pentax mz-60 aperture

hi ,,,
i just bought a pentax mz-60 and cant figure the aperture out.... i can change it using the AV button but the camera wont function when i press the release button and move the aperture ring ... the screen displays _ _AV _ _ ... ive never used a auto SLR so im stumped can you help?

MZ-30, MZ-50, MZ-60 & *ist only work with lens set to "A"

These pentax bodies are no better than a P&S camera.

regards, Trevor
OZ

the person who sold it to me got the lens ring aperture working ......

Hi

I've only used the MZ-50, but I assume the others (including the MZ-60) also suffer from the 'crippled mount' - at least that's what I infer from the fact it doesn't work off-'A' setting.

This isn't too big a deal, you can simply leave the lens in 'A' and control aperture via the camera body (set to programme or aperture priority, modes 'P' and 'Av' respectively). You won't be able to use older k-mount lenses very easily, as there is no way the body can control the aperture or read information regarding it from the lens.

There are 2 reasons why these cameras have such mounts. The first is cost, as it requires additional mechanisms, hence cheaper cameras such as the MZ-50 don't have it. The second is that Pentax is now (sadly, in my opinion) following the method employed by pretty much everyone and removing the aperture ring from lenses entirely, and using a control on the camera body in its place (this is why the *ist doesn't allow for shooting off-'A'). I wish they'd kept the option open of allowing the use of K-mount lenses.

'These pentax bodies are no better than a P&S camera.'

Well, I can't agree. The *ist is actually a very fine camera. The others are decent, entry level SLRs that represent considerable improvement over point and shoots.

Simply put, you can control aperture, just not using the aperture ring. Leave it on 'A' and use the camera controls ands you'll be fine.

Matt

G'day.
I had a MZ-50 & MZ-60.
I unloaded both of them on Ebay.
I now use MZ-6 or MZ-7.
These bodies allow me to use M & A lenses.

BTW... anybody want to buy a MZ-7 body no data back?

Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor
Australia

"These pentax bodies are no better than a P&S camera."

What complete nonsense Trevor . These cameras are more than capable of creative photography. When used in trained hands with the manual or semi-manual exposure modes, the creative control is as good as most amateur photographers (as opposed to camera polishers) would need.

Sure, I agree it's not compatible with non-A lenses, but so what. There are loads of manual and autofocus A lenses around new and 2nd hand. Whats more, all future lenses will have the A setting. If you have already built up a collection of K mount lenses I can understand you needing a compatible body, but for anybody buying into Pentax like sas, the crippled mount is no handicap and in many ways is an advantage as the cameras are cheaper.

Andy McInroy

G'day Andy.
Mate, Point taken...
For a newbie to get started with, OK.
However, If the new Pentax owner wishes to try something a bit out of the ordinary, the -3, -5, -5n, -6 or -7 would be a better bet.
I went to the -6 & -7 due to a 600mm mirror lens that would not work on a -50 or -60 in anything other than manual mode.
Also, The -6 allows for spot metering with one of the Pentax Functions.

Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor
Australia

not true. i can use non A lenses on my *ist.
p.s. maybe try reading manual

"not true. i can use non A lenses on my *ist. "

My comment was true in a sense. What you say is strictly correct, however I'm trying to avoid complicating the issue with caveats. You can physically attach a k-mount lens to the *ist and fire the shutter (using the Custom Function), but you lose pretty much all functionality, including metering. Some people don't consider this 'using' a lens, especially (I'd suggest) those new to photography - whilst not wanting to jump to conclusions, I'd suggest the person to whom my reply was directed falls into this category (Sas, apologies if this isn't true). It depends upon your interpretation of 'using' a lens. Extending your logic, you can go and buy an adapter to fit practically any lens to the *ist (leicas, Nikkors etc.) and be able to fire the shutter and not much else. In this respect such third party lenses will perform in exactly the same manner as a K-mount - it therefore seems reasonable to argue that you can't really 'use' a K-mount lens any more than you can a canon lens on the *ist.

The point I am making, whilst attempting to steer clear of fine points, is that k-mount lenses do not work in entirety with the *ist. Why do you think it's a Custom Function setting?


"p.s. maybe try reading manual "

I understand your point without reference to a manual. Besides, I don't have a *ist (as I made clear earlier), hence no manual.

1) what makes you think that metering modes (spot, center weihgt, zone) are not working correctly with A lenses? IMO lens doesn't pass any information about light to camera body therefore all metering is in the body and it doesn't matter whether it's A or non A lens. (i'm not an expert, so maybe you can explain why metering doesn't work correclty)

2) I think it's a custom function to save newbies from confusion -> if one accidentally sets aperature ring to f22 he may be confused why camera is working awkward.

K

This is where the finer points come in. You're correct that the body, not the lens, does the metering but the camera still needs to know a few things. What actually happens is that the body doesn't know what aperture is selected on the k-mount lens and assumes that it is at the widest setting - you can then manually (by manually I mean in your head!) compute the correct exposure when you change aperture, always bearing in mind that the meter will be registering massive underexposure when you do so (I don't actually know if the meter even switches on, I would assume it does as there's no real reason for it not to). I don't even know how the camera deduces the maximum aperture, it might even assume all lenses are f1 - does anyone have any detail on this? As an example, if the maximum aperture is known by the camera to be f4, if you select f8 you will have to add 2 stops to the shutter speed compared to what the meter indicates, if you go to f16 you will have to add 4 stops to the shutter. All this must be done externally, either through controlling shutter speed manually or adding exposure compensation. All that is missing from the 'crippled' mount is a little lever, which measures the selected aperture on the lens. Whilst omitted from cheaper cameras on cost grounds, I'm a bit confused as to why it was omitted from the *ist which is a pretty well equipped camera - perhaps to push people towards investing in new lenses? As a further aside, the MZ-50 and MZ-60 don't even allow the shutter to fire if there's a lens off of 'A' attached (unless you short some connections, see this really good website - http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/ - for details), at least the *ist allows that small luxury.

"what makes you think that metering modes (spot, center weihgt, zone) are not working correctly with A lenses?"

I'm not sure where I implied this, or if I've read your question correctly. If you look at all A or F/FA (or, I presume, FAJ lenses) there are a series of metal connections which give information to the camera body. This, I believe, is more to do with things such as focus distance and zoom settings (please feel free to correct me on this) and allows the matrix metering to function - it uses such information to deduce, for instance, landscapes or portraits when confronted by a bright central area which could be construed by a metering system as either a person's face or a lake - the focus distance will indicate which is which. If you use a k-mount lens on a 'non-crippled' mount, for example the PZ-1p, you can meter properly with K-mounts but you can't use matrix metring, only centre-weighted or spot. Not of relevance really, but I mention out of interest.

I think you're right that the option is buried in the CF to protect 'newbies', the camera probably won't reveal that it can't read aperture and will simply always meter as for the largest aperture, and if you don't know it's doing it that could cause problems. It makes sense that people who understand the problem can still use k-mount lenses, although with restricted metering, but people who might be caught out aren't subjected to it.

Cheers
Matt