[YJD]

Hello to all of you,

I hope I'm in the right section for this.

Recently I got a full manual lens (Sears MC 135mm f2.8) and I finally decided to play with in the M mode. It's kind of fun, but not when I try to take pictures of my kids playing around the house... I'm not fast enough to get all those setting right the first time, so I loose THE shoot.

I have 2 questions:

Anyway, I set the AE-L button (I have a K100D super) to set automatically the shutter speed, but the maximum time I can get is 1.3 second where as if I do it manually, it can go a lot higher. Does anyone has an explanation?

Also, I try difference setting, changing the Aperture (11 to 8) and Shutter (going from 1.6 to 1.3 second) and either my picture is too bright or too dark. The only solution I found was to raise the ISO. Is there a way to prevent from changing the ISO? Or is there to enter intermediate value for the Shutter speed?

I have also tried doing this with my Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 with similar result.

Thank you for your help.

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Last edited by YJD; 12-23-2008 at 11:54 AM. Reason: I got all the answer and advice I wanted, thank you!

[pentkon52]

Does the K100 have the green button.

Using manual lenses, you need to set the Av, press the green button and the shutter speed will be set.

Dave

[dave sz]

yeah, it's the ae-l button, you need to set it in the menu to have it do what you want...

[YJD]

That is exactly what I did, but the shutter goes only up to 1.3 second where as sometimes, it need to go a lot higher.

Why is it limited to 1.3 second?

Any advice for my second question?

[dave sz]

Mine seems to stop at 1.5s.

[Marc Sabatella]

Why is it limited to 1.3 second?

I've never heard of that happening, but if you're dealing with shutter speeds that slow, perhaps you're dealing with light levels below what the meter is capable of dealing with. Also, you realize there's no way to capture moving people with shutter speeds that slow? Not to mention no chance in hell of handholding successfully?

At ISO 1600 and the aperture wide open - f/2.8 - you should be getting speeds more like 1/30". There you'd have a fighting chance of getting a usable shot.

It shouldn't really take long at all to make the correct settings. Set ISO to 1600 the moment you take the camera out of the bag indoors. Set the aperture at f/2.8 the moment you mount the lens indoors. Do a test with the AE-L button on a medium-toned target to check the light. If it gives you a result faster than 1/30", thank whomever set up the lighting and start shooting. If it gives you a result slower than 1/30", sign and set the shutter to 1/30" and increase ISO to 3200 or just realize yu're gong to have to push the exposure in PP.

Then just start shooting. You shouldn't need to touch the ISO, aperture, or shutter speed again until you go outside. Unless maybe one room of the hosue is a lot brighter or dimmer than another, in which case you might turn the shutter speed up or down accordingly. Takes a fraction of a second - nothing you'd lose any shots over.

Any advice for my second question?

I am not sure I understand. Are you saying that at one aperture and ISO setting, a shutter speed of 1.3 seconds is too short but 1.6 seconds too long? There's not really a lot of difference between those shutter speeds - exercising finer control over exposure than that is something you would normally do in PP.

[YJD]

Thanks for that long answer Marc.

Regarding first question, will I was doing my test, I was taking pictures of none moving objects. I still do not understand why the 'auto' shutter speed is limited to 1.3 where as the picture is all black and I do need to manually set it higher. I'm just trying to understand... I'm in my learning mode with the M mode.

Regarding the second question, that is exactly what I mean, sorry if it wasn't that clear. I haven't tried PP afterward, just looked through the LCD screen. So you might have gave me just the right explanation, even though, I still think it is weird with that small of a difference.

[rfortson]

If you're shooting in manual mode, isn't the ISO set to 200? (Auto ISO is disabled?) If so, that would explain why you can't get a faster shutter speed.

Of course, I could be totally off base here.

[YJD]

True rfortson, the ISO was set to 200 without auto mode.
I think on the manual, they say something about having Auto ISO disable and something about being at 200. I'll have to read again.

I guess I'll let you know tomorrow.

[dave sz]

If you're shooting in manual mode, isn't the ISO set to 200? (Auto ISO is disabled?) If so, that would explain why you can't get a faster shutter speed.

Of course, I could be totally off base here.

but he doesn't want a faster shutter, he wants just the opposite. He was complaining that 1.5s was the slowest it went no matter what conditions...

[hinman]

You need to tune your camera with 2 custom settings for manual lens. Please refer to this old blog post and make sure you have that custom setting done that allow you to meter with aperture ring

• Setup with Pentax M42 and Manual K mount lens - Hin's Tech Corner

Though I wrote the article for M42 lens, I think it applies to Manual K lens like the Sears 135mm f/2.8. By default, the setting on metering on aperture ring with 'S' for screw lens type is prohibited, you need to change it to 'Allow' setting so that you can do stop down metering on AE-L (similar to green button on K10D).

I am not sure if you have done that. After the custom settings, here is my rough direction to do metering:

For metering with manual lens:

• turn dial mode to M manual metering
• adjust aperture on ring such as f/2.8, f/3.2, f/5.6 or f/8.0
• frame the shot
• hit AE-L in K100D or green button in K10D/K20D to do stop-down metering, you will hear the diaphragm closing down. In Av mode, the AE-L retains your previous exposure for a a minute or two
• note the shutter speed with AE-L and adjust aperture in aperture ring to your liking. If the shutter is 1.5second, you need to go for higher ISO and repeat the step in stop-down metering with AE-L and you hear the diaphragm closing down.
• manual focus until focus confirmation beep and diamond lock confirmation in viewfinder with half-press
• full press on shutter release

There are some M42 lens that allow you to meter directly on Av mode but most of the K manual lens will require you to use stop-down metering in M mode.

Thanks,
Hin

[dave sz]

He already has done all this and so have I. He's simply asking why the shutter won't go slower than 1.3s on his camera no matter how dark. I think what a previous poster said about the sensor being able to meter only what it sees was the answer...

[hinman]

Update:
For indoor shots, I will go for ISO 400, ISO 200 will be too low. With the K100D, ISO 400 is very usable and I have no problems with ISO 800. With kids moving, I would try ISO 800 or any shutter speed that will be at least 1/60 sec.

I will NOT use Auto ISO in K100D as it is prone to errors in choosing the wrong ISO for you. Also, any change in Ev will put your ISO back to 200 and it is a well known BUG in K100D and Pentax don't address the issue. You can try Av mode on Auto ISO setting, any change in Ev compensation will put you right back to ISO 200.

Thanks,
Hin

[hinman]

He already has done all this and so have I. He's simply asking why the shutter won't go slower than 1.3s on his camera no matter how dark. I think what a previous poster said about the sensor being able to meter only what it sees was the answer...

If he preset the ISO to ISO 200, that would be the problem. With the Sear 135mm f/2.8, I would attempt ISO 400/800 and set aperture to f/3.2 and go from there

[code4code5]

With any manual lens, shooting in Av mode will automatically adjust the shutter speed for "proper" exposure with the lens wide open. To use another aperture, you must be in M mode and use the AE-L button to stop down the lens. The control wheel will then change the shutter speed.