On 11/22/05, Fred <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The reason I put the lens cap on when firing up a new roll is that I'm > > cheap and don't want to pay for pics of nothing on the first couple of > > frames. I have been there and done that firing off many frames before > > realizing the LX was still on 1/2000's. What I do now is set the speed to > > 1/15's when firing off the first couple of frames, that way you will > > definitely know something is wrong if you forget to set it back to auto > > by hearing the long exposure. I believe I got that from Fred. Works for > > me. > > And for me, too - <g>. Yes, Steve, I did mention the above - here's my > original post in reply to yours: > > >> Hi, set the LX to 1/2000`s when putting in film. VERY IMPORTANT: > >> remember to set it back to what you want after you`re done. > > > I would add just a little suggestion of my own to your suggestion, > > Steve: > > > I tend to keep my LX's in the Auto shutter dial position (for > > aperture-preferred autoexposure mode) for most (probably 90%) of my > > shooting, and only switch to manual as a deliberate action for a > > particular shooting situation. One disadvantage of the Auto > > position is that one can't load film with the shutter dial set to > > Auto, since (if light is being blocked from entering the body) the > > LX will just hold the shutter open indefinitely (or so it would > > seem). > > > Now, for me, the problem is that, if I use 1/2000 for loading film, > > I potentially can (easily) forget to put the shutter dial back on > > Auto (and indeed, in a few "senior moments", I have literally done > > just that, ruining some exposures for a few frames until I noticed > > my blatant stupidity). Your "VERY IMPORTANT" warning, Steve is very > > a good one to make. > > > I now (and it's even become automatic with me, having done this for > > a while) set the shutter speed to 1/60, 1/30, or 1/15 (not critical) > > for loading film. The advantage of this is that the shutter sound > > at slower speeds is distinctive, and, if I forget to put the shutter > > dial back on Auto, my error of omission is audibly obvious with my > > very first mistaken exposure. (The disadvantage of doing this is > > that it is a little more of a nuisance to rotate the shutter dial > > all the way to some slow speed and back, compared to using 1/2000, > > which is only "one click away" from Auto.) > > > By the way, the necessity of not leaving the shutter dial at 1/2000 > > (instead of resetting to Auto) is evident whether one is using flash > > or not. For natural light, 1/2000 is usually not going to be a > > suitable speed just "by luck", although this depends on the film > > speed, aperture, and lighting, of course. Then, the problem with > > using flash at 1/2000 is that (unlike when properly set to Auto or > > X) there is no flash sync set, so one doesn't even have a prayer of > > getting a "lucky" exposure. (And, unfortunately, I can speak from > > experience on both of these situations - <g>.) > > > The Super Program and Super A, with their automatic loading speed of > > 1/1000, are more "idiot-proof" for nincompoops like me - <g>. > > Fred
Fred and Steve, Thanks for the good idea. I've always set it at 1/2000th or 1/1000th, so as to let as little light in as possible, but hell, that don't make no difference, especially with a cap on! A slow shutter speed would make it hard to take more than a frame without noticing. Thanks again, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
