[karlito]

did you photoshop the pic with the waterfall??

[JinDesu]

I doubt he had to - it looks like all he used was a tripod, set the camera to expose for something like 4-10 seconds, and shoot.

For example:



And yes, this was with my 18-55 also.

[paulh]

These images look much better. Was that yellowish photo taken indoors? You might want to try manually setting the white balance under different kinds of indoor lighting. The AWB doesn't work real well indoors, and that can give you focus problems. When using a tripod, make sure the Shake Reduction is turned off, as that can mess up your focus. btw, it's very rare for me to get a perfect shot straight from the camera. Most of my images need a bit of tweaking or "photoshopping" to make them look their best. You'll just have to experiment to see what works for you.

There are many "lens clubs" here on the forums you can check for examples from various lenses. You can start here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-clubs/45425-kit-lens-club.html

[JinDesu]

Well for white balance as far as the picture goes, you can edit that afterwards if it is important - the pentax image software that comes with the camera does it pretty easily.

[karlito]

for autofocus i half press and hold the shutter release button, till it finishes the autofocus process & the images looks in focus in the viewfinder/live view, but when i look at the end result,it does not seem to be in focus.
i was looking into getting a new lens, but there is no way i am gonna spend 400- 600 bucks on one.. its just way too much for a lens,looking at tamron and sigma lenses.

[JinDesu]

You can get a good lens in the range of 200-300. For example, a great indoor lens is the DA 35mm F2.4 L lens, which is typically $180, and you can get it used for $140.

Try aiming for a spot that has great contrast - something that shows a defined line for the autofocus system to lock onto. For example, the pigeon shot has the center of the frame around the bright white neck area, contrasting with the other feathers. That helps the focusing system a lot.

What do you do for manual focus?

[karlito]

i did not use the awb for the yellowish image, though the feature seemed to work well, just felt it looked better with the yellow lighting
so there is an issue with the shake reduction system, its one of the main reasons why i bought the kr over the eos 600d,d1500 and eos 60d cause they all seem the have lenses for the stablization....

[karlito]

the pentax software, it seems way to complicated, prefer photoshop,.really dont want to learn any more softwares for the time being( work related issue)... for manual focus, i mostly rely on live view, cause if i rely on what i see in the viewfinder, i get an image which is out of focus..

[karlito]

this is the same orange with the focus issue, there is no wind and its on a tripod..

[karlito]

another pic with focus issues

[paulh]

The Pentax in-camera shake reduction works very well for hand-held shots, but when using a tripod, it should be turned off as stated in the manual. As far as the viewfinder, try adjusting the diopter (above the viewfinder). Slide it left or right until you have it adjusted for your eyes.

[karlito]

many thanks will try it

[loco]

did you photoshop the pic with the waterfall??

No, JinDesu is right. The camera was on a tripod and shutter was set for 2 seconds. You can see a few of the leaves in the trees are blurry because there was a slight breeze.

I agree with you that lens prices are pretty high. I would second the recommendation for the DA 35/2.4. It's a fantastic lens, regardless of the price point. A great value.

[karlito]

okay so do you think that selling the smc 50 f1.7 and the pentax 70-200 and getting the da35 seem like a better idea??

this is the pentax zoom lens
Pentax-F 70-200mm F4-5.6 Reviews - Non-SMC Pentax Zoom Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

and pentax 50mm manual lens

SMC Pentax-M 50mm F1.7 Reviews - M Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

[paulh]

From your orange photos, it looks like you were shooting wide-open (widest aperture), like f/1.7 if you were using the M50. When you do that, your depth of field (area in focus) is going to be very thin, and most of the rest of the photo will be out of focus. This style is good for portraits, when you want to isolate the subject from the background. In the first shot, your focus is sharp on the larger orange, and the dead leaves above it. Because you were shooting wide-open, everything else will be blurry. If that's not what you intended, stop the lens down to f/8 or so and try the shot. In the 2nd shot, the wrinkled orange and the branch it's hanging on looks like it's in focus, with everything else oof.

This isn't a real good photo, but it will serve as an example. I used the M50 f/1.7 wide-open (f/1.7) for this shot. I focused on the two berries near the center - note almost everything else is OOF. That's what happens when you use a wide aperture: