[esman7]

Hi,

I just got the battery grip for my k200d and noticed that other than shutter release, the only button that re-appears is the Auto exposure lock (AE-L) button...

Other than locking photos from being deleted, I have no clue what I can do with this when actually taking a snap.. please help a brother out! Thanks

[Wheatfield]

AE-L (auto exposure lock) allows you to take a meter reading in one of the auto exposure modes and then hold that exposure (by holdong the button down) while you recompose the picture.

[Gooshin]

when you are previewing images using that button can also lock the images to be prevented from an accidental delete, i think.. i never used the feature, but its there.

[unixrevolution]

On my K10D, the same button that is AE-Lock in Shooting mode is the Protect key in Playback mode. In shooting mode, it lets you lock the camera's auto exposure on something then recompose. In playback mode, it'll protect images from deletion, like for example if you "Delete all". It will NOT protect images from formatting the card.

[Wheatfield]

when you are previewing images using that button can also lock the images to be prevented from an accidental delete, i think.. i never used the feature, but its there.

I did not know that. Pressing the AE-L button while reviewing brings up a write protect menu.
How cool is that?
Thanks Goosh!!

[res3567]

I did not know that. Pressing the AE-L button while reviewing brings up a write protect menu.
How cool is that?
Thanks Goosh!!

I didn't know that either! Thanks Goosh. Anymore secerts this camera has that we don't know about?

[Gooshin]

each pentax camera is actually a well hidden ninja

[Marc Sabatella]

BTW, with all this talk about the secondary functions of the AE-L button, I wanted to be sure the *real* purpose *(which was mentioned, but not dwelled upon) is clear: it's what allows you to meter off something that is kind of "average" in lightness/darkness, then reframe your shot so you can et a well-exposed picture of something that is unusually bright or unusually dark. It's the normal way you'd take a picture of someone with the sky, behind them, for instance. Since the sky is so much brighter than the person (unless the sun is shining directly on them), you'll get an underexposed shot if you just point and shoot. But if you point at the ground or something else about the same brightness as the person, hit AE-L, then frame your picture and shoot, you'll get the exposure you probably wanted. When using any automatic exposure mode, this is / should be / can be an extremely common operation, and *that's* why it is on the grp - not to provide a shortcut to protecting files from being erased.

[Ex Finn.]

when you are previewing images using that button can also lock the images to be prevented from an accidental delete, i think.. i never used the feature, but its there.

Thank you, so that is what the blue key symbol above AE-L means.
17 000+ pictures later i am still learning.

Cheers. Mike.

[heliphoto]

Also for use in Manual mode (at least on the k20d) it allows you to keep the same exposure while changing the exposure settings (aperture / shutter speed).

Try it out... in M mode, set at say f/8 and 1/500, push the AE-L button (you'll see a * appear in the viewfinder), and then by turning the aperture e-dial to set f/5.6, you'll see the Shutter speed has increased to 1/1000 - very handy.

[esman7]

BTW, with all this talk about the secondary functions of the AE-L button, I wanted to be sure the *real* purpose *(which was mentioned, but not dwelled upon) is clear: it's what allows you to meter off something that is kind of "average" in lightness/darkness, then reframe your shot so you can et a well-exposed picture of something that is unusually bright or unusually dark. It's the normal way you'd take a picture of someone with the sky, behind them, for instance. Since the sky is so much brighter than the person (unless the sun is shining directly on them), you'll get an underexposed shot if you just point and shoot. But if you point at the ground or something else about the same brightness as the person, hit AE-L, then frame your picture and shoot, you'll get the exposure you probably wanted. When using any automatic exposure mode, this is / should be / can be an extremely common operation, and *that's* why it is on the grp - not to provide a shortcut to protecting files from being erased.

Thanks everyone, that was a great explanation Marc - just what I needed.

Stay tuned for my next NOOB question...

[Canada_Rockies]

Also for use in Manual mode (at least on the k20d) it allows you to keep the same exposure while changing the exposure settings (aperture / shutter speed).

Try it out... in M mode, set at say f/8 and 1/500, push the AE-L button (you'll see a * appear in the viewfinder), and then by turning the aperture e-dial to set f/5.6, you'll see the Shutter speed has increased to 1/1000 - very handy.

For clarification: the above is true if you have a lens with A position on the aperture ring, and the aperture is set to A. The camera can only control the aperture if the lens' aperture ring is set to the A position.

[heliphoto]

For clarification: the above is true if you have a lens with A position on the aperture ring, and the aperture is set to A. The camera can only control the aperture if the lens' aperture ring is set to the A position.

Doh! - good point. I sold my M lenses, and seldom shoot my few Taks, and forgot about the truly manual world for a second there - thanks for keeping me on my toes.

[scatron]

But if you point at the ground or something else about the same brightness as the person, hit AE-L, then frame your picture and shoot, you'll get the exposure you probably wanted.

Should you focus before or after pointing at the ground, or does it not matter?

[Gooshin]

Should you focus before or after pointing at the ground, or does it not matter?

unless you have the link focus with meter option enabled, it does not matter, the two are not related.