My (new) camera! And a question.

[Cricketboy]

I looked around on the net and found a good quality Pentax K1000 and bought it. I'm pretty new with 35mm, and I heard this was an excellent camera that was used, and is still used.



I have a question about the light meter. The light meter doesn't seem to respond indoors at all. As soon as I point it out the window set at 1/60 200 iso, it jumps into the good zone (needle exactly between - and +). The lighting conditions outside are cloudy and there is a foot of snow on covering everything. When I point the camera at a set two 100w daylight CFL bulbs the meter doesn't go above the - until I set the film speed to 1/4 or below, this doesn't seem right. I'm thinking a dead battery? It did ship during a very cold blizzard over the weekend.

 

[Canon AE-1]

Hey, thats a nice camera. I'm not familiar with the Pentax K1000 but I'm sure someone here is.

 

[ann]

try boosting the ASA/Iso dial up and see if you get a reading then. Probably not enough light in the room and so it is saying "no photo taking here"

 

[Cricketboy]

try boosting the ASA/Iso dial up and see if you get a reading then. Probably not enough light in the room and so it is saying "no photo taking here"

Thanks, I just tried that, and the meter moved between the - and + indoors at 1/250, 1600 ISO. I've never switched the ISO from what kind of film was in it on a 35mm camera before. It's ok to do that on the K1000? For example, it's ok to switch the ISO up to 800 if I have 200 speed film in the camera if I switch from outdoor to indoor shooting? Will it change photo quality?

I'm used to using a much newer Vivitar V4000s, and the light meter says it's over exposed when I point it at the ceiling lights.

 

[ziggo]

I have a Praktica MTL3 which meters the light through a battery dependant system. You might want to replace your battery. In a dimly lit room I can point the camera at a 40W lightbulb and the meter goes full into the plus zone with 1/125, ISO 200 and f1.8

 

[djacobox372]

try boosting the ASA/Iso dial up and see if you get a reading then. Probably not enough light in the room and so it is saying "no photo taking here"

Thanks, I just tried that, and the meter moved between the - and + indoors at 1/250, 1600 ISO. I've never switched the ISO from what kind of film was in it on a 35mm camera before. It's ok to do that on the K1000? For example, it's ok to switch the ISO up to 800 if I have 200 speed film in the camera if I switch from outdoor to indoor shooting? Will it change photo quality?

I'm used to using a much newer Vivitar V4000s, and the light meter says it's over exposed when I point it at the ceiling lights.

No, you cannot change the iso of the film by changing the iso setting on the camera--the iso setting tells the camera what film is in it, if you tell it that it's 1600 and it's only 200 your shots will end up underexposed. Changing the iso was just recommended as a test for the meter.

What aperture are you using? as a guideline indoor shots in "living room" lighting would be somewhere around 1/30 at f2 at iso 200 film.

It does seem strange that it doesn't go up dramatically when pointing it at the lights.

 

[Cricketboy]

try boosting the ASA/Iso dial up and see if you get a reading then. Probably not enough light in the room and so it is saying "no photo taking here"

Thanks, I just tried that, and the meter moved between the - and + indoors at 1/250, 1600 ISO. I've never switched the ISO from what kind of film was in it on a 35mm camera before. It's ok to do that on the K1000? For example, it's ok to switch the ISO up to 800 if I have 200 speed film in the camera if I switch from outdoor to indoor shooting? Will it change photo quality?

I'm used to using a much newer Vivitar V4000s, and the light meter says it's over exposed when I point it at the ceiling lights.

No, you cannot change the iso of the film by changing the iso setting on the camera--the iso setting tells the camera what film is in it, if you tell it that it's 1600 and it's only 200 your shots will end up underexposed. Changing the iso was just recommended as a test for the meter.

What aperture are you using? as a guideline indoor shots in "living room" lighting would be somewhere around 1/30 at f2 at iso 200 film.

It does seem strange that it doesn't go up dramatically when pointing it at the lights.

There's no lens on the camera, I'll put a lens on and set it at the lowest aperture and see what I get for results.

 

[Cricketboy]

Ok, at F3.5 (lowest for the lens, Vivitar 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8) shutter 1/30, and ISO 3200 the needle will go into the safe zone, if I raise the shutter speed, or lower the ISO, the needle dips. Changing the aperture doesn't have an effect on the needle.

I'm thinking the battery is running very low. I'll go and get a new one tomorrow.

 

[flatflip]

I would definitely try a new battery. Great camera. The aperture adjustment should make plenty of movement on the meter. I like your 35-70 lens. Check out getting a 50mm with 2.0 or 1.7 aperture. Maybe cheap on ebay. Just a great looking fun lens that is so easy to carry around on your neck or shoulder.

I had that camera 20 yrs ago and just recently purchased it again. I hope to get a macro soon enough. Maybe something over 100mm. There a few owners manuals on ebay too.

Have Fun, Mick

 

[white]

For example, it's ok to switch the ISO up to 800 if I have 200 speed film in the camera if I switch from outdoor to indoor shooting? Will it change photo quality?

All it's doing is tricking your meter. If you have 200 in the back and tell the camera you're shooting 800, your shots will be underexposed by 2 stops if you develop the roll as if it was 200. If you develop the roll as if it was 800 iso, you are pushing the film.

It's roll film, though. So it's all or nothing, you see. If you shot half the roll at it's normal 200 iso, then switched the iso on the camera to 800, half is going to be underexposed (or overexposed) by 2 stops when you go to develop, depending on which speed is chosen.

Changing the iso dial is a handy trick, though. I was out shooting in the snow a couple days ago and I wanted to overexpose a couple frames by 2 stops, but I didn't want to change the aperture or shutter. So I just changed the iso from 400 to 100, and when I go to develop the roll at 400 iso like normal, those few frames will come out like planned.

So changing the iso dial is like exposure compensation.

 

[Cricketboy]

For example, it's ok to switch the ISO up to 800 if I have 200 speed film in the camera if I switch from outdoor to indoor shooting? Will it change photo quality?

All it's doing is tricking your meter. If you have 200 in the back and tell the camera you're shooting 800, your shots will be underexposed by 2 stops if you develop the roll as if it was 200. If you develop the roll as if it was 800 iso, you are pushing the film.

It's roll film, though. So it's all or nothing, you see. If you shot half the roll at it's normal 200 iso, then switched the iso on the camera to 800, half is going to be underexposed (or overexposed) by 2 stops when you go to develop, depending on which speed is chosen.

Changing the iso dial is a handy trick, though. I was out shooting in the snow a couple days ago and I wanted to overexpose a couple frames by 2 stops, but I didn't want to change the aperture or shutter. So I just changed the iso from 400 to 100, and when I go to develop the roll at 400 iso like normal, those few frames will come out like planned.

So changing the iso dial is like exposure compensation.

Thank you for clearing that up!

I'm REALLY hoping the meter not responding to bright light is just a low battery. I pretty much rely on the meter at my level of photography. It did ship in the cold, and that probably killed it.

 

[Cricketboy]

I got a new battery, the meter is reading better indoors in low light. It also responds much more snappy than before.

I tried pointing my digital camera at the light to see what it would say for ISO, shutter, and aperture. It gives me about the same reading as the K1000 was saying I should take the photo at. The digital gave me 1/5 of a second shutter speed, ISO 150, f3.5. It turns out I'm so used to the light that it seems bright. It's really not very bright in the room at all.

Also, I read from other posts that the K1000s meter meters light with an average over the whole frame, my other 35mm meters light in the center of the frame.

I found out that the moving the aperture ring on the lens I have doesn't move the iris at all, only when I'm taking the photo, so changing the aperture doesn't effect meter movement.

 

[flatflip]

I got a new battery, the meter is reading better indoors in low light. It also responds much more snappy than before.

I tried pointing my digital camera at the light to see what it would say for ISO, shutter, and aperture. It gives me about the same reading as the K1000 was saying I should take the photo at. The digital gave me 1/5 of a second shutter speed, ISO 150, f3.5. It turns out I'm so used to the light that it seems bright. It's really not very bright in the room at all.

Also, I read from other posts that the K1000s meter meters light with an average over the whole frame, my other 35mm meters light in the center of the frame.

I found out that the moving the aperture ring on the lens I have doesn't move the iris at all, only when I'm taking the photo, so changing the aperture doesn't effect meter movement.

If you ever get a pentax 50mm lens you can look forward to the aperture adjustment affecting the light meter.

 

[ann]

the lens is wide open for viewing, until you fire the shutter, it then shuts down to the fstop you have chosen'