Hi George

The contemplative approach is probably right and I'd agree that it can lead to better photographs. The same argument used to be used by users of TLR Rolleiflexes, and in many ways that was true as well.

Do you think we are over-automated so much these days that the actual basis of the techniques is becoming lost on some modern photographers? I certainly have friends who produce excellent work, but they rely totally on automation and have no idea what the camera is really doing. When they do understand a technique it is a revelation and they do improve.

My biggest problem is having too many different sorts of camera, but that's a different story!

Yes they will. You enable the custom function to allow use of the aperture ring for pre-A lenses. Lenses from the A series onwards operate with all camera functions.

Having said that, my personal opinion is that K and M lenses work, but aren't really the best choice for the digital bodies. I prefer to use the A series and later lenses, which allow more verstaility.

But do buy a Pentax DSLR, they are superb photographic tools.

I have a relatively famous ancestor (Edward Fitzgerald) who was noted in literary circles for his Use Of Capitalisation. It was a sort of quirk of his, but it did give an emphasis to Important Things.

A A Milne also does it as well in the Pooh books, perhaps when describing a Bear Of Very Little Brain.

Language is wonderful!

Unless the ME Super is in exceptional condition, it probably isn't worth having it repaired as so many of them are available at such low prices.

M series cameras are reputedly prone to wind on failure - I have to say I have never experienced this but others do report problems.

You could always get a quote for repair and see, but you might get a mint ME Super for less on eBay. (Be careful though!)

That's good advice with all older cameras - don't leave the shutter tensioned. Unfortunately modern cameras have built in motors, so we don't have a choice with those!

With electronic shutters, the first thing I would check is the batteries and the battery contacts. If the power is interrupted either through dead or dying batteries, or perhaps through oxidation on the contacts, then electronic shutters may lock up the mirror.

The other reason for inordinately long exposures can be firing the shutter on auto with the lens cap on!

If your elctronic shutter had stayed open for six hours whilst there was power in the system, then that would pretty much exhaust the batteries anyway. The camera is using power to keep the shutter open.

If attending to the batteries doesn't work, also ensure the lens is locked in place properly, as a part-inserted lens can cause some problems as well.

You can get Wein cells in the UK from Jessops and other sources such as The Small Battery Company.

For sure, batteries left in cameras can cause immense damage.

Taking your comment about light readings - do I always use the meter reading? There's a subject in itself! What I actually do is to use a very simple technique loosely based on the Zone System. Before anyone cringes in horror at the words Zone System, it's not as bad as it sounds.

Assuming that we are talking about negative film for a moment, let's take a caucasian skin tone, which I reckon is on Zone 6, slightly lighter by one stop than mid-grey. So we take the exposure measurement, which would place the skin tone on Zone 5 or 18% grey, and increase the exposure by one stop to move the tone to Zone 6. So in a sense, yes I do always use the exposure measurement of the camera, but then modify it. If it were a white wall I would increase the exposure by three stops to place the wall on Zone 8, almost white but retaining a hint of texture.

That's one reason I like simple meters like the Spotmatic one, or the MX one, because you know what you are measuring.

That's my thought for the day....

Hi George

I agree that spurious information should not be repeated.

I think you'll find that in my original comment I did mention that there were two sides to this argument, and concluded with a personal opinion.

This really boils down to, in general, me being happy to follow the instructions unless there is a real imperative to find an alternative. In this instance, as I have access to 1.35v cells, there is no imperative for me to use something outside the normal parameters. When the Wein cells become unavailable I will perform my own tests to establish what I need to do.

In the meantime, I think we have opened an interesting debate and information exchange, and the choice is there!

Has anyone reading this done a series of comparative tests?

Feel free to disagree!

The 2 stop difference is relatively well documented, so there is a discrepancy in our information, but I don't doubt for a moment Kim's info. so I wonder if there is more than one design of meter circuit in the Spotmatics?