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.

Nigel is correct, green button is a neccessity with a K or M lens.

My last comments refered to using manual mode with a lens that the camera can read.

Hi derek, thanks for the kind comments.

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 !

Thamks for the reply Nigel, I hadn't thought about shutter speed affecting the flash, but I understand now it will in HSS, thanks.

Agree, 3 is excellent.

1 stop faster shutter speed will reduce the ambient background lighting without affecting your DOF. If you use a smaller aperture you will be affecting DOF which is critical for these kind of portrait shots although 1 stop shouldn't make much of a difference.

Question for Nigel......if one did use a smaller aperture to lower ambient light and increase DOF this would reduce the effective range of the fill flash, which is less anyway when using HSS, correct?

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.

Great spot you picked...those tyres take some punishment. just like my trip to the supermarket !

Best wishes to you Vic

Was playing with an old lens M 200mm f4 on the K1 at the weekend and spotted little Ripley in the bushes. Just managed to get exposure and focus together before he moved. I quite like the way the 200mm has isolated him.