Hiding in the bushes
And yes, 'getting focus and exposure together' is quite a feat with an M lens ! Its a different ballgame to modern optics, where one press of the shutter button could potentially be all thats needed.
I find the main mistake I make is forgetting my aperture setting, or forgetting I need to change it, plus of course forgetting to re - meter with the green button when I've moved position or angle into different light!
Pentax K7 with BG-4 Grip / Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC / DA18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR / SMC A28mm f2.8 / D FA 28-105mm / SMC F35-70 f3.5-4.5 / SMC A50mm f1.7 / Tamron AF70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD macro / SMC M75-150mm f4.0 / Tamron Adaptall (CT-135) 135mm f2.8 / Asahi Takumar-A 2X tele-converter / Pentax AF-540FGZ (I & II) Flashes / Cactus RF60/X Flashes & V6/V6II Transceiver
I have always thought this lens is a bit of a sleeper in quality terms. They are also quite compact and a built in lens hood.
You can pick them up fairly cheap too.
I find the main mistake I make is forgetting my aperture setting, or forgetting I need to change it, plus of course forgetting to re - meter with the green button when I've moved position or angle into different light!
Haha, yes likewise. We are so used to auto exposure that it is easy to forget to re-meter when using a manual lens.
I really do love the feel of the focus throw of the old K and M series lenses. Even though this one is 40 years old the feel is still so precise and smooth, it makes manual focussing a joy. Modern lenses just aren't the same.
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Pentax K7 with BG-4 Grip / Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC / DA18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR / SMC A28mm f2.8 / D FA 28-105mm / SMC F35-70 f3.5-4.5 / SMC A50mm f1.7 / Tamron AF70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD macro / SMC M75-150mm f4.0 / Tamron Adaptall (CT-135) 135mm f2.8 / Asahi Takumar-A 2X tele-converter / Pentax AF-540FGZ (I & II) Flashes / Cactus RF60/X Flashes & V6/V6II Transceiver
There's something special about the k and m series lenses. You can feel the quality of them. So smooth to use.
I have never used the green button. Is there any point when shooting in manual ?
The green button is very handy when moving from one scene to another with a big difference in lighting. it will instantly get you a "correct" exposure and you can then tweak it as you see fit.
Further, on most Pentax SLR cameras i believe you can change the action of the green button in manual (and indeed other modes). On my camera I have set the green button in manual mode to operate by shifting the Tv value. So I will select an aperture that I wish to use and one press of the button gives me a metered shutter speed. It is quicker than thumbing through the front e-dial and looking at the meter, as long as i dont press the playback button by mistake !
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In M mode you can set an exposure compensation offset, but after moving the indication with your input it disappears. It remains effective though for subsequent green button pushes.
Pentax K7 with BG-4 Grip / Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC / DA18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR / SMC A28mm f2.8 / D FA 28-105mm / SMC F35-70 f3.5-4.5 / SMC A50mm f1.7 / Tamron AF70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD macro / SMC M75-150mm f4.0 / Tamron Adaptall (CT-135) 135mm f2.8 / Asahi Takumar-A 2X tele-converter / Pentax AF-540FGZ (I & II) Flashes / Cactus RF60/X Flashes & V6/V6II Transceiver
My last comments refered to using manual mode with a lens that the camera can read.
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One little trick i do like when using manual mode with a modern lens is once i have set the exposure i wish, if you press the exposure lock button you can turn either front or back e-dial to change Tv or Av setting and the camera will adjust the other to keep the exposure the same. This is useful for shooting the same scene a number of times with different DOF for example.
I understand how that works. But why not shoot in tav or av then. Why shoot in manual but switch to tav or av halfway through ?
I shoot in manual as i like to choose iso, shutter speed and aperture myself. No other reason.
I can see how the last point around dof and multiple shots at different apertures with same exposure would be far easier your way.
I understand how that works. But why not shoot in tav or av then. Why shoot in manual but switch to tav or av halfway through ?
I think you are misunderstanding me. i dont switch out of manual mode. Just press the exposure lock and move the aperture wheel (Av wheel) to change f stop and the camera will move the shutter speed to maintain the total exposure setting I originally chose.
This is not the same as Av mode where the camera will be constantly re-evaluating the light and applying its own shutter speed setting.
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5083 posts
17 years
Surrey
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