K-5 AF soft?

Wheatfield · 11-08-2021, 08:55 AM

Originally posted by PiDicus Rex

You lot are reading, but not comprehending, forget about the K-01, it will not be used for the shoots I have planned.

Right, so the K-5 can have the lens profile stored, but it's a limited data set per lens. So I need to do it with the lenses I plan on using, and it'll be better off if I stick to using my primes, rather then a zoom.

Correct. Also, expect your K5 to require different AF offsets depending on the colour of the light. Even the colour of light at noon can require a different offset setting from the color of light at dusk.
The K5 had notoriously flakey AF. If you were lucky enough to get a good one, they were OK, if you were unlucky enough to get a normal one, the AF is pretty useless.

MarkJerling · 11-08-2021, 08:13 PM

Oh, I don't know if that's entirely fair on the K5, Bill. I never had any problems with the K5's AF except when trying to use it in poor light. Under normal lighting conditions, the K5 works well.

Maybe I had a good one!

Wheatfield · 11-09-2021, 10:11 AM

Originally posted by MarkJerling

Oh, I don't know if that's entirely fair on the K5, Bill. I never had any problems with the K5's AF except when trying to use it in poor light. Under normal lighting conditions, the K5 works well.

Maybe I had a good one!

Mine was great in daylight (I suppose that is normal light), but even in daylight, if the subject had a strong colour cast (trying to focus on a red barn for example), the autofocus would fail. In the studio it was completely useless as it would (IIRC) front focus but it wasn't consistent, so dialing in an offset specifically for studio lighting (modelling lights) was not possible.
The funny thing, the idea behind the K5's AF was to make the AF colour insensitive to try to get away from front or back focussing when in off colour light. The result was broken AF in a large number of cameras.

MarkJerling · 11-09-2021, 03:13 PM

Very interesting. Mine worked so well in daylight that I used it quite successfully for both football and cycling races. It did sometimes struggle with some high contrast scenes such as bright sunny soccer pitch with trees shading a portion of the pitch and then, of course, it was pretty useless in poor light, indoors. But, outside in an evenly lit environment it was spot on, every time.

**UncleVanya** · 11-09-2021, 03:28 PM

I’ve never used the k-5, but past discussion generally has referred to problems focusing on artificial light. The past discussions didn’t tend to make it sound like a major issue.

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11-08-2021, 08:55 AM	#16
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,981	Originally posted by PiDicus Rex You lot are reading, but not comprehending, forget about the K-01, it will not be used for the shoots I have planned. Right, so the K-5 can have the lens profile stored, but it's a limited data set per lens. So I need to do it with the lenses I plan on using, and it'll be better off if I stick to using my primes, rather then a zoom. Correct. Also, expect your K5 to require different AF offsets depending on the colour of the light. Even the colour of light at noon can require a different offset setting from the color of light at dusk. The K5 had notoriously flakey AF. If you were lucky enough to get a good one, they were OK, if you were unlucky enough to get a normal one, the AF is pretty useless.

11-08-2021, 08:13 PM	#17
MarkJerling Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: May 2012 Location: Wairarapa, New Zealand Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 20,406	Oh, I don't know if that's entirely fair on the K5, Bill. I never had any problems with the K5's AF except when trying to use it in poor light. Under normal lighting conditions, the K5 works well. Maybe I had a good one!

11-09-2021, 10:11 AM	#18
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,981	Originally posted by MarkJerling Oh, I don't know if that's entirely fair on the K5, Bill. I never had any problems with the K5's AF except when trying to use it in poor light. Under normal lighting conditions, the K5 works well. Maybe I had a good one! Mine was great in daylight (I suppose that is normal light), but even in daylight, if the subject had a strong colour cast (trying to focus on a red barn for example), the autofocus would fail. In the studio it was completely useless as it would (IIRC) front focus but it wasn't consistent, so dialing in an offset specifically for studio lighting (modelling lights) was not possible. The funny thing, the idea behind the K5's AF was to make the AF colour insensitive to try to get away from front or back focussing when in off colour light. The result was broken AF in a large number of cameras.

11-09-2021, 03:13 PM	#19
MarkJerling Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: May 2012 Location: Wairarapa, New Zealand Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 20,406	Very interesting. Mine worked so well in daylight that I used it quite successfully for both football and cycling races. It did sometimes struggle with some high contrast scenes such as bright sunny soccer pitch with trees shading a portion of the pitch and then, of course, it was pretty useless in poor light, indoors. But, outside in an evenly lit environment it was spot on, every time.

11-09-2021, 03:28 PM	#20
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,405	I’ve never used the k-5, but past discussion generally has referred to problems focusing on artificial light. The past discussions didn’t tend to make it sound like a major issue.