Hello, I think first of all I should write some words about myself... I'm a 27 year old man from Romania, and I work as a programmer in a telecommunications company. I like music, chess, and of course photograpy :) After being a point&shooter for about a year, I have started to take some photographs which I actually like very much, but it happened more often than I found myself constrained by the capabilities of my P&S (an Exakta Zoom 90 AF). So I have decided to buy my first SLR. After a short search on the net the choices seemed to be clear: I should buy a Nikon or Canon. Then I have examined thoroughly the features and the prices of the respective cameras, and I accidentally found a Pentax MZ-6. I was amazed. (Still I am:) )
So I have just purchased my first SLR system: a kit formed by a Pentax MZ-6 camera with Pentax FA 28-90mm f3.5-5.6 lens, batteries and Cokin filter holder; Velbon CX-300 tripod, Lowepro Nova 1 camera bag, Rodenstock Skylight(1A) filter. I am still learning how to operate my camera, and I have found a quite interesting post on the net about the MZ-6: "The AE-L button on the back, right hand side of the camera (where your thumb falls naturally) is used to either spot meter or lock the exposure value (using evaluative metering). So what if you want to have spotmetering available at all times and still be able to lock exposure? Use PF-5 set to #1 will turn the AE-L button into the spotmeter lock and set PF-6 to #2 which will lock the exposure value when focus is confirmed." Is this correct? So with these settings I focus on a certain point, depress the shutter release halfway and I just locked the exposure (I assume this will be matrix metered). I recompose the picture, focus again, depress the shutter release halfway (for the second time)... and now what? The locked exposure remains or it will be erased? (According to the manual, PF-6 set to 2 means "AE lock is used when a subject is focused with shutter release button is depressed halfway down". I'm a little bit confused here. And if the exposure locks, for how much time is locked, and how can I erase it if I change my mind? Some newbie questions: Can I unmount the lens from the camera while it is loaded with film without accidentally exposing the film? Should I store my camera with the lens mounted, or it's better to take it off? Can I keep it all the time in the camera bag? Thanks in advance, Attila
