Pentax hyper-manual and hyper-program exposure modes
Pentax’s ingenuity with these exposure modes, set their cameras apart from other cameras. It is a super-easy and intuitive way to work with Manual and Program exposure modes. So it is good news that Pentax has continued doing this with their latest camera, the flagship Pentax K-1 (B&H / Amazon), in addition to all the other features of this camera.
When Pentax brought out the Pentax Z-1 / PZ-1 in the early 90’s, they re-thought the way a camera’s exposure modes should to be implemented. What they came up with was inspired. Their new camera had the usual range of exposures modes we all know, such as Shutter Priority (Tv) and Aperture Priority (Av). But Program mode became Hyper-Program; and Manual mode became Hyper-Manual. Sure this sounded gimmicky, until you handled the camera and realized what they achieved.
Hyper-Program
Hyper-Program worked like Program mode, except that if you dialed the shutter button, it would immediately change to Shutter Priority (Tv), as you change to specific shutter speeds. Similarly, if you dialed the Aperture dial, then the camera instantly changed to Aperture Priority mode (Av), as you set the aperture. No need to switch mode dials on the top of the camera. You just turned either the aperture dial or shutter speed dial to change between the modes at will. And if you wanted to return to the usual Program mode, you just hit the * (star) button. Intuitive and simple. (And no, this is completely different than Program Shift.)
Hyper-Manual
Hyper-Manual worked a similar elegant magic in how you controlled the camera’s manual exposure mode. Let’s say you rely on your built-in meter in this scenario. If you use any other camera in manual exposure mode, you have to dial the shutter button and aperture button to get to the correct combination for proper exposure. With Hyper-Manual, you just hit the * button, and the camera entered a combination of settings for you, depending on where you pointed your camera. This combination of settings could be according to a Program-mode line, or according to the shutter speed your camera happened to be at; or the aperture your camera happened to be at. (This was set deeper in the menu according to your preference.)
How it works in real use
Let’s say you knew you’d be working at f2.8 .. then you’d just hit the * button and the appropriate shutter speed was entered for you. Perfect for working with the camera’s spot-meter. If you’ve ever tried to spot-meter with a long lens on your camera while hand-holding it, AND looking at your metering display .. then you know how tough it is. But with Hyper-Manual mode, you just hit the * button while looking precisely where your spot-meter is aiming. Much faster. You just hit one button with your thumb, and you’re set.
Now, should you decide you have the correct exposure, but want to change your shutter speed or aperture, then you hit the Exposure Lock button, and change either the aperture or shutter speed .. and the other setting will follow in relation to the metering value that was entered.
With any other camera, let’s say you have 1/500th @ f2.8 but you want 1/200th @ f4.5 .. then you’d have to turn both dials by the same amount of clicks. But with Hyper-Manual mode, you lock the exposure combination, and just change the one dial. Either one. Doesn’t matter.
The way these two modes work is such an incredible stroke of genius, that any camera that doesn’t have those two modes, is severely hampered already. I wish every camera manufactured would adopt Pentax’s Hyper-Program and Hyper-Manual modes.
Hyper-Program vs. Program Shift
I’ve seen comments on various forums, and one of the questions that pop up every so often from various people, is whether program shift isn’t the same as Hyper-Program.
No, it isn’t. Here’s the difference:
With Program shift, your aperture and shutter speed is changed as you shift it. ie, with Program shift, a combination of 1/125th @ f5.6 will become:
1/100th @ f6.3
1/80th @ f7.1
or, the other way around, this combination becomes:
1/160th @ f5
1/200th @ 4.5
As you can see, the shutter speed and aperture vary simultaneously. This might be implemented differently for different camera makes and models, but this is how Program Shift is generally done.
With Hyper-Program, when you touch the shutter speed dial, the shutter speed is fixed at whatever you dial it to. In other words, it becomes Shutter Priority / Tv.
When you touch the aperture dial, the aperture is fixed at whatever you dial it to.
In other words, it becomes Aperture Priority / Av.
And back .. you can flip between Tv / Av and Pgm at will like that.
So … very different from Program Shift.
Hyper-Program is so fantastic, I wonder at times why Pentax just doesn’t just remove the Av and Tv modes altogether. It is rather amusing to watch Canikon friends change the dial to Av after they borrow my K10. If Pentax could engineer a less noisy sensor, I wouldn’t need any modes except Hyper-Program, TAv, and bulb.
I wouldn’t need anything else but Hyper-Program and Hyper-Manual, and B on my camera.
The others are superfluous.
btw .. I’m still waiting for Nikon and Canon’s engineering and design teams to call me.
The Hyper-Manual Feature would be a god send, I can’t believe Pentax has it, and Canon doesn’t. Nor can I believe there is not more demand for this feature.
My biggest aversion to photographing in Manual is that if I want to change the DOF of an image, but maintain the same exposure I have to change 2 dials, which is very time consuming in critical moments especially if I’m trying to photograph the same scene at both f/1.2 and stopped down to f/5.6 or something. This would require something like 13 clicks of the top dial and 13 clicks of the bottom dial – a NIGHTMARE
Canon does have a partial Hyper-Manual like feature where you can hold down the AE Lock button in AV mode and change through the Aperture values and the camera will switch the SS for you, however this is not workable in practice because you would have to keep the AE Lock held down indefinitely to retain the exposure lock – another nightmare
Hyper Manual is SO useful, it’s almost the only exposure mode you ever need. I never owned a Z-1p but I used one once and it was a highly underrated camera.
Actually, Pentax have a bit of a history of these innovations because they think about what the photographer wants rather than just making things bigger and faster. The K10D introduced Sv (ISO-priority) and TAv (the opposite of Sv). Funny thing is, I rarely use either because Hyper-Manual is just so good!
I agree, that the Pentax cameras offer some very useful features for photographers, however, since it has not been mentioned so far, I’d like to add that functions like Hyper Program and Hyper Manual can also be found on various Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony Alpha A-mount (D)SLRs:
What Pentax named Hyper Program is called Pa/Ps Create Program Control on the Minoltas, and it is available when setting the exposure mode to “P”. It was introduced with the Dynax/Maxxum/Alpha-7xi in 1991.
On some cameras it is possible to “reset” the program shift by pressing a particular button, for example the flash pop-up botton, or, with more “dramatic” consequences, the “[P]” panic button. On the Dynax 7, for example, you can switch the camera back to normal P mode by press the lock button on top of the exposure mode selector, on others it helps to manually flip up and down the built-in flash for a moment. Finally, the camera will switch back to normal by itself after a while without pressing the shutter button.
The various models differ in their exact shifting behaviour when you try to change either the shutter speed or aperture and the other parameter would thereby hit its limit (f.e. trying to choose a shorter shutter speed, while the maximum aperture of the attached lens has already been reached). On the high-end models (for example the Dynax/Maxxum/Alpha-9), the camera will assume the photographer knows what s/he’s doing and allow this, simply indicating this condition, which may result in under- or over-exposure, by a blinking value in the viewfinder. On the mid-range models (for example the 7 or 7D), the photographer would not be allowed to shift a parameter beyond the opposite parameter’s limits.
There’s another slight difference between models: Some models will put absolute priority on the dialed-in value whereas other models with try to maintain a good exposure and start to override the photographer’s setting, if the camera is not in AEL mode and illumination of the scenery changes in a way that the “free” parameter thereby hits one of its limits. Some cameras will just indicate under- or over-exposure in this situation, whereas others will override the setting by starting to de-shift the “non-free” parameter as much as is needed to maintain a good exposure. I wished this behaviour would be configurable in a custom-function, but it is not.
The 9xi in 1992 also introduced a feature named Manual Shift in M-mode. This appears to be very similar to the Hyper Manual mode found on the Pentax models. If you press and hold the AEL button while rotating the front or rear dial for shutter speed or aperture setting, the camera will lock the exposure and counter-shift the other parameter correspondingly. On later models, the AEL button can be configured between press-and-hold or toggle behaviour, making it even easier to work with Manual Shift.
AEL also has another function named Slow Sync; if you press it while using a flash, the camera will allow for longer shutter speeds also in P mode so that the available ambient light will get more weight in the resulting picture.
These functions can still be found on the newer models, including the Sony Alpha cameras, although they are typically only available with the “higher” models.
There’s one useful property of Pentax’s Hyper Manual implementation, which is not available on A-mount cameras, however. While you are in Manual mode, if you press the green button, the Pentax will choose a useful starting combination for shutter speed and aperture, as if you were working in Program mode. The exact behaviour is even configurable.
This is really a nice way to quickly reset to working default parameters for unforeseen snapshots, when the illumination has changed completely, or when you just have dialed in extreme parameters.
I would really like to see this and Pentax’s TAv and Sv modes be implemented in other manufacturers’ cameras as well.
BTW. The method described by Eric Schwab in the other thread also works on the Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony range of cameras, you just have to configure the dials in the custom functions, so that one dial is used for exposure compensation in A, S or P mode.
I forgot one more little known feature of the AEL button in the A-mount range of cameras:
If you are in manual mode and want to carry out some auto exposure bracketing (AEB), the camera will by default alter the shutter speed (it will alter the shutter speed in aperture priority and Pa and the aperture in shutter priority and Ps, and both in normal P program mode). However, if you press the AEL button while releasing the shutter, the camera will instead alter the aperture, not the shutter speed.
This feature is also useful in conjunction with non-dedicated flashes, where the flash output cannot be changed in a flash bracket series. Pressing AEL in manual mode, the camera will alter the aperture, and thereby it is also possible to shoot flash brackets with studio flash equipment connected via the PC socket for example.
Neil
As a Pentaxian for the past 30 yrs, I agree with your take on the Pentax’s Modes have a few friends who are Professional Photographers who don’t appreciate the simplicity and thoughtfulness of the way Pentax does things ( easy for the Photographer). Now if Pentax would only listen to you and incorporate some of the outstanding features of Nikon /Canon into it’s camera they would be a force to be reckoned with.
George
Uhm. I am pretty sure that this is just how Sony and Possibly Minolta works, no “hyper-anything” mode.
AEL in manual mode will always link aperture and shutter. Program mode is a little bit different, on my a700 and I’d imagine on any Sony with two wheels, one wheel will translate the exposure according to the program, while the other adjusts aperture to compensate the exposure. To compensate with shutter speed, you press the EC button and turn either dial. If you use one EC method and undo with the other, the meter scale naturally returns to zero.
The Pentaxes don’t have what you call “program shift”? ( I just bought my first digital camera, a K-50, and am afraid to take it out of the box.)
They do it one better! Hyper-Program.
Pentax have Program Shift also. I have set the Sv-mode on my K-S2 to manual ISO and Program Shift.
Plus I have HyperProgram when I want to, with the mode dial set to P.
Program Shift is also available on Pentax DSLR’s with one e-dial, I have it on my K-X in Program mode.
Should be the same with the K50. It’s turned on the settings menu.