I haven't really explored. Is there a downside to shutter speed bracketing? The only alternative I can think of is ISO bracketing if that's even a thing. Sorry for the dumb questions!

This is the lens in question if anyone's interested. Pic taken with my ME-F in case i wanted some wide shots of anything

not a dumb question at al, there are many who wanted ISO bracketing but alas it does not yet exist AFAIK shutter speed bracketing can lead to issues of camera shake

this is a 1000 mm nikon? what aperture? AND IS IT AUTO APERTURE? if not auto aperture then you can use TAV or AV and it will meter correctly (within the limits of the camera, there may be some non linearity with old lenses and the focusing screen

[RedRuff]

not a dumb question at al, there are many who wanted ISO bracketing but alas it does not yet exist AFAIK shutter speed bracketing can lead to issues of camera shake

this is a 1000 mm nikon? what aperture? AND IS IT AUTO APERTURE? if not auto aperture then you can use TAV or AV and it will meter correctly (within the limits of the camera, there may be some non linearity with old lenses and the focusing screen

It's a Nikon 500mm F4 P with a Nikon TC-301 that's had a Leitax adaptor attached. The lens is manual focus but on Nikons it the aperture can be selected via the camera dial, and it handles matrix metering. This is all thrown out of the window when attached to the Pentax of course as the adaptor has no connectors on it, so the Pentax shows a big fat "F--"

AHA! I just had a go using TaV and you're right, it meters the scene constantly which is what I need. I guess the green button used with M is for if I want to stop down and take a reading (using say my SMC 50mm F/1.7), whereas AV/TaV will just constantly meter wide open? Thanks so much!

[Lowell Goudge]

It's a Nikon 500mm F4 P with a Nikon TC-301 that's had a Leitax adaptor attached. The lens is manual focus but on Nikons it the aperture can be selected via the camera dial, and it handles matrix metering. This is all thrown out of the window when attached to the Pentax of course as the adaptor has no connectors on it, so the Pentax shows a big fat "F--"

AHA! I just had a go using TaV and you're right, it meters the scene constantly which is what I need. I guess the green button used with M is for if I want to stop down and take a reading (using say my SMC 50mm F/1.7), whereas AV/TaV will just constantly meter wide open? Thanks so much!

you should run a calibration test shooting against a mid grey object, st all apertures, just to see how the metering behaves i do this by plotting greyscale value (of the jpegs of course) against aperture my phhoto editor can measure greyscale value of selections so i can also check uniformity of exposure which is useful on shorter lenses

[Not a Number]

If I'm not mistaken without an "A" pin connection Pentax bodies default to Av mode except in Manual, Bulb or X. At least my K!0D the LCD shows "Av" even when I change it to TAv, Tv, Sv, P or Green. User mode displays "User Av". As I understand it all the Pentax bodies since the K10D behave in a similar manner.

If you can't control the aperture the lens for all intents and purposes functionally becomes a fixed aperture lens.

If you can't control the aperture there is only one setting to test unless the electronically controlled aperture will stay set when removed from the native body (e.g. Canon).

[RedRuff]

If I'm not mistaken without an "A" pin connection Pentax bodies default to Av mode except in Manual, Bulb or X. At least my K!0D the LCD shows "Av" even when I change it to TAv, Tv, Sv, P or Green. User mode displays "User Av". As I understand it all the Pentax bodies since the K10D behave in a similar manner.

If you can't control the aperture the lens for all intents and purposes functionally becomes a fixed aperture lens.

If you can't control the aperture there is only one setting to test unless the electronically controlled aperture will stay set when removed from the native body (e.g. Canon).

Haha yes you're right. I had no idea what TAV meant but then realised it says "aperture priority" on the rear screen when you select it which was something I understood, then I turned it to various other options and they all said aperture priority!

If I owned an actual AF/auto-aperture Pentax lens all this would be much more obvious to me...

[stevebrot]

If I owned an actual AF/auto-aperture Pentax lens all this would be much more obvious to me...

The fact that the Leitax is on the TC effectively neuters your lens from an exposure perspective. This is the case regardless of the K-mount camera used and even applies with a K-1000. The talk about mount contacts and all are a little tangential with your set-up because you only have control over shutter speed and ISO setting, only one of which actually controls light to the sensor. The simple approaches are:

• Manual control of both shutter speed and ISO in M mode. This works well if you have options for off-camera metering.
• Green button for metered shutter speed using manual ISO in M mode. This approach is OK, but metering works more reliably in live view than with the optical viewfinder (explanation is too long and involved for this post).
• Any mode other than M, X, or B will result in the automatic metering of shutter speed (all default to Av mode). If auto-ISO is active, the camera will adjust that as well. Again, live view will provide more reliable metering. If using auto-ISO, be prepared for puzzling combinations of shutter/ISO.

A more usable solution would be to convert the lens to full manual aperture, either with the Leitax installed on it or leaving the Nikon mount in place with the Leitax on the TC. Any competent camera/lens repair person should be able to do this for you or you can attempt it yourself, using the Leitax instructions as a guide. Your camera options will remain the same, but you would be able to stop the lens down for performance and exposure purposes. I would go that route.


Steve

[Lowell Goudge]

The fact that the Leitax is on the TC effectively neuters your lens from an exposure perspective. This is the case regardless of the K-mount camera used and even applies with a K-1000. The talk about mount contacts and all are a little tangential with your set-up because you only have control over shutter speed and ISO setting, only one of which actually controls light to the sensor. The simple approaches are:

• Manual control of both shutter speed and ISO in M mode. This works well if you have options for off-camera metering.
• Green button for metered shutter speed using manual ISO in M mode. This approach is OK, but metering works more reliably in live view than with the optical viewfinder (explanation is too long and involved for this post).
• Any mode other than M, X, or B will result in the automatic metering of shutter speed (all default to Av mode). If auto-ISO is active, the camera will adjust that as well. Again, live view will provide more reliable metering. If using auto-ISO, be prepared for puzzling combinations of shutter/ISO.

A more usable solution would be to convert the lens to full manual aperture, either with the Leitax installed on it or leaving the Nikon mount in place with the Leitax on the TC. Any competent camera/lens repair person should be able to do this for you or you can attempt it yourself, using the Leitax instructions as a guide. Your camera options will remain the same, but you would be able to stop the lens down for performance and exposure purposes. I would go that route.


Steve

steve, he has essentially made this a non automatic aperture (i.e,. preset) lens. he can run AV mode