[Eruditass]

If anyone is interested, this person seems to say that the D7000's AF is maybe a bit better than the D90, but not up to par with the D300 or D3 series.

Wonder where the K-5 and K-r fall.

[jpzk]

Do you miss spot AF? I've seen spot af on a 7D and I would love that on my pentax.

Miss it from what? Where?
What Pentax body do you have?

JP

[jpzk]

I think it's very timely. I would love to hear some reports from the field instead of pre-game speculation by armchair quarterbacks.

Thanks!

I should have pointed out that to truly appreciate the K5 AF, it would be even better to test it in AF-C, burst mode, for a few seconds, and see how many in-focus shots you can get before the AF cannot follow the subject anymore when it comes TOWARD you.

JP

[jpzk]

Maybe we should offer a finders fee
I was thinking of offering one for controlled DNG/RAW files.

Why don't you do that?

I will be pleased to pay you a finder's fee of 1 reputation point!

By the way, if any RAW files are available and you are willing to share them with us, please do .... that goes for everyone else too!

JP

[jpzk]

I want to be able to take a series of photos of him Running towards me, AF-C, All in Focus. Can the K5 do that (not being facetious, it's a serious question)?

Hi Jeff.

Got the same problem, with the K7, this afternoon trying to follow a rather fast wild duck swimming toward me ... got maybe two or three in focus in a series of about 12 shots!

JP

[jpzk]

Here's one from this morning of my son riding his bike directly at me. If I recall correctly, I was using AF-C and 5-point Auto-point select. I realize it's not quite the same as a black dog (which offers less contrast) running towards you (at faster speeds than my son can get his pedal-less bike going).

Also, for what it's worth, this was the first time I'd used AF-C on any camera body, so I really can't offer much in the way of an opinion on how it performed compared to the K7 or a Canon/Nikon.

Thanks dgaies,

That is a good example of what should be shown here.

As I mentioned earlier, better even to have a series in burst mode.

This is a very good picture taken in AF-C actually.

JP

[jpzk]

Unfortunately, I didn't really take any shot bursts this morning. Old habits die hard and I was basically half-pressing the shutter button while AF-C was adjusting focus and then I'd take a single shot. 99% of the time I just use the center-point AF point and recompose and I rarely take more than a single shot at once (as in continuous drive). This was also the first time I tried auto-AF point selection.

But I'll be glad to go out tomorrow and try some burst shots... just have to remind myself to fight the urge to release my finger from the shutter button after the first shot it fired off

I think I came in late - someone already has asked this question - and I asked for pics taken in burst mode.
Do you recall if you used focus priority or FPS priority?

JP

[jpzk]

Ok, here's a set of 15 pictures taken in burst mode from earlier this morning. I had my son run towards me as fast as he could, which it turns out isn't really all that fast So I don't know if the results will really tell you anything about how the AF-C might do with something like motorcycles but I figured I'd post them anyway.

Anyway, I think the AF did ok, but not necessarily great. They're certainly not as sharp as I think they would have been on a static target. But again, as is really my first experience with AF-C (and auto AF point selection) and I have no benchmark or feel for what the body should or shouldn't have been able to do.

All taken with the K5 + DA*60-250/4 in one burst. at ~100mm, 1/1000s, f/5.6, iso200, 5-point auto AF point selection and AF-C.

As far as I can see from that series, I beats the K7 already in "keeper rate". Given that you are not very "used to" use this AF-C mode, I think you did quite qell.
Thanks for the images.

Cheers.

JP

[jpzk]

I am just putting up a 12 shot sequence of two kids skating away from me (does it matter if they are going away or towards?). Again shot with 55-300mm and K-5. I think you will find this a little sharper - my Beagle was not pulling as much and there was more light (although not as fast as the biker).

To see them, like the others, go to JosephFormanPhotography's Photos | SmugMug and select the "K-5 AF-C Shots" gallery.

I think there is some difference ... if yu'd start from a subject close to you and already in focus, I don't think this should be much of a problem
However, when the subject is coming toward you, there is definitely some loss of "in-focus" frames from what I observe with the K7.
So, with the K5, I would expect more in-focus number of frames during a series of images in burst mode.

From your set of images, there is a REAL difference (they seem to be pretty much all in-focus) in in-focus frames vs. those taken with a K7 (my own observations using a K7); to summarize: your pics are what I am expecting from the K5.

Are you using focus priority or FPS priority?

JP

[dgaies]

I think I came in late - someone already has asked this question - and I asked for pics taken in burst mode.
Do you recall if you used focus priority or FPS priority?

The AF-C setting was focus priority. You can tell when it shooting that the time between shots isn't exactly regular. In other words, there are times is will take an extra part of a second to get focus before firing the next shot. The actual fps was less than when you fire away at a static subject (but it was still "fast").

[jpzk]

FWIW they were skating - not walking. Little faster movement.

But I wouldn't know how to keep a camera hand held with center point on eyes while the subject is moving. I perhaps don't understand (which is very possible), but can't imagine that level of physical control. Especially at over 200mm.

Just a suggestion, for future tests .... maybe use a tripod?

JP

[jpzk]

Guys, thanks by the way for putting up with us and our little nitpicking ^_^.

The shots of the couple walking away are great and sharp - though I do think keeping a large aperture (2.8-5.6) and focusing on a small moving target (eyes) would put more testing stress to the K5's AF performance than a large target (like both kid's backs).

Thanks for all the efforts !

Like for BIF in less than optimal lighting conditions?

JP

[jpzk]

If anyone is interested, this person seems to say that the D7000's AF is maybe a bit better than the D90, but not up to par with the D300 or D3 series.

Wonder where the K-5 and K-r fall.

Interesting comment Eruditass!

No offence, (don't take it personal) but we are trying to have AF tests for the K5 but not as a comparison with other brands.
OK to compare to any other Pentax camera ... K-r, Kx, K7, K20D, K10D ....

JP

[jpzk]

The AF-C setting was focus priority. You can tell when it shooting that the time between shots isn't exactly regular. In other words, there are times is will take an extra part of a second to get focus before firing the next shot. The actual fps was less than when you fire away at a static subject (but it was still "fast").

Thanks again dgaies!

That is to be expected. And that is just fine too.

JP

[jpzk]

Someone mentioned also to try and take some pics by "pushing the envelope" a bit ... with less contrasty subjects, for instance.

I am sure this will come soon enough, but I believe we are on the right track with these "real life" situations/samples.

As well, it will be interesting to see how the K5 AF performs under poor lighting conditions requiring the use of high ISO. That again will likely be seen shortly, I hope.

Cheers.

JP