Why doesn't F1.6 appear on LCD?
 

I finally found the time to turn my new pd150 on for the first time. But, when I tried to adjust the iris manually (by turning the dial), all F values were displayed on the LCD except for F1.6. Does anyone know why?

Thank you.

For some reason they just decided to display "open", indicating the iris is wide open. Perhaps this is because the largest f-stop varies depending on the level of zoom. At full zoom you would never reach f 1.6, however you could still have the iris open all the way.

Boyd, thank you for your reply.

So, let me see if I understand correctly; when you've zoomed in all the way and the iris is wide open, the f1.6 value does not appear on the LCD implying/indicating that the iris is at its lowest F value? Is that what you're saying?

The 12x zoom lens is only f1.6 (the fastest aperture) at the wide-angle end of the zoom. As soon as you move towards telephoto the maximum aperture of the lens decreases, and this effect is directionally proportional to the focal length you've reached.

That's why the word 'open' apears. The maximum aperture that is available to you is constantly changing and is onlt fixed (within production tolerances of course) at the wide (f1.6) and the telephoto (f2.4) end.

So remember, if it gets dark shoot at wide-angle. If you zoom to telephoto you have to double the amount of light in the room to get the same exposure on tape.

tom.

Thank you, Tom; I appreciate it.