[Docrwm]

Do you K-5 owners really think this is a camera that is the game changer and could actually last as long as film bodies? I have a K-5 in a shopping cart but ugh.. i need some encouragement to click buy!

So, where are you in the 5 Stages of Acquisition on the K-5 purchase?

[sanox]

hello all-newbie and current K-x owner here. I'm still learning how to use my K-x and I know the K-5 is waaay too advanced for me but.....I don't care, I want one!!! The problem is the past couple days I've been reading about these AF problems and its scaring the you know what out of me. I mean, whats the scoop? Is this a pretty big problem or is it a very small percentage of people getting bad units? Any input or info would be appreciated! Thanks in advance! oh yeah... besides the 18-55 kit lens, I have a Tamron 70-200 2.8 and a Tamron 28-75 2.8 on the way. Mainly going to use the camera for shooting my daughter's basketball games (indoors), Ice skating and family vacation pics.

[Chwisch87]

So, where are you in the 5 Stages of Acquisition on the K-5 purchase?

Justification. Trying to.

[Rupert]

Rupert, did you shoot (photographic way) the entire squirrel population around your area

Just wondering what lens is that? My guessing it is not any of the DA*...

I shoot Squirrels mostly with the Bigma 50-500mm, my favorite for Squirrels and wildlife, and it is big enough to make Squirrels feel important...which they are, of course.
I think the entire Squirrel population is in my yard...it looks that way every morning as they line up for breakfast...and every evening as the prepare for their evening meal. Throughout the day they just come and go for snacks.....they like apple slices when it is hot...and it is plenty hot here, around 105F every day for a month now. Water has been rationed, but the Squirrels have plenty of ice cold beer, so don't worry about them. I don't mind the beer expense, but those damn gourmet peanuts they demand with the beer is a little pricey.....

A good apple slice is hard to beat on a hot day....



You think beer isn't fattening...corn too!



Best Regards
Rupert

Otis recommends the K5, he wants everyone to have one...and yes, it is a Game Changer.....he Guarantees it!

[JeffJS]

Do you K-5 owners really think this is a camera that is the game changer and could actually last as long as film bodies? I have a K-5 in a shopping cart but ugh.. i need some encouragement to click buy!

I don't know about lasting as long as film bodies. I would guess it depends on actual use. There are still a lot of original spotmatics out there that still work as intended. I would say however, that in the Pentax dSLR world, the K5 definitely changed the game for me. With any other camera, this would have required a flash.



Taken with a Pentax A 35-105 f3.5

Camera Pentax K-5
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 20000
Exposure Bias -1.3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

No Noise reduction has been applied here. None in the camera (this is a converted from RAW shot) and none in post processing.

[RonHendriks1966]

Do you K-5 owners really think this is a camera that is the game changer and could actually last as long as film bodies? I have a K-5 in a shopping cart but ugh.. i need some encouragement to click buy!

This is a difficult one. You still see *IstD camera's around and working. I rescently met someone with a Kodak DSLR a DCS Pro 14n wich is from 2002/2003 so they do last. On the other hand it is electronics, so no idea when it will be giving up.

It is fair to say that you can enjoy it for the coming 5 years. Whatever is past that period? Who knows?

[Rupert]

I don't know about lasting as long as film bodies. I would guess it depends on actual use. There are still a lot of original spotmatics out there that still work as intended. I would say however, that in the Pentax dSLR world, the K5 definitely changed the game for me. With any other camera, this would have required a flash.



Taken with a Pentax A 35-105 f3.5

Camera Pentax K-5
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 20000
Exposure Bias -1.3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

No Noise reduction has been applied here. None in the camera (this is a converted from RAW shot) and none in post processing.

That hound is following my Squirrels....again. He looks disappointed, he can't catch them, can he? Give him a snack treat, from Otis....Otis appreciates the effort and it is good exercise for the hound and the Squirrels.

Durability? Most of us can hardly wait for the newest model, which is about every 18 months or so, and then we buy it. I still have a perfectly fine DS and K20D....never touch them. Thinking beyond a couple of years is just nonsense to most of us...or should be. For users that think ahead for a lifetime, they probably are light users, and the camera may last a lifetime for them. For most of us....we are already preparing for the next Flagship model. I know I am, and I love my K5, but I know me! Do you know you?

Best Regards!

[Byrd-2020]

The problem is the past couple days I've been reading about these AF problems and its scaring the you know what out of me. I mean, whats the scoop? Is this a pretty big problem or is it a very small percentage of people getting bad units? Any input or info would be appreciated! Thanks in advance! .... Mainly going to use the camera for shooting my daughter's basketball games (indoors), Ice skating and family vacation pics.

I quote PhilipeG from a recent thread:

"As far as we know every K-5 on the planet acts the same way in this regard. They're all "broken", in the sense that they don't work according to the specs: focus should work fine down to EV -1, and it just doesn't.... I suppose few of us forumers shoot in this kind of low light, but those who do (and I do) are really pissed because low light shooting was supposed to be one of the K-5 strong features, and some upgraded specifically for that reason. If you never shoot in that kind of light, you'll never experience any FF issue and good for you (I mean that in a good way,) you don't have to worry."

Yesterday, 04:39 PM

Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/150730-k-5-focus-issues-...#ixzz1RKuw2QA2

[JeffJS]

That hound is following my Squirrels....again. He looks disappointed, he can't catch them, can he? Give him a snack treat, from Otis....Otis appreciates the effort and it is good exercise for the hound and the Squirrels.


Best Regards!

Actually Rupert, That's a Coon Hound named Samantha (Sam) who belongs to a friend of mine. I don't know if she is species specific or just anything furry. Just let her hear a clap of thunder and she'll be cowering in the nearest closet.

[Chwisch87]

Concerning low light and the k-5 from falk lumo blog.

"You ask about the low light focussing trouble described in my blog article. Pentax says (sometimes) they are going to fix it. If they do not, this is what it means: The K-5 may produce soft photos (with its phase autofocus) under very specific conditions: These include a lack of light (where a D90 probably would not focus at all) and/or a dark background or a slow lens. The main reason why people are complaining is that the K-5 won't tell you it missed focus then. Last time I saw the problem in the studio was where a Canon 5DmkII didn't focus w/o AF assist light at all."

[Clicker]

Take the plunge, it comes with a warranty and hopefully a return policy if you just happen to get a bad one, it's a "small" community here the sample of "issues" you see here doesn't represent the entire production run. Start hunting down which primes you want.

[twitch]

Well I've finally taken the plunge and bought my very own K-5. Holding it and playing with in the shop just showed me how much nicer it will be to use, the controls, the shutter sound and the VF were beautiful.

It's now sitting at home waiting for my kids to wrap it up so they can give it to me for my birthday next week I can only hope it will be a good one, my K-x has been flawless (once I adjusted out the BF that is via the debug menu).

[stormtech]

Taken with a Pentax A 35-105 f3.5

Camera Pentax K-5
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 20000
Exposure Bias -1.3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

No Noise reduction has been applied here. None in the camera (this is a converted from RAW shot) and none in post processing.

My eyes are getting older.....re: ISO

I had to hold a pen up to my monitor to count the zeros there to be sure....
Is that image really taken at twenty thousand ISO?

I've been lurking around here for a few weeks - that image alone, taken with an ISO of 20000 is probably the game changer for me.

Now to see what I can sell to help pay for a K-5........

That, and my wife just loves all the Otis shots - should I tell her I bought a K-5 so I can take more squirrel shots?

[JeffJS]

My eyes are getting older.....re: ISO

I had to hold a pen up to my monitor to count the zeros there to be sure....
Is that image really taken at twenty thousand ISO?

I've been lurking around here for a few weeks - that image alone, taken with an ISO of 20000 is probably the game changer for me.

Now to see what I can sell to help pay for a K-5........

That, and my wife just loves all the Otis shots - should I tell her I bought a K-5 so I can take more squirrel shots?

I had to count them too. Yes, that is ISO 20,000. That's what the camera is reporting anyway. They aren't all that nice though, there Was some daylight falling on the dog the dog when I took the shot and that's the key to it, it seems. I think it picked 20k because I spot meter, Av, Auto ISO (range from 80 - 32000), and for metering Black, such as the dogs hair, EV of -1 to -2. If there Was no light, there Would be more noise. Whitness the dogs housemate, a Burman cat, Same room, but with far less light.

K5JS8409_mA35105_SiJ_July4_2011 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!



Camera Pentax K-5
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 6400
Exposure Bias -1.3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

The shot of the dog had to be pulled back about a stop between exposure and recovery, the shot of the cat had to be Pushed about a stop. When you have underexposure with that high of an ISO, you Do get Noise. However, in most cases I've run into, it is quite controllable. Still having EV comp set to -1.3 and metering a (basically) white cat, it doesn't surprise me I had to push the exposure. There is just enough NR applied with ACR to avoid making her look like a ceramic figurine.

Shots like this in similar conditions may be possible with other cameras but the K5 certainly make them a joy to take, process, and share.

BTW... Ignore the focal length. These were done with a Manual zoom and that's just the number I plug in when I turn on the camera. I could not tell you what the actual FL was, only that it's somewhere between 35 and 105 mm.

[stormtech]

Thanks for the added info JeffJS.

I've had great success so far with the 6 months I've had my K20D - my first DSLR.

Coming from the film era, I'm used to shooting ISO 80/100 - very rarely used ISO 400. Because I this, I came to quick terms with my K20D and have been loving it.

But.....I've been getting into longer glass - 400/500mm - been testing out a couple lenses lately. Since I can't afford the fast long glass, I now find I struggle a bit when the light isn't perfect.

So, when I saw your photo with that ISO, I immediately think that this may be my answer to getting the most out of those long slow lenses.

You all have got me thinking now...!!