I don't buy the "worthless" settings between shutter speeds mentioned
below.
And here's why: I shot several frames AT the detents of shutter speeds.
The shots I took "in between" were clearly off, judging from what I got
back. WAY noticable, not due to shutter error.
If someone with experience in adjusting the shutters on these cameras
will step in and say I'm full of poop, I might just shut up. Grin.
Otherwise, I'm telling you, Pentax made the detents on shutter speeds
on KM's, probably K1000's and KX's, as a user feature, as analogue as
the detents on any of our lenses.. The shutter dial is stepless.
I personally find this useful and intend to use it from now on. K2
cameras have an electronically governed vertical shutter, and obey rules
I know not of.
So you see, I'm known to waste 20 shots trying to capture
one stupid flat wall with flash. What the heck do I know?
K\\\
One final comment: camera repair folks I've read say that to get these
manual cameras within a half stop throughout the range of 1 to 1000th
sec.
puts them in great shape. So I shot a few at each setting. I stand by
my results.
Todd Stanley wrote:
>
> The KX does have a stepless shutter, atleast. It's easy to hear at slow
> speeds, like between 1 sec and 1/2 sec. And with firing the flash at a
> wall without a lens on and the back open, I can see that you do not got the
> same amount of light between 1/60 and 1/125 as you do at either 1/60 (whole
> frame), and 1/125 (little less than half), leading me to believe that the
> shutter is firing somewhere between 1/60 and 1/125.
>
> I did notice what you are saying about shutter variances too, that if I set
> the camera to a speed (like 1/500), that the area that I get light is not
> always exactly the same, but it reasonably close to the same, and
> significantly different from 1/250 and 1/1000.
>
> As for the K2 and ES cameras, I thought they had electronically controlled
> shutters in manual mode too, and only a few speeds work without batteries,
> like X, B, and 1/1000? Hence the big hoopla over the new Nikon FM3A with
> stepless electronic shutter in automatic, plus all mechanical manual speeds.
>
> Anyway, like you say, this is probably moot. I don't think I will be using
> the KX out of the clicks on the shutter dial, a 1/2 stop change in exposure
> is much easier to change with the aperture ring. Plus what you say about
> variances in the shutter, meter, and camera operator is also true, and can
> add to more than 1/2 stop error easily.
>
> Todd
>
> At 11:31 AM 6/7/01 -0400, you wrote:
> >I believe that you will find that the K1000, KM, and KX all have rather
> >traditional, "stepped", if you will, shutters. They synchronize flash at
> >1/60th second, so testing with a flash above that speed is somewhat
> >meaningless. I would expect you to have gotten partially exposed frames for
> >speeds above 1/60th, diminishing in width as the speeds got higher. My
> >observation of exposures like this lead me to believe that the
> >synchronization is not consistent - the amount of the frame varies somewhat
> >from frame to frame even at the same shutter speed - (which is why it is not
> >recommended) and that by coincidence you might get what looks like an
> >exposed portion of the frame proportional to the in-between shutter speeds
> >set on the dial. Judging shutter speeds by ear is generally useful but not
> >a good scientific basis for a hypothesis that contradicts the
> >manufacturer-published specifications.
> >
> >The K2 (like the ES, and ESII) has an electronically controlled shutter when
> >used in automatic mode, and is stepless across the entire range (8 seconds
> >to 1/1000 second). That means that when the dial is set to "AUTO", and you
> >select an f-stop, you will get whatever fraction of a second's worth of
> >exposure that the meter deems appropriate. However, with the shutter set to
> >one of the manual speeds, you get a mechanically controlled, fixed shutter
> >speed. I can confirm this because we were given manufacturer training on
> >the sale of these cameras when they came out. The mechanical speeds on this
> >camera do not rely on the battery, and operate at the conventional
> >increments. (The same is true for the ES and ESII.)
> >
> >In any case, even manufacturer marketing hype notwithstanding, the
> >difference between one marked and another marked shutter speed is fairly
> >inconsequential when variances in meter and shutter speed accuracy, metering
> >methods, film latitude, and operator precision are taken into account. It's
> >nice that the ES, ESII and later aperture priority, automatic shutter
> >cameras will grab a shutter speed from a range of continuously variable
> >choices, but I don't think images shown side-by-side of a shot made at,
> >let's say 1/357th second, and *either* 1/250 or 1/500th second will show
> >significant differences in *practical* applications. (Obviously you might
> >expect to see differences between the shot at 1/250 and the one at 1/500,
> >and in the others under strictly controlled scientific or studio conditions,
> >but that's not the point I'm trying to make here.)
> >
> >Paul M. Provencher
> >(ppro)
> >
>
> >
> -
> This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe,
> go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to
> visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
-
This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe,
go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to
visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
