srt101fan

Yes...

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

This entire subject is getting a little silly but my two cents worth: Yes, because that is the equivalent of choosing what film to use.

nikon7200

A 4, 5 or 6 speed transmission with a clutch!

waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

True

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

When you set the camera to M you will see through the viewfinder a little scale with a 0 in the middle. As you change the Fstop or point of focus the pointer on the scale will move towards or away from the 0 if it doesn't want to move you can change the ISO higher or lower so that you can get a 'range' available.

deciding whether you want to expose for the light areas is points to the right or expose for the darker areas is the number of points to the left away from the zero.

if you have an electronic viewfinder or live view you can see the effect of these choices on the LED screen. The image will become brighter or darker.

But you need to have the pointer within the scale! Or you will end up with a white pinky image file or a totally black image file.

Now that is the technical stuff that people say you 'must do'. Those that say you must also remember to use F8 or 'sunny 16' had a fixed iso using film speed(ASA) with digital you can up the ISO so that you have the ability to get a correct range in any lens or light.

Auto focus works so that the image is sharp ......but WHERE you focus WILL make the pointer move too...because you are altering the strength and amount of light that enters the sensor.

note....using too high an ISO to silly numbers will increase noise (grainy images)

Try it and see if it makes you 'think' and 'see' about how your image can be made 'better' by using different settings than your camera chooses in auto or apperture /speed priority.

what you MUST do ....is enjoy photography and what you shoot - how you chooses to do that is up to you

have fun

swartfort Loc: Evansville, IN

I believe that anyone who claims that manual mode is the best exposure setting for every type of photography in every situation, is the most accurate definition of the often referred to "MANUAL SNOB"....

Learn it all, shoot what is best for you in the particular situation to get the shot that you want. THAT my friend is why Canon, Nikon, Sony, et.al. put the various modes on their cameras. So we can have a variety of shooting methods for the variety of shooting situations we find ourselves in. Don't let anybody, or your own lack of knowledge limit your choices, ignore them, learn more for yourself.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

And here starts the slug feast.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

Manual is thing you read to understand manual mode.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

What about "three on a tree"? 😀

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Wow, the confusion continues. Now you are saying a camera JPEG is not an Automatic feature? Cleared up some water while muddying other.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Hey, my first SLR was an Asahi Pentax KM too. Got stolen, damn. Cool, your KM must have been a different variant than mine. Mine did not have a split image screen. I had a Pentax K1000 SE that did. That was so easy to focus. That got jacked the some time the KM did. Also my first lens was a Asahi smc-Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 lens. Buy the time I got my camera the original -K lenses were already phased out for the more compact -M series. Did you get your stuff in Canada? Perhaps the marketing and products differed slightly?

Yes, my Pentax digital cameras, K-3, K-5, K-20D, all have a light and beep when focus is achieved even when using a vintage manual focus lens too.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

My Nikons have that light and sound as well, but it only seems accurate with normal shooting and not when shooting macro

BebuLamar

I have 2 Pentax KX which I believe having the same screen as the KM which doesn't have the split image but has a small circle of microprism. I don't need neither to focus though.

Nikon1201

Watch utube on camera manual operation ( there probably 50 ) he will have a good handle and then he can practice, practice, practice.

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

No! It is NOT an automatic feature. It is the equivalent of taking your color film roll down to the drugstore to be processed. The processing can now be done free by your camera, yielding jpegs instead of slides. And like the film, you can opt to process it yourself by shooting raw.