[Rryan14]

I just received a K-5 for Christmas, having come from a Nikon D90. I like the K-5 quite a bit but can't say my first photos were all that great. I am wondering if there are a set of recommended settings for setting up the camera - kind of like Ken Rockwell's posts for Nikon SLRs where he tells which ISO/NR/WB/etc setting to change (in his opinion, of course). In reading through the not-so-great K-5 manual, it's hard to know which default settings are generally good versus bad. I would appreciate any help.

One last question: I have the kit 18-55 lens and want to buy either the 35mm 2.4 or 40mm 2.8 limited lens. Aside from the size (physical and focal length), is the 40mm a better overall prime for sharpness?

Thanks in advance, Bob

[hcc]

I am unsure how an advanced user you are, but the following basic settings may help:

- Dial mode to Hypermode P - It is a kind of semi-automatic mode in which you can set manually the aperture and shutter using the back and front dials if you need.

- Focus: center point

- Metering: center weighted

- RAW, RAW+ or JPEG: up to you - Everyone if different ...

- Switch off all in-camera post-processign incl. lens distortion correctin, high ISO NR, ... - Any in-camera PP does slow down the camera write-up to the card and is counter-productiion with high-continuous bursts, and in-computer PP is always more effective

- auto-focus: AF-S

- Copyright: set your copyright settings - in my case, I put my full name

In addiiton, I always set my shooting mode to Hi continuous mode. I shoot often sport and actions, and I like to shoot in bursts to get all the action.

In terms of prime lenses, Pentax does offer a very broad range of prime lenses incl. older lenses. The choice is yours really. The 35mm f2.4 is considered very good value for money. The 40mm pancake is very small and help to have a small camera+lens package: eg for street photography or when you need to be non-intrusive. There are other great prime lenses incl. the FA Ltd series (sometimes regarded as the best lenses ever made ..), the DA Ltd series, the older FA* series, A series. ... The list is long

Personally I have other primes, incl. the FA31mm f1.8 and Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f1.4. In any case Pentax does offer a wide range of great prime lenses. Welcome on board.

Hope that the info will help...

[bymy141]

For JPEG: increase sharpning, I use Natural plus extra sharpness for the rare occasion that I don't shoot RAW....
If you are wondering what colour setting to use, make a picture, change the colour settings.
The camera will interactively show the impact of the colour settings on the last picture taken.

Another approach is to shoot RAW and handle the lot in post processing.

Bert

[Rryan14]

I am unsure how an advanced user you are, but the following basic settings may help:

- Dial mode to Hypermode P - It is a kind of semi-automatic mode in which you can set manually the aperture and shutter using the back and front dials if you need.

- Focus: center point

- Metering: center weighted

- RAW, RAW+ or JPEG: up to you - Everyone if different ...

- Switch off all in-camera post-processign incl. lens distortion correctin, high ISO NR, ... - Any in-camera PP does slow down the camera write-up to the card and is counter-productiion with high-continuous bursts, and in-computer PP is always more effective

- auto-focus: AF-S

- Copyright: set your copyright settings - in my case, I put my full name

In addiiton, I always set my shooting mode to Hi continuous mode. I shoot often sport and actions, and I like to shoot in bursts to get all the action.

In terms of prime lenses, Pentax does offer a very broad range of prime lenses incl. older lenses. The choice is yours really. The 35mm f2.4 is considered very good value for money. The 40mm pancake is very small and help to have a small camera+lens package: eg for street photography or when you need to be non-intrusive. There are other great prime lenses incl. the FA Ltd series (sometimes regarded as the best lenses ever made ..), the DA Ltd series, the older FA* series, A series. ... The list is long

Personally I have other primes, incl. the FA31mm f1.8 and Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f1.4. In any case Pentax does offer a wide range of great prime lenses. Welcome on board.

Hope that the info will help...

This does help. I wish I could afford the FA31 - that does sound perfect. Thank you.

[Rryan14]

For JPEG: increase sharpning, I use Natural plus extra sharpness for the rare occasion that I don't shoot RAW....
If you are wondering what colour setting to use, make a picture, change the colour settings.
The camera will interactively show the impact of the colour settings on the last picture taken.

Another approach is to shoot RAW and handle the lot in post processing.

Bert

Thanks for the reply-very helpful. One of the reassons I bought the K5 was the ease in toggling between raw and jpg. I also thought that the provided-for software was better. What software do you find best for PP raw?

[SpecialK]

What software do you find best for PP raw?

Many threads going...

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/digital-processing-software-printing/1703...g-program.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/digital-processing-software-printing/1685...-software.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/digital-processing-software-printing/1656...re-novice.html

[MilesWH]

Maybe some of the replies here would be useful - https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/170121-default-nr-too-st...ng-detail.html

I originally found that the default NR was _destroying_ any real sharpness/clarity of fine detail, I was really disappointed. Turning NR off still gives perfectly decent jpgs and you can denoise afterwards, or process from RAW if you really need the most flexibility (sorry, I can't advise how best to do this yet). Some of the responses confirmed that this was a good way to go. I've yet to explore the impact of different sharpening settings.

I have yet to find the 'recommended' settings summarised, but I think it would be a great help for newcomers, maybe Adam can make it a sticky item on the forum and collate the consensus answers.

Good luck with getting your K5 to delight you!! It seems that Pentax are doing themselves no favours with the defaults - it's shocking how bad the results are on hair, for example, when you take your first few test shots. I thought there was something badly wrong with lens or body - but other, known-good lenses (including 50mm Macro A, as sharp as anything on my GX-10) were also given the same 'fuzzies for all' treatment.

cheers

Miles

[kshapero]

I am unsure how an advanced user you are, but the following basic settings may help:

- Dial mode to Hypermode P - It is a kind of semi-automatic mode in which you can set manually the aperture and shutter using the back and front dials if you need.

- Focus: center point

- Metering: center weighted

- RAW, RAW+ or JPEG: up to you - Everyone if different ...

- Switch off all in-camera post-processign incl. lens distortion correctin, high ISO NR, ... - Any in-camera PP does slow down the camera write-up to the card and is counter-productiion with high-continuous bursts, and in-computer PP is always more effective

- auto-focus: AF-S

- Copyright: set your copyright settings - in my case, I put my full name

In addiiton, I always set my shooting mode to Hi continuous mode. I shoot often sport and actions, and I like to shoot in bursts to get all the action.

In terms of prime lenses, Pentax does offer a very broad range of prime lenses incl. older lenses. The choice is yours really. The 35mm f2.4 is considered very good value for money. The 40mm pancake is very small and help to have a small camera+lens package: eg for street photography or when you need to be non-intrusive. There are other great prime lenses incl. the FA Ltd series (sometimes regarded as the best lenses ever made ..), the DA Ltd series, the older FA* series, A series. ... The list is long

Personally I have other primes, incl. the FA31mm f1.8 and Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f1.4. In any case Pentax does offer a wide range of great prime lenses. Welcome on board.

Hope that the info will help...

Interested in knowing why one would recommend center weighted metering?

[Rryan14]

I've made most of these settings adjustments - now all I need is some nice weather (read: sun).

One question I have is regarding auto-ISO in 'P' mode. Regarding the maximum ISO, what do you think is the highest decent ISO setting? I have it set to 100-6400 and the camera seems to frequently pick 3200, which strikes me as rather high for much of the light I've been in (outdoors, winter opaque New England skies). Is auto-ISO reliable?

-Bob