Pentax S1A - exposure settings.

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Film bought and time to put a roll through the camera. From this first 36 exposures I'm aiming to find out a few things. Most important of all, does everything work and are there any light leaks. Secondly, how good is my estimation when it comes to exposing the film correctly or as near as damn it. Wanting to use it for landscapes at the moment, with a trip to the Lakes coming up in the autumn. It's a b&w film ISO400. I've seen a few videos which talk about the sunny f16 ... Shutter speed the same as the film speed. The S1a starts at 1/500 and then halves more or less to 1 sec. If it's cloudy open the aperture a stop and so on. But, I want to stay at f11, f16 for landscapes. Do I halve the speed then? Is there a crib sheet to help me?
 
In the UK, I use Sunny-11. I think Sunny-16 was devised by Californians.... :popcorn:

Set to f/11, then set your shutter to 1/ISO if it's "sunny".

However someone here linked to this cheat sheet which is tiny and awesome (if anyone has the credit for this, let me know and I'll update the OP!)

Dropbox PDF download

Edit: I think my favourite description is "apolcalyptic darkness"
 
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In the UK, I use Sunny-11. I think Sunny-16 was devised by Californians.... :popcorn:

Set to f/11, then set your shutter to 1/ISO if it's "sunny".

However someone here linked to this cheat sheet which is tiny and awesome (if anyone has the credit for this, let me know and I'll update the OP!)

Dropbox PDF download

Edit: I think my favourite description is "apolcalyptic darkness"

I love that one!:
'Apocalyptic darkness with dark skies. Incoming thunderstorm etc.'
'Very well lit indoors, something like an Apple store.'
'A bit s***tier indoor light. Dim lights or dirty windows.'
 
I've never had a Pentax S1a, but according to rumour, when Asahi wanted to produce a cheaper model than the £100 SV, they created the £70 S1a by removing the self timer and removing the 1000 engraving on the shutter dial. Opinions varied as to whether they tested the 1000th or not, but it was reckoned to work. I'd be interested to know if you can confirm the story of the 1000th second speed.
 
Thanks @Harlequin565 , this forum never fails to deliver the goods.
I've never had a Pentax S1a, but according to rumour, when Asahi wanted to produce a cheaper model than the £100 SV, they created the £70 S1a by removing the self timer and removing the 1000 engraving on the shutter dial. Opinions varied as to whether they tested the 1000th or not, but it was reckoned to work. I'd be interested to know if you can confirm the story of the 1000th second speed.
Will give it a go. Something to do with the "T" on the dial?
 
Film bought and time to put a roll through the camera. From this first 36 exposures I'm aiming to find out a few things. Most important of all, does everything work and are there any light leaks. Secondly, how good is my estimation when it comes to exposing the film correctly or as near as damn it. Wanting to use it for landscapes at the moment, with a trip to the Lakes coming up in the autumn. It's a b&w film ISO400. I've seen a few videos which talk about the sunny f16 ... Shutter speed the same as the film speed. The S1a starts at 1/500 and then halves more or less to 1 sec. If it's cloudy open the aperture a stop and so on. But, I want to stay at f11, f16 for landscapes. Do I halve the speed then? Is there a crib sheet to help me?
You've loaded the right film. You can stop down that far in most outdoor daylight conditions, shooting at 1/500s in the brightest sunlight, slowing down to maybe 1/60s and opening up to f/11 or f/8 in the dimmest, overcast daylight (though I'd generally shoot at 1/125s and above with an SLR to avoid camera shake and open up a bit more; around f/8 is often the sweet spot for a standard lens in any case).

There are also lightmeter phone apps to help, though it's worth developing the skill of estimating by eye. At one point, with a meterless rangefinder, I got pretty good at this. One day, when shooting with a different, metered, camera, it bothered me that the readings were about a stop out from what I was expecting. It took me a while to realise I'd loaded 800 ISO instead of my usual 400, so my eye was in but my brain was out!
 
Thanks @Harlequin565 , this forum never fails to deliver the goods.

Will give it a go. Something to do with the "T" on the dial?
No, T is for time exposures (like B, but you don't have to hold down the button; the shutter stays open after you press the button until you turn the dial again). See the manual in the other thread. I think the secret 1/1000 will be in the position it's engraved on the SV, between T and 1/500.
 
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No, T is for time exposures (like B, but you don't have to hold down the button; the shutter stays open after you press the button until you turn the dial again). See the manual in the other thread. I think the secret 1/1000 will be in the position it's engraved on the SV, between T and 1/500.
Got it.
 
I've never had a Pentax S1a, but according to rumour, when Asahi wanted to produce a cheaper model than the £100 SV, they created the £70 S1a by removing the self timer and removing the 1000 engraving on the shutter dial. Opinions varied as to whether they tested the 1000th or not, but it was reckoned to work. I'd be interested to know if you can confirm the story of the 1000th second speed.

I had one as my snap shot camera for years. The 1/1000 Position works just fine but I do not think they ever calibrated that speed. It had better action stopping power than the1/500 but was probably nearer 1/750 0n mine. I can't check now as the mirror is jammed. It could easily be fixed but would cost more than it is worth. But I keep it anyway.
 
Thanks Terry. It's always good to hear the voice of experience. (y)
 
Thanks Terry. It's always good to hear the voice of experience.
One more snippet: I used to run a SV and S1A side by side (50mm on one and 135mm on the other, generally). If I metered for 1/1000, both cameras would expose to much the same density. As a matter of personal taste, I found the screen on the SV to be slightly snappier when focussing but that might just have been my eyes. :LOL:
 
How funny, Terry and I had the same! I had an S1a and SV with the 50mm and 135mm Takumar lenses. However I used one of those clip-on Pentax meters as I recall that sat on top of the prism housing and engaged with the shutter speed dial. Mostly using FP4 and Tri-X films, my exposure settings rarely diverged from 1/125 to 500 and f11-f4 and I quite quickly developed (no pun unintended) an eye for judging light.
An experiment, if you're not too stressed about wasting some shots on the film, is to take a series of exposures working through the combinations of aperture and shutter speed for the same subject within the space of a few minutes, jotting down the settings for each exposure. Then when you get the film back from dev, you might be able to find your sweet spot around which to base any variations.
 
How funny, Terry and I had the same! I had an S1a and SV with the 50mm and 135mm Takumar lenses. However I used one of those clip-on Pentax meters as I recall that sat on top of the prism housing and engaged with the shutter speed dial. Mostly using FP4 and Tri-X films, my exposure settings rarely diverged from 1/125 to 500 and f11-f4 and I quite quickly developed (no pun unintended) an eye for judging light.
An experiment, if you're not too stressed about wasting some shots on the film, is to take a series of exposures working through the combinations of aperture and shutter speed for the same subject within the space of a few minutes, jotting down the settings for each exposure. Then when you get the film back from dev, you might be able to find your sweet spot around which to base any variations.

..and don't forget to mention:- Pentax radioactive lenses (with thorium) that turn slightly yellow if you don't use them and expose them to light ;) Not to worry anyone as you can get more radiation living in rocky parts of the country or even from food or building materials.
 
An experiment, if you're not too stressed about wasting some shots on the film, is to take a series of exposures working through the combinations of aperture and shutter speed for the same subject within the space of a few minutes, jotting down the settings for each exposure. Then when you get the film back from dev, you might be able to find your sweet spot around which to base any variations.
I'd thought about that for our trip to the Lakes. We always worked on the "1 decent shot" from a roll of 36. Up on the hills with a decent composition, it has to be worth trying 3 settings. I'm in no rush to become a pro. Retirement and plenty of time to learn.
 
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