First impressions of my new (2weeks-ish) K5-IIs

Styx1284 · 12-05-2014, 10:15 AM

Hey what's up guys. Im very happy with my new K5-IIs. I jumped on the B&H deal from last week (bundled with free grip and 64gb sd card) even though I didnt really need an upgrade from my K-30.

(Beware long wall of text)

I do a few panoramas and I felt like I would really benefit from being able to use the grip for the portrait mode.

So I wanted to talk with you fellow owners of K-30 and K5-IIs and maybe learn more about it.

What do I think of it so far:

- I'm so glad with the Grip. Oh my... I wanted one since the first days with my k-30 and learning it wasnt supporting one really made me sad at times. And now i feel like i have the right camera. Just ergonomically (maybe word, maybe not) speaking. My panoramas dont need as many pictures as I can take higher framing without making several rows, i take more portrait pictures because sometimes it works better. It's already helping me see differently. Im really happy and hope its not just the novelty that makes me feel like that.

- i didnt think i would miss focus peaking that fast. But the takumar 55 at 1.8 can be tough without live view help. But oh well i learned it, I can unlearn. I did see something weird happen with the autofocus in live view when I was on AF-C. The screen zoomed briefly on a random zone then got back. I thought it was a kinda weird version to help you focus manually. But cant find anything about it in the manual. Maybe one of you know what it is and how to properly use it. Would love some pointers.

- how did I live without the digital preview button on the on/off switch !!!! This is amazing. I found it the first day. Didnt know what it was, read the manual. Tried it. Cant stop using it. AMAZING. I have much more keepers when I get home simply because I can experiment more and set my shot before actually recording an exposure. Less trying shots and I already find myself converting more and more of the previews to raw because it was a good picture . I LOVE IT.

- I love that I can organize the playback images by dates jow to see how much I shot on a certain day without having to have an empty card first and substracting from the numbers of the last and first image. It feels more organized. I love the software changes.

- the dedicated buttons for ISO and E.V are really helping with the speed of operation. In the first days I would just press it. Change the value and press it again. Then i read the manual and realized I can hold the button and change it. And thats it. Superb and fast. Definitely an upgrade in operating my camera.

- i had on my K-30, a green user mode I made so my family could take pictures with me in it. Because i back button focus. And it's crazy how weird of a concept it is for other people that never even thought before about the camera focusing between the point where they pushed the button and the picture is taken. So I had to make a user mode that would focus the "old" way and hope i wouldnt be blurry in the outcome. But the green mode on the k5-IIs is actually staying exactly like it was before i put the back button focusing for my other modes. I finally was present at thanksgiving. Yay.

- i dont understand the purpose of the custom image button. The manual explained how to use it. But not why its there. Is it made to use only when you shoot jpeg and want the image to look a certain way. Or does it also inluence the raw shots?

- this camera can shoot fast. I mean when I heard that 7fps for 30pictures, i was machinegunning my wife (to her full annoyance). Cant wait to try this on a few panning shots. Just gotta remember to turn the SR off before.

- im wondering if the fact that I can connect to a hdmi tv means I can pseudo tether on my tv. Did you guys try it? How would you use the hdmi of the camera normally?

- Finally i realized the AE-L actually adapts the exposure value even when you change one of the settings. i dont know if my K-30 used to do that too. But i think its amazing that you can do that, change the shutter speed and let the camera do the adaptation to maintain the exposure in manual. Really helpful in experimenting with shots easily.

So as you can tell I love my new camera. And I would love to know more about your experiences with it. Or maybe just talk about it. What else do I need to know. This was my unofficial review.

Peace y'all.

Docrwm · 12-05-2014, 10:23 AM - **1 Like**

Congratulations. Glad you are so happy.

aleonx3 · 12-05-2014, 11:14 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Styx1284

snip...
- i didnt think i would miss focus peaking that fast. But the takumar 55 at 1.8 can be tough without live view help. But oh well i learned it, I can unlearn. I did see something weird happen with the autofocus in live view when I was on AF-C. The screen zoomed briefly on a random zone then got back. I thought it was a kinda weird version to help you focus manually. But cant find anything about it in the manual. Maybe one of you know what it is and how to properly use it. Would love some pointers.
snip...
- the dedicated buttons for ISO and E.V are really helping with the speed of operation. In the first days I would just press it. Change the value and press it again. Then i read the manual and realized I can hold the button and change it. And thats it. Superb and fast. Definitely an upgrade in operating my camera.
snip...
.

First, congratulation on your purchase of k-5IIs; sounds like you are having a blast with it...

I will comment on a couple of the points mentioned above.
-I never get comfortable with Live view focusing on the k-5/IIs without focus peaking, I use catch-in-focus, with AF-S set to focus priority and aluminum foil trick; it works fine for me for MF lenses like the Takumar 55/f1.8 you mentioned.
-the combination of index finger and thumb action to change ISO while still looking into the viewfinder provides greater flexibility and convenience. The reason why it works this way is because both ISO and EV button are dedicated buttons (not toggle switches), while the rear dial does, supporting multiple functions for changing value.

Hope the new camera continues to bring more joy while enriching your photographic experience...

Styx1284 · 12-05-2014, 12:30 PM

Thank you guys.
I would love to learn more about that catch-in focus for the manual lenses. I'll look it up. But do you have a thread you can direct me to?

Docrwm · 12-05-2014, 12:36 PM

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/58-troubleshooting-beginner-help/277518-s...al-lenses.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/53-pentax-dslr-camera-articles/51036-how-...tch-focus.html

**TER-OR** · 12-05-2014, 12:56 PM

CIF is great. My semi-pro nephew loves playing with that on my Pentax. He's a FF Canon shooter - weddings, sports, events etc. Brilliant eye.
It's cool because we do very different photography and can play with each other's cameras - which are set up very differently.

I showed him once how to do full manual control with the K5 and CIF with a manual lens and he immediately took to it. That's good design.

12-05-2014, 10:15 AM	#1
Styx1284 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 37	First impressions of my new (2weeks-ish) K5-IIs Hey what's up guys. Im very happy with my new K5-IIs. I jumped on the B&H deal from last week (bundled with free grip and 64gb sd card) even though I didnt really need an upgrade from my K-30. (Beware long wall of text) I do a few panoramas and I felt like I would really benefit from being able to use the grip for the portrait mode. So I wanted to talk with you fellow owners of K-30 and K5-IIs and maybe learn more about it. What do I think of it so far: - I'm so glad with the Grip. Oh my... I wanted one since the first days with my k-30 and learning it wasnt supporting one really made me sad at times. And now i feel like i have the right camera. Just ergonomically (maybe word, maybe not) speaking. My panoramas dont need as many pictures as I can take higher framing without making several rows, i take more portrait pictures because sometimes it works better. It's already helping me see differently. Im really happy and hope its not just the novelty that makes me feel like that. - i didnt think i would miss focus peaking that fast. But the takumar 55 at 1.8 can be tough without live view help. But oh well i learned it, I can unlearn. I did see something weird happen with the autofocus in live view when I was on AF-C. The screen zoomed briefly on a random zone then got back. I thought it was a kinda weird version to help you focus manually. But cant find anything about it in the manual. Maybe one of you know what it is and how to properly use it. Would love some pointers. - how did I live without the digital preview button on the on/off switch !!!! This is amazing. I found it the first day. Didnt know what it was, read the manual. Tried it. Cant stop using it. AMAZING. I have much more keepers when I get home simply because I can experiment more and set my shot before actually recording an exposure. Less trying shots and I already find myself converting more and more of the previews to raw because it was a good picture . I LOVE IT. - I love that I can organize the playback images by dates jow to see how much I shot on a certain day without having to have an empty card first and substracting from the numbers of the last and first image. It feels more organized. I love the software changes. - the dedicated buttons for ISO and E.V are really helping with the speed of operation. In the first days I would just press it. Change the value and press it again. Then i read the manual and realized I can hold the button and change it. And thats it. Superb and fast. Definitely an upgrade in operating my camera. - i had on my K-30, a green user mode I made so my family could take pictures with me in it. Because i back button focus. And it's crazy how weird of a concept it is for other people that never even thought before about the camera focusing between the point where they pushed the button and the picture is taken. So I had to make a user mode that would focus the "old" way and hope i wouldnt be blurry in the outcome. But the green mode on the k5-IIs is actually staying exactly like it was before i put the back button focusing for my other modes. I finally was present at thanksgiving. Yay. - i dont understand the purpose of the custom image button. The manual explained how to use it. But not why its there. Is it made to use only when you shoot jpeg and want the image to look a certain way. Or does it also inluence the raw shots? - this camera can shoot fast. I mean when I heard that 7fps for 30pictures, i was machinegunning my wife (to her full annoyance). Cant wait to try this on a few panning shots. Just gotta remember to turn the SR off before. - im wondering if the fact that I can connect to a hdmi tv means I can pseudo tether on my tv. Did you guys try it? How would you use the hdmi of the camera normally? - Finally i realized the AE-L actually adapts the exposure value even when you change one of the settings. i dont know if my K-30 used to do that too. But i think its amazing that you can do that, change the shutter speed and let the camera do the adaptation to maintain the exposure in manual. Really helpful in experimenting with shots easily. So as you can tell I love my new camera. And I would love to know more about your experiences with it. Or maybe just talk about it. What else do I need to know. This was my unofficial review. Peace y'all.

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12-05-2014, 10:23 AM - 1 Like	#2
Docrwm Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Somewhere in the Southern US Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,285	Congratulations. Glad you are so happy.

12-05-2014, 11:14 AM - 1 Like	#3
aleonx3 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Brampton, Ontario Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,996	Originally posted by Styx1284 snip... - i didnt think i would miss focus peaking that fast. But the takumar 55 at 1.8 can be tough without live view help. But oh well i learned it, I can unlearn. I did see something weird happen with the autofocus in live view when I was on AF-C. The screen zoomed briefly on a random zone then got back. I thought it was a kinda weird version to help you focus manually. But cant find anything about it in the manual. Maybe one of you know what it is and how to properly use it. Would love some pointers. snip... - the dedicated buttons for ISO and E.V are really helping with the speed of operation. In the first days I would just press it. Change the value and press it again. Then i read the manual and realized I can hold the button and change it. And thats it. Superb and fast. Definitely an upgrade in operating my camera. snip... . First, congratulation on your purchase of k-5IIs; sounds like you are having a blast with it... I will comment on a couple of the points mentioned above. -I never get comfortable with Live view focusing on the k-5/IIs without focus peaking, I use catch-in-focus, with AF-S set to focus priority and aluminum foil trick; it works fine for me for MF lenses like the Takumar 55/f1.8 you mentioned. -the combination of index finger and thumb action to change ISO while still looking into the viewfinder provides greater flexibility and convenience. The reason why it works this way is because both ISO and EV button are dedicated buttons (not toggle switches), while the rear dial does, supporting multiple functions for changing value. Hope the new camera continues to bring more joy while enriching your photographic experience...

12-05-2014, 12:30 PM	#4
Styx1284 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 37 Original Poster	Thank you guys. I would love to learn more about that catch-in focus for the manual lenses. I'll look it up. But do you have a thread you can direct me to?

12-05-2014, 12:36 PM	#5
Docrwm Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Somewhere in the Southern US Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,285	https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/58-troubleshooting-beginner-help/277518-s...al-lenses.html https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/53-pentax-dslr-camera-articles/51036-how-...tch-focus.html

12-05-2014, 12:56 PM	#6
TER-OR Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Dundee, IL Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,699	CIF is great. My semi-pro nephew loves playing with that on my Pentax. He's a FF Canon shooter - weddings, sports, events etc. Brilliant eye. It's cool because we do very different photography and can play with each other's cameras - which are set up very differently. I showed him once how to do full manual control with the K5 and CIF with a manual lens and he immediately took to it. That's good design.

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