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Hey guys, got a question...
Ive got a pentax k1000 and ive read that to turn off the light meter you simply put the lens cap on, but this doesnt seem to be working and unless i remove the battery the light meter is permanently on and wasting energy. Any one got an idea of how to remedy this?
the light meter on K1000's do only turn on if there is some kind of measurable amount of light coming through the lens, so putting the lens cap should be the only way to turn it off. I'm a little confused how you can even tell that its still on if you've put the cap on, I mean, doesn't it look pitch black thru your viewfinder? you shouldn't even be able to see the needle, nevermind if its still making light measurement adjustments.
basically the only way that i know is that i bought a new battery for it, by the end of the day the battery was dead, so it looks like it was doing readings all day.
also if i look through the viewfinder (as you said) its completley black, then if i take the lens cap off while still looking through the viewfinder the needle moves up from the very bottom of the scale (as if it was measuring darkness) into the middle roughly
nah, if its at the very bottom of the scale, that means its not measure any light and it's off. I mean, where do you expect the needle to go when you have the cap on? just vanish?
and if its returning roughly to the middle when you take the cap off, then you still have some juice left.
In fact, I think i remember when my battery would run out that the needle would be suck in the middle even with the cap on.
So long as yours is still dipping to the bottom when you cap it up, you should still have power.
my guess is one of 3 things, 1. you had a shit battery (I know you said you put a new one in, but I've used expired "new" batteries before and had this happen, so check your dates). 2. somehow you left the cap off at some point, or it slipped off on its own at some extended period. or 3. My old K-1000 used to sometimes give me funky readings if I left the ISO wheel in between certain higher speed settings. but that was really inconsistent, and I haven't really heard of it doing that to anyone else's pentaxs.
You probably won't like this suggestion, as it involves sort of ignoring your problem and spending more money, but...
Whenever possible, you should use a hand-held light meter anyways. it's not convenient for
all shooting scenarios, but the amount of precision it allows you under more controlled scenarios (like shooting friends skating as apposed to taking a photo of that crazy looking homeless person on the subway train that you're pretty sure is hiding a knife under their coat).
and in fact, even in such a crazy spot of shooting lunatics with possible knives, it'll allow you the discretion of shooting from the hip without needing to look thru the viewfinder to get your reading first. So its even handy in not so controlled scenarios, when discretion is preferred.
I know that 90% of the ones on the market today are crazy expensive, but I used to have this one back in college:
you can still find them for around 150 used (maybe even less if you hunt around)
and it works amazingly, isn't as big and bulky as other meters, and can be used for both direct and reflective light readings.
I guess the newer models can even be slid into your hotshoe (which seems kinda unnecessary to me, but hey, i guess its another way to carry it around or whatever)
Topic: the photography thread. (Read 717434 times)