[FullertonImages]

I don't understand why there just isn't manual video control. The more I think of it, the more it pisses me off? Is there really some kind of significant technological or R&D barrier that is keeping them from doing it? Or are they just being douches? The fact that they didn't implement it into the K-5 only make me think that they: a) aren't aware of how huge the current HDSLR trend is, and are going to massively miss the boat once again on a huge trend and fall way behind, or b) are intentionally holding it back to try and add incentive to buy whatever the next body is.

It just makes me feel like we're right back to the classic pentax move of almost getting it right, but dropping the ball on major feature. SO they finally have killer ISO, good AF, and 7fps. Don't get me wrong, I'm as excited about the K-5 as anyone else. But who cares. Besides the ISO, those were all cool 4 years ago. While Pentax is so stoked to have finally released something that can compete with Canikon fps and AF, Canikon have been busy releasing bodies that are rapidly being accepted as professional film making tools. It just feels like they're always to busy playing catch up to notice what is going on around them. Multimedia integration is here to stay, and it is the future. There is not arguing against that. I just hope that Pentax realizes that they can make all the ISOs and AFs and FPSs and DRs that they want, but if they don't get on board the video thing and become equally competitive in that region, the large scale photo/video community will continue to not care about anything they make.

[DRabbit]

Agree with you Fullerton... what is even more frustrating is that if the camera had manual controls for video, I almost guarantee it would get OUTSTANDING reviews because of it's class-leading in-body stabilization. This is a HUGE frustration for me because I want something weather-sealed and relatively small that does video. NO ONE offers that except Pentax! And I've tried a variety of cameras, but with no in-body stabilization, it's hard to like the results (Olympus offers it, but it doesn't work well in video, and the E5 is a tank of a camera). Do you know what a big deal it would be if the K-5 had full manual control in video? It could really compete with the big boys because of it's awesome in-body stabilization alone!

FRUSTRATING! PENTAX... GET ON THE BALL!

[awolfe98]

Anyone with a K-5 that can repeat my test?

Even if it's just a piece of masking tape on the wall with hash marks, a piece of string a few feet long taped above it, and something heavy to use as a pendulum - we can at least compare the runs to see if the shutter speed does indeed change.

I'm really hoping that I've just done something wrong with the technique...

Or anyone with a K-7 for that matter want to repeat and see if the shutter speed is indeed changing?

[Lance C]

II. 4
Can you explain this better. I can lock my AE-L no problem in AV mode. When I switch to Video mode the AE-L turns off. If I hit the AE-L button once in VIdeo mode it activates but not to the same light settings as it was in AV mode.
your directions are rather tough to follow once you start explaining II.4

Anyone with a K-5 that can repeat my test?

Even if it's just a piece of masking tape on the wall with hash marks, a piece of string a few feet long taped above it, and something heavy to use as a pendulum - we can at least compare the runs to see if the shutter speed does indeed change.

I'm really hoping that I've just done something wrong with the technique...

Or anyone with a K-7 for that matter want to repeat and see if the shutter speed is indeed changing?

I've made a video with the K5 (the toothbrush one in the video section) recently and it seems like I managed to lock the exposure. The motion seems very fluid and in a test shot I could see the difference between e.g. 1/200 and 1/50 by quickly moving my hand in front of the lens.

Has anyone thought of just contacting Pentax to ask if this way of locking exposure can actually be confirmed (even though it may be a bug) and what the useable range is?

For people that can't get it to work: go to user mode, set the user mode to Av. then switch to LIVE VIEW (this is crucial!), set the desired iso/aperture/shutter in live view. Lock it. While in live view, switch the dial to video-mode. That's it.

Ok I think I might've been wrong in the above post
I did a similar pendulum like test, didn't check individual frames, but the motion seems the same in both videos despite the fact that I supposedly 'locked' the exposure.

Now I did find out some interesting other things that can be of great help to setting your desired exposure if my theory is right.
- The K5 doesn't go higher then ISO 6400 in full HD
- The K5 doesn't go lower then 1/50 shutterspeed in full HD
- Possibly ISO 3200 and 1/25 shutterspeed.

- You can test this yourself in a quite simple way:
Set the camera to video mode, point it at a rather dark area and keep it focussed on that exact area (use a tripod). Now start closing down the aperture, at some point you will see the aperture number go from a white color to a bliinking red. E.g. when you go from 5.0 to 5.6. This indicates the sensor doesn't get enough light and it can't up the ISO or lower the shutterspeed any further.

Now set the camera to (user)Av mode. Set the ISO to 6400 and dial in the apperture that gave you the blinking red number, 5.6 in this example. Now what do you see? Exactly...the shutterspeed is just below 1/50, probably 1/40. Now open up the aperture slightly, back to 5.0 (displayed white in video mode, indicating it's OK), as you will see the shutterspeed is now 1/50. (The same can be tested for 720p 30fps and 1/60 1/30 shutterspeed)

- Another possibility is that it goes only up to ISO 3200 and that they let the shutterspeed go as low as 1/25. This doens't seem very likely to me though from a 'we-build-an-auto-video-mode-that-gives-correct-exposure-and-good-looking-motion-point-of-view'. However it does match with the fact that the auto ISO is standard set to ISO 3200. Anything lower then ISO 3200 doesn't apply since it gives a shutterspeed longer then the maximum exposure time of an individual frame, at 25fps being anything lower then 1/25.

- Now here's my theory:
The K5 is programmed to go for a 1/50 shutterspeed with 25 fps whenever this is possible. Assuming the people at hoya knew something about video they know that this looks best most of the time when possible. Besides that it will try to keep the ISO as low as possible, after all less noise gives a better video. However whenever the shutter comes below 1/50 they will increase the ISO all the way up to 6400 or they will increase the ISO all the way up to ISO 3200 and after that lower the shutterspeed to 1/25 maximum.

- How to use this theory in your advantage:
(Assuming you always want a 1/50 shutterspeed)
- Point the camera at the area you want to record.
- Set the camera to TAv (or user TAv, it's closer to the video mode, requires less moving around with the mode-dial)
- Set it to ISO 100 and take a maximum desired ISO value in mind, say ISO 1600 for video (you can also set it as the max ISO in the camera)
- Now set the shutterspeed to 1/50
- Dial in the aperture that you want. As long as the ISO doesn't go into a blinking ISO 100, or over your max desired ISO whatever this is, you're good.¨
- if it does go into a blinking ISO 100 it means that it gets too much light with the aperture you've set. If you insist on maintaining that aperture, the only other option is then to set a faster shutterspeed.
- Now as long as the 1/50 shutterspeed and preffered aperture, say F/8.0, don't give you a blinking ISO 100. You can safely use this aperture in video mode, as it won't increase the shutterspeed. Set it to video, dial in F/8.0, lock it and you're good to go.
- By setting the camera to TAv and quickly scan around the area you can quickly determine your safe aperture range without risking a higher shutterspeed or too high ISO.
-Use ND filters if you get a blinking ISO 100 (resulting in a higher shutterspeed then 1/50 in video) or use a faster lens if the ISO goes above.your desired value.

Now all of this only applies if my theory about the camera striving for a 1/50 shutterspeed is true. We could test this by recording a moving object, hand/pendulum in bright light with an open aperture. This should cause unnatural looking motion. Then use ND filters or close down the aperture untill it just stops the blinking ISO 100. Now the motion should look much more natural. In an extensive comparison one could use multiple steps/filters to go more and more beyond the 'blinking ISO 100'. If the theory is right it should gradually increase the unnatural looking motion.


This theory also explains why the exposure locking hack seemed to be working most of the time. Most people probably tried to set it to 1/50 and their chosen apperture probably gave a correct exposure for anything ranging from ISO 100 and up. Resulting in a video that looked like 1/50 because it is!

[eddie1960]

> Try using the Kx or K7 (and, to be fair, many other cameras) in bright light with a wide aperture and auto exposure .... horrible choppy video is exactly what you will get. Which is why folks here are discussing the best workarounds to fix the shutter at around 2X framerate.

of course the proper solution to this is an nd filter, whether you use a kx or a red camera
there are more ways to control light than iso aperture and shutter

[Lance C]

I own the k7 and the most current firmware. The directions first given in this thread do now work. I see no change when I don't follow the directions and then I record again following the directions. The biggie that is throwing me is when I switch from User mode to Movie mode. The AE-L does not stay on. Are there other setting I need to turn on or off in the menu?

Can somebody give this guy a permanent ban? You're not contributing to any thread in any useable or reasonable way. Go buy yourself a Canon and stop complaining, it's not gonna change a thing. Get a life.

[eddie1960]

really this reeks of troll, if you hate the damn camera so much sell it and buy your beloved Canon.

nothing useful here anymore
unsubscribed

New products are released by various companies everyday, hardly ever do they announce this months in advance. That would be really foolish marketing, at the same time this almost always means a big pricedrop for any previous product. If you want to be sure to have the best and most exclusive product for a fair amount of time you should be an early adopter. I bought my K5 a couple days ago for 999 euros (incl. cashback), now for me that's a lot of money, but I also know that for at least a year I get to enjoy one of the top class APS-C camera's without there being anything better (from pentax). The longer you wait the more you should ask yourself, do I want to buy this product now, or will I wait for the next product? It's the way the world works, today you buy a tv for 1000 tomorrow it's 750, you book a holiday for 500, a week later it's available as a last minute for 250. It's all about considering wether or not you want to be the first to get it and in how far your want to have the certainty that you can still obtain this product.

Now this english text is probably far too complex for your comprehension, but we all took countless efforts to understand yours, so I suggest you do the same and after that just shut up. Stop complaining, it's not gonna change a thing. Your K7 is not worth any more then 650 euro today. I bought a K20d in June 2009 for 850 euro, guess what it's worth now? Can't b elieve I'm even replying to you. Gonna try to get you a ban after this.

[awolfe98]

Gone back to look at my test results again.

I think nothing is actually locked doing the AE-L switch from USER to movie, other than the EV value. ISO is *not* locked according to any of my observations.

The exact same thing would occur if you jumped into movie mode, pointed the camera to the exact same place and hit AE-L there. What we are buying by using this method is the ability to preview what the settings will be.

If there is enough light to do ISO 100 @ your selected F-stop while maintaining at least 1/30-1/50ish - I believe it will stick to ISO 100 from that EV value on up.

So - where there is a reasonable amount of light - I go ahead and do the user mode thing, making sure ISO is set to 100, pick my f-stop, swing the camera around and lock exposure as desired, or maybe add ND filters as needed to get to my desired shutter speed - then lock. Not really that onerous, as even with full manual control you'd have to pick your shutter, pick your f-stop, and add ND or light as needed. Only diff here is we're stuck at ISO 100 for any amount of light, and some auto ISO scheme for lesser amounts of light. Haven't done low-light tests, but my mid light tests seem to pretty much follow what Falconeye outlined for the K7.

Oh well...

[Coby]

of course the proper solution to this is an nd filter, whether you use a kx or a red camera

Of course, in combination with manual shutter speed control. You're not trying to have us believe that Red operators let their shutter speeds waft around randomly in between their ND-filter changes, are you?

[jhonny0099]

I can confirm that this works on the K-r too. However, I can't get it to work using Av. However, it works if you make your settings in Program mode. I'm not sure if it has to do with the software in that setting, or just that P mode is right next to Movie on the dial so the time it takes to get there is less. Maybe it loses the lock data in the amount of time it takes to get to Movie from Av?Another thing I noticed is that you can't lock in an Auto ISO range. Even if you are in auto ISO, the exposure will lock at the ISO used when the lock was metered. No biggie.

But I can only get this trick to work using my old manual lenses. I tried it with my 18-55 kit lens (from a K100D Super) and the lock doesn't carry over. Must have something to do with the computer detecting the aperture from the lens. Anyone else have this issue? I can't figure out how to get an auto lens to exposure lock.

[dedmozaj]

For those of you that can't make the OP method to work, its probably because you have firmware 1.11. Before I upgraded my firmware I could change the shutter speed usung the method described by op. I have videos of rain and snow, where with slow shutter droplets form blured traces, and with fast shutter rain looks like individual blincking droplets of water. So it definately worked before. Now we got aperture control in latest firmware, but other controls are gone...unfortunately. And something tells me Pentax did this on purpose. If we kept our find quiet, it would probably be still there. I guess Pentax just want's to keep these features for future models. This got me very mad at Pentax.