Gosh Lubbyman you really have been working on this, I’m impressed! I’ll give that a go, it makes sense because my ISO range is limited to 3200.

Derek897 my first reaction would be that a manual flash would overexpose in this situation but I could be wrong, I use P-TTL because I can just set the exposure I want and the flash will give the necessary light. Also if I just want fill-in flash I can slow the shutter speed down to suit, but I’ll give your idea a try as well, I really need to widen my flash expertise.

Thanks again both.

I tried that Steve, it didn’t really work because the image wasn’t very clear. Mr B that’s an idea, as long as my settings stay fairly constant, although not for hand held shots. For manual I set the top button to ISO and on a tripod it’s an easy matter to frame and focus and just twirl that down to a low number for the shot. My original question was whether the live view could be divorced from software replicating the exposure, which I assume it does otherwise how does the shutter speed affect the live view? For my last shot above the live view was off, autofocus on, and I just pointed “blind” in the direction of the plant and fired off a few hoping to get one that was framed ok. It looks to me there are two options, either use a small tripod which is fiddly to set up although I have done that, or the angle viewfinder and get my knees muddy.

Thanks both for your suggestions, I like the idea of a genuine Pentax finder and there were a couple of models so one with clean optics would be tempting: my searches found a couple of virtually pristine ones in the Leica shop in Austria but at 80 euros+ very pricey. Incidentally if you are a collector of film era Pentax they have some interesting stock in top condition. The Neewer has the advantage of being new but on one video it looked rather a wobbly connection to the camera. Another make is Seagull with some on eBay so something to ponder.

Ps. the eyepiece cover from my old 35mm body fits the K1 so it looks like the old finders would as well.

If it's not a completely still day I need a fast speed to prevent blur and a smallish aperture for depth of field in close-up, but for plants in shade and/or on a dull day this would mean a very high ISO without flash. Using these settings manually with 100 ISO means that the image is way underexposed, hence the live view is dark, but the settings are fine for flash. Sometimes I will slow the speed down and rely on the flash to freeze movement but that can result in fuzzy edges around the flower, it also helps to contrast the flower against the background. Here are some examples:










This is generally only an issue for handheld shots, using a tripod I can frame and focus using a high ISO and then turn it down for the shot. Having an optical viewfinder means I can I see and focus using whatever settings are used and I am sure I read somewhere that mirrorless bodies can be set so that the sensor doesn't simulate the actual exposure for this reason, so I was wondering if the same could be applied to the K1; however I cannot find anything in the settings. Neewer produce right-angle viewfinders for Pentax available in three different magnification ranges so that could be a solution and I would be interested to hear if anyone has tried one.

Glad to see Pentax will have a stand, they were absent from The Photography Show at NEC last year and I don’t know if they will be there this time.

I usually use manual camera settings for flash but can only use the viewfinder as live view is too dark to see anything; this is a problem when I shoot very low down, taking flowers for instance, when the hinged rear screen is handy. Does anyone have a solution for this? I have never really understood how live view adjusts for shutter speed unless the software is doing the calculation and displaying what the result would look like, in which case can that be turned off so it resembles more the viewfinder?

Ordered a sofa from Laura Ashley last month, I just hope they stay solvent long enough to deliver it!

The last time I was in M&S the men’s clothing section had been reduced to a small corner at the back of the first floor, the rest given over to women’s underwear which you have to navigate first - shades of a Father Ted episode!

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate your comments. I tried a couple more conversions from my archive but that confirmed to me that if it works in colour then that’s how it should stay, there is a subtlety in colour which appeals; unless my reaction is wow, that’s how it was meant to be then it doesn’t get done. I have always been suspicious of the concept of “rescuing” a photo by changing it to b/w but I suppose that is what I have been doing, I much prefer the idea of seeing a scene as b/w from the outset which can be done in live view and which is what I attempted in the street scene.

Thanks again Lennybloke and John, I think my dislike stemmed from subjects I felt should have been in colour and had been monochromed for no valid reason. I have just been out between showers and grabbed a couple with the K1 set to b/w, the screen previews were b/w but the RAW files are in colour whilst the JPEGs are b/w; as the subject had a high dynamic range I shall have to see which files process better but I am guessing it will be the RAW files. I think I will also try some b/w film but the colour film in at present is only half used after eighteen months!

Well here are the two versions of the same image, the first is a jpeg processed in camera as b/w and with some post processing whilst the second is the RAW file with the same processing settings plus the b/w conversion. The RAW is definitely better but both have blown highlights.

And the RAW file