Hi,

I was just wondering if someone would be able to confirm that while the Pentax K1000 is being focused/prepared for image capture, the aperture appears to be fully open.

My camera's light meter responds appropriately to changes in aperture, but when looking into the lens itself and changing the aperture, it seems "stuck" on the widest setting, but when I remove the lens from the camera body and change the aperture, the iris responds appropriately.

Thanks for any responses in advance! I appreciate the help!

- your local film camera beginner

[BarneyL]

Your camera will automatically stop down the lens aperture to the position you set on the ring when you press the shutter button. Light meter knows what aperture you have set because the lens has two levers, one for stopping down the iris and the other to tell the camera what value the ring is set on.

This is so you can meter and focus wide open (focusing on a stopped down lens is a pain, because the viewfinder gets noticeably darker).

Some cameras have a lever for stopping down the lens to see the depth of field preview in the viewfinder. K1000 unfortunately does not have such functionality, as it's pretty bare bones camera.

[Lord Lucan]

Sounds like your K1000 is acting exactly as it is meant to

[boriscleto]

Set the shutter speed to B. Set the aperture to something less than the maximum (ie. f16). Open the back of the camera and press and hold the shutter release. You should see that the lens is stopped down while the shutter is open.

[pschlute]

I was just wondering if someone would be able to confirm that while the Pentax K1000 is being focused/prepared for image capture, the aperture appears to be fully open

That is so you have the brightest image possible while focussing the image. Same principle is in use today on modern DSLR cameras

[marianayomal]

Hello all!

I'm having the same issue m36789 posted about!


I've already used 2 films and every time I changed the aperture, I could see through the lens the diaphragm going wider or smaller - I could see the image getting darker and brighter according to the aperture I was on. It was really amazing!!



Now, on my third film, I don't see the aperture changing like I used to, it's "stuck" in the wider aperture - and I have to imagine how it would look like when I choose a smaller aperture.

The battery is fine and the light meter is working, but I'm curious about how the camera suddenly changed the way it's showing the aperture settings.



Thanks a million!

[nickthetasmaniac]

Hello all!

I'm having the same issue m36789 posted about!


I've already used 2 films and every time I changed the aperture, I could see through the lens the diaphragm going wider or smaller - I could see the image getting darker and brighter according to the aperture I was on. It was really amazing!!



Now, on my third film, I don't see the aperture changing like I used to, it's "stuck" in the wider aperture - and I have to imagine how it would look like when I choose a smaller aperture.

The battery is fine and the light meter is working, but I'm curious about how the camera suddenly changed the way it's showing the aperture settings.



Thanks a million!

Which body and lens are you using?

As mentioned above, ‘modern’ SLRs and lenses (as in, everything after the late-60 - early-70’s) were designed to keep the aperture fully open until the moment of exposure, when it is automatically closed (‘stopped-down’). This kept the viewfinder bright for composing and focussing.

The fact that your camera was stopping down during composition for the first two rolls suggests something is wrong. If you’re camera (or lens) has a depth of field preview function, this has probably been accidentally triggered. If it doesn’t, something in the mechanism might be getting sticky, requiring a service.

[marianayomal]

Thanks nickthetasmaniac for your answer!

I'm using an Asahi Pentax K1000, assembled in Hong Kong, and the lens is Vivitar 35mm 1:2.8 auto wide-angle

[vladimiroltean]

With the K1000 there is no depth of field preview button, so this can only happen if the lever from the camera isn't making contact with the lever from the lens, effectively letting the lens aperture lever untensioned.
Either you used a different lens for the first 2 films and forgot to mention that, and the lens had a cut aperture lever - case in which it indeed doesn't make contact with the body.
Or you didn't have the lens fully locked in the bayonet mount, but rather in a dangerous half-way position from which the lens can actually fall out if it doesn't click into place.