[Mtnberner]

Hello I'm new to dslr s and I was wondering why my new k5 won't take as sharp as pictures as my canon g12 p&s. do I need to fine tune the focus to the kit lens? (18-55 wr). I know the lense is a low end lense, but I would assume it would be sharper then a fixed lense p&s. I'm thinking I should maybe exchange the camera for more of a novice model like maybe the k30? I love the body on the k5 though they put all the buttons in the right place! I've tried some old m42 lenses on it too with the same results I'm sure this is a user error issue. For comparison I shot the same image with both cameras at the same iso, same focal length, same aperture. (Only difference was shutter speed to achieve same exposure with smaller sensor on the canon.). The difference between the 2 isn't even close!! canon is much clearer and it was at a high iso of 3200! What am I doing wrong please help I'd like to not have to exchange it on the Internet. Thanks.

[elliott]

Posting the test shots with EXIF intact will help us guide you, otherwise we'd just be guessing.

[Adam]

If you're not careful and the camera wants to shoot at a slow shutter speed, you may end up with blurry photos that look worse than those from a P&S. The same goes for large aperture values (resulting in shallow DOF and poor IQ from the lens). I would say that out-of-the-box, the K-30 is more beginner-friendly, but that doesn't mean that the task is hard with the K-5, either. Posting the photos with EXIF intact should help us find the problem!

[interested_observer]

As elliott has indicated posting some images will certainly help. That said, in general - you are suffering what a lot of folks run into when moving to a dSLR.

1. Probably, the easiest way to start is to put the camera in "green" mode - i.e., the round dial on the top, just turn it to the green. Essentially that should be the "fully automatic" mode, where the camera essentially does everything. Essentially a P&S camera.
2. Under the mode dial up on top, there is a selector tab, telling the camera how to use the light meter. I would suggest starting out in the green, where it evaluates the entire view.
3. On the back there is a selector switch surrounding the AF button. The top option is to use the center focus point. This is probably the easiest to start out with. Essentially the camera will focus on what ever is in the center of the lens.
4. For focusing put it into AF.s mode - the selector switch on the left hand side of the body near the front. This is AutoFocus mode, however it only works with an autofocus lens.
5. Mount an Auto Focus lens (kit lens?)
6. Then shoot out side in a very well lit area, with a well defined object. In this way, the camera should select a good combination of shutter speed, aperture and ISO, automagically. I would also suggest using the viewfinder and not liveview - holding a large camera out in front of you can itself be difficult and introduce shake.

What we are trying to do is to take all the basic variables out of the system. Hopefully with that you should get a clean well focused image. I would use this setup for a while during which you can get use to the camera. Then start varying one item at a time - like the various modes. I would then move to the "P" mode where you can use the front and rear thumb wheels to adjust the shutter speed and aperture settings.

Again pictures help alot, especially with the EXIF meta data still attached. The EXIF data tells everyone how the camera was setup for the picture, and from that we can help you out...

hope that helps....

[Mtnberner]

Thank you all , I sure feel like an idiot I think shutter speed is my problem, the image stabilizer is so good I was getting half decent shots at 1/4 sec., but I did notice that the green mode seemed to use slow shutter speed. Inside my house in diminish light it was doing a shutter of 1/13 at 55mm f5.6 IS0 3200. And coming out blurry.. It did a few others at 1/20 too is this normal for auto mode?

[mike.hiran]

One thing is that the shake reduction system takes a second to "spool" up... you'll notice that the image stabilzer symbol in the viewfinder isn't on until a little after you half press... if you just mash the shutter down all the way, the system may not yet be ready. It doesn't take long, but could be one reason why.

How is your camera holding technique? It does take a little bit of getting used to...

If you want to compare notes on the k5 (and maybe exchange shots f/ my camera vs your camera) I'd be more than happy to meet you somewhere. I can even bring different lenses so you can see if maybe you have a bad copy. PM me if you're interested...

Mike

[tabl10s]

Try manual mode too. These were taken on vacation last year with manual lenses and I didn't have the booklet with me. Basic skill will get you through.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/162984-people-fun-sun.html

A tad overexposed:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/162985-people-fun-sun.html

[Gimbal]

Thank you all , I sure feel like an idiot I think shutter speed is my problem, the image stabilizer is so good I was getting half decent shots at 1/4 sec., but I did notice that the green mode seemed to use slow shutter speed. Inside my house in diminish light it was doing a shutter of 1/13 at 55mm f5.6 IS0 3200. And coming out blurry.. It did a few others at 1/20 too is this normal for auto mode?

That is a way to slow for sharp handheld pictures, you might get one now and then, but you shouldn't count on it.

You might also want to upgrade the firmware, there where some improvement to the auto focus in low light with later firmware versions. ( unless of course you already have the latest version. )

[Mtnberner]

I was wondering if I had the latest firmware, how do you tell? I just bought the camera a week ago from adorama I would assume it'd have the latest firmware unless they had really old stock. But the lowlight focus does seem to have quite a bit of trouble sometimes that it makes me wonder. (More trouble then my g12 p&s).

[Gimbal]

To check what firmware version you have just hold down the menu-button while turning the camera on.

I know that people have been surprised before about their new camera having a really old firmware version, so check i out.

[Mtnberner]

I have 1.01 is that the latest?

[Mtnberner]

Never mind just went to Pentax I found out I'm far behind. Do I need to download all those firmwares or will 1.13 have everything from 1.02 on to 1.13 I'm really only interested in a couple of them mainly the 1.03

[interested_observer]

The 1.13 has everything.

[BirdDude007]

To the OP:I noticed from your post, that you say you are new to DSLRs, and that you are coming from a point and shoot camera. DSLRs have a learning curve, I have seen many folks go from a P&S camera too a DSLR because they thought that the DSLR is more of a "professional" camera, so in essence it "should' automatically take better pictures.
I too am to blame a little when I moved up to a DSLR from a point and shoot, out of the box I kinda expected to be taking better pictures than my point and shoot, I even fell in the rut of comparing all my "new" DSLR shots to those I took with my P&S, and I was really disapointed.
I then realized that I needed to put all those presumptions behind me and pay no attention to those images I shot with my P&S camera, I really needed to go back to my "film" era ways and relearn photography basics and learn to also apply them to digital. Once I started to do that my images began to improve almost immediately, and it wasn't long until my images were blowing away the images from my P&S camera.
It sounds like you either need to learn photography or relearn it, take some courses, read some good photography books,(I have the Digital Photography book collection written be Scott Kelby, I highly recommend them)
Another thing I learned is post proccessing your images and now I only shoot in RAW file format, my P&S camera only put out JPEG images and the JPEG engine in that little camera aint too bad, it does a really good job, in fact I still use that little camera, it STILL has it's place among my camera equipment/gear.
I suggest you not get rid of your DSLR, I am sure it is working just fine, you just need to learn how to use it and make it do what YOU want it to do. There is nothing wrong with the kit lens, in fact I have put out some nice shots with the same kit lens you have, however you learn the importance of quality glass as you polish up your photography skilz.
I can put out some awesome images with my K-x just as easily as I do with my K-5, so as you can see, there really is no difference in the model/brand of camera, the difference comes with EDUCATION, there is a treasure trove of free information out there in the internet. I have found a wealth of information st this site- Digital Photography Tips: Digital Photography School and it has not cost me a dime, they have an excellent forum and lots of awesome articles on photography.
My wife is learning photography and wanted to learn on her own without me showing her, so she ordered from these folks- On Target Photo Training - On Target Photo Training I think it cost us around $200 for this course but I highly recommend it, (disclaimer-I am in no way obligated or paid to advertize for these folks and there product, I am however impressed at the training material and have learned a lot from it)
I am not trying to dissuade you or belittle you in any way, I just want you to know that you may have to start out with the basics when it comes to a DSLR, especially when you are used to a point and shoot camera, I suggest you put your P&S away, stop comparing your DSLR shots to your P&S shots, in fact just do yourself a favor-stop looking at your P&S shots altogether, that's what I did and once I finally got comfortable with my DSLR and did a lot of practice, I went back and looked at my P&S shots and was totally blown away at the difference my DSLR makes, and that is all due to perseverance and educating myself, ya I still have a long way to go but I am now to a point where I rarely use my P&S camera, I just love the control I have over my DSLR.
I wish you luck and I hope you get the shots you want, until then I will be looking forward to your shots posted in here. Hope this post helps.

[Mtnberner]

I think you are absolutely right bird dude I actually already have signed up for two online classes for basic technique and editing raw files, they weren't expensive classes so I will see what I get, but I won't know to February when they start Thanks for the advise