Beginner Just purchased a Pentax P30 SLR

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jack1988

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Jack
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Hi guys,

I have just bought a camera (pentax) and was wondering how I will tell if my pictures are gonna be over or under exposed. A manual didnt come with the camera and when i look through the viewfinder there are various symbols on the left.

I am using 400 ISO film. Any tips for what my aperture and shutter speed should be on a normal- not too sunny- day ?
 
You’re better asking this question in Talk Film & Conventional. You’ll get a better response from the guys in there.
 
I don't know this particular camera, but i've managed to find the manual online and had a quick look through. If you're shooting in Program mode, it looks like the needle on the left will go to the top and start blinking for overexposure and go to the bottom and start blinking for underexposure.

The manual can be found here https://www.cameramanuals.org/pentax_pdf/pentax_p30t.pdf and the page i was referencing is page 21.
 
Hi,

Check out www.pentaxuser.com someone might have a spare manual, they are not hard to get. I have the 'bigger brother' the P50 but the operating of the cameras are very different.

In terms of exposure with an ISO 400 mm film - If you take the Sunny 16 rule - on an ISO 100 film you'd be shooting 1/60th at f16, on a less than sunny day you'd be shooting at f8 or f11, in which case I'd shoot at something like 1/125th at f11, you'll still get plenty of depth of field, shutter speed better to counter camera shake. And if you are shooting print film it has plenty of latitude for exposure error.

Welcome to TP.
 
Welcome. I have a Pentax P30N from many years ago, I still use it occasionally, I currently have a film in it which I put in at the beginning of the year!

Which model P30 have you got? The P30N has lights on the right of the viewfinder indicating the shutter speed which you should notice change as you change the aperture. They show your chosen shutter in green and the camera's meter reading in orange, you can then adjust the dial until they coincide and the blinking stops.

Also, something which is debunked quite often is the Sunny16 rule could as a starting point.

Why did you go for the P30 as a matter of interest. Pentax seem to be be very unfashionable at the moment.

Good luck, hope that helps.

Howard

PS Beaten to it by @welshwizard645, he's got some very good advice there.
 
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Hi,

I'm not sure which one it is. P30 is all i know. It has lights on the left hand side of the viewfinder. They are orange and start with 1 and then when i adjust the aperture it goes up to 4, 8 etc. I can get the orange number to disappear completely. Is that what i should be aiming to do?

20201204_143202.jpg
 
1 is ONE Second, 4 is 1/4 second, 8 is 1/8th second -- you need to go higher to get a faster shutter speed say 125 which is 1/125th second You are LUCKY to 'START' with a PENTAX !

When I started photography at East Ham Grammar School Photographic Society I had only the use of my Mum's Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Box Camera taking 8 pictures on a film and I would Cycle from Manor Park to Lea Bridge Road Leytonstone to a wonderful Emporium called 'Marston & Heards' where they sold all manner of ex- WWII Government Film, Paper and Chemicals and buy a roll of ex-RAF ORTHO Film at 6 Old Pence a roll ( 2.5 New Pence ) out of my Pocket Money ! The Ancient Proprietor would 'Blow The Dust' off as he handed over some 'treasures' to us Impoverished School Boys ! I even took photos at Farnborough Air Show in about 1952 with that Box camera -- NO WONDERFUL PENTAX then !
Here are some of my Box camera Photos -
32078666950_cb6d277654_c.jpg31645072553_94b623af74_c.jpg32335641891_1baf3cebef_c.jpg
Then I saved up £24 quids odd for a British 'Ensign Selfix 16/20 model II with 75mm f3.5 Ross Xpres lens -- NO f1.7 LENSES then !
Here are some of my FIRST EVER Selfix Shots all home-Processed and Printed --
32355785451_9d1262bf77_c.jpg32477477725_c9e1dc2627_c.jpg32416899136_f455135cdc_c.jpg
 
The original P30 seems to be a bit different to the P30T in the manual above, and the P30N Howard mentions. The P30 manual is here:

simonhawketts.co.uk

Pentax P30 35mm Camera Manual - Everything Vintage

The Camera Manual for the Pentax P30 in PDF format
simonhawketts.co.uk simonhawketts.co.uk

If I'm reading this correctly the P30T and P30N have an 'A' position on the shutter speed dial, which I think is aperture priority auto if the aperture is set manually, or full auto if the lens is also set to 'A' But the P30 doesn't have this - the word 'PROGRAM' is on the shutter speed dial, but doesn't seem to be a selectable position. From the manual, it looks like the camera is in full auto program mode when the lens is set to 'A', no matter what position the shutter speed dial is set to. If the lens is set to anything else, then the camera is in full manual mode. Does this sound right? Earlier Pentax lenses don't have an 'A' setting, so I suppose this camera will only work in full manual mode with those.

Jack, what lens do you have, and does it have an 'A' setting? If it does and you set it, does 'P' light up in the viewfinder? In that case, the camera will be controlling both aperture and shutter speed for you, so exposures should be correct in most outdoor conditions (and bright indoor light) with 400 ISO film. You'll need to switch back to manual mode when you want to take more creative control, but 'P' mode is fine for snapshots.
 
Retune said:
The original P30 seems to be a bit different to the P30T in the manual above, and the P30N Howard mentions. The P30 manual is here:

simonhawketts.co.uk

Pentax P30 35mm Camera Manual - Everything Vintage

The Camera Manual for the Pentax P30 in PDF format
simonhawketts.co.uk simonhawketts.co.uk

If I'm reading this correctly the P30T and P30N have an 'A' position on the shutter speed dial, which I think is aperture priority auto if the aperture is set manually, or full auto if the lens is also set to 'A' But the P30 doesn't have this - the word 'PROGRAM' is on the shutter speed dial, but doesn't seem to be a selectable position. From the manual, it looks like the camera is in full auto program mode when the lens is set to 'A', no matter what position the shutter speed dial is set to. If the lens is set to anything else, then the camera is in full manual mode. Does this sound right? Earlier Pentax lenses don't have an 'A' setting, so I suppose this camera will only work in full manual mode with those.

Jack, what lens do you have, and does it have an 'A' setting? If it does and you set it, does 'P' light up in the viewfinder? In that case, the camera will be controlling both aperture and shutter speed for you, so exposures should be correct in most outdoor conditions (and bright indoor light) with 400 ISO film. You'll need to switch back to manual mode when you want to take more creative control, but 'P' mode is fine for snapshots.
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Nope, no A on the lens. It's full manual!
 
In that case, you can follow the instructions for metered manual (from p24 in the version of the camera manual I linked). If you add more lenses in future, you might want to look out for 'KA' versions with the 'A' setting, which will allow you to use 'P' mode.
 
Just adjust the shutter speed on the camera, or the aperture on the lens, until the indicator light in the viewfinder is green... simple! You can deliberately over or under expose if you want. The camera reads the iso from the film canister automatically.

Half press the shutter to bring up the lights if they disappear.

The P30 is a simple but reliable camera. Make sure the foam light seals around the door are okay. I prefer the P30n to be honest, no foam light seals.
 
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I was GIVEN a P30n . I do not use it often as there is NO 'Manual Over-ride' for setting ASA /ISO and NO' Exposure Compensation' control -- so if I want to load with Kodak P800 Press film outdated and set 125 as I tend to rate it now I cannot do it . Only way is to take everything on 'Manual Exposure' and set by my Weston Master meters disregard the readout for 800 in viewfinder.
 
pentaxpete said:
I was GIVEN a P30n . I do not use it often as there is NO 'Manual Over-ride' for setting ASA /ISO and NO' Exposure Compensation' control -- so if I want to load with Kodak P800 Press film outdated and set 125 as I tend to rate it now I cannot do it . Only way is to take everything on 'Manual Exposure' and set by my Weston Master meters disregard the readout for 800 in viewfinder.
Click to expand...
What happens if you tape over the D.X. code?
 
I always liked the look of the higher end MZ-S, though I understand its unusual design isn't universally loved by Pentax fans.
 
Retune said:
I always liked the look of the higher end MZ-S, though I understand its unusual design isn't universally loved by Pentax fans.
Click to expand...

A magnificent camera, dream to use. But very different in operation to the Z-1p that came before it. Many ways a much better camera, but did lack a few features that the Z-1/Z-1p had. At one point I owned all 3 models, but I have only one now, the Z-1p (plus the recently acquired P50),
 
I had an MZ-3 which was lovely, sold that outfit to go digital many moons ago, but acquired an MZ-5n more recently. The plastic pentaxes are not universally popular but are very good cameras.
 
Yes -- I was GIVEN a Pentax MZ-5 outfit by a Bloke who went 'NIKON DIGITAL' -- he said he could not get good results with his new NIKON so asked ME to 'Test' it -- I never ever USED a NIKON DIGITAL -- anyway - I took it out into Brentwood and tried all the expensive lenses and put one result into a Brentwood District Photographic Club Comp and WON AN AWARD with the blasted NIKON Digital ! Ha ha !
Pentax MZ-5.jpg
 
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