[m112]

Hello,

I bought k-30 3 weeks and after taking some photographs I think they are blurry. I've had k100d before and still using same kit lens with new camer.
I think camera does not set AF correctly specially in wide angle.

Is it possible to do lens correction with this camera or is it rather faulty?

Thanks
Martin

[Adam]

Hello,

I bought k-30 3 weeks and after taking some photographs I think they are blurry. I've had k100d before and still using same kit lens with new camer.
I think camera does not set AF correctly specially in wide angle.

Is it possible to do lens correction with this camera or is it rather faulty?

Thanks
Martin

Lens correction fixes distortion, not blur. Can you post some sample photos with EXIF info intact? There are many reasons that could cause blurry photos. Also, do note that the original 18-55mm is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and at 16 megapixels you'll notice this much more often than with your K100.

[m112]

Lens correction fixes distortion, not blur. Can you post some sample photos with EXIF info intact? There are many reasons that could cause blurry photos. Also, do note that the original 18-55mm is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and at 16 megapixels you'll notice this much more often than with your K100.

the problem seems to be in wide angle (see the handle photo) - but I have a strange feeling that the lens can be faulty rather then the camera
I've used tamron 70-300 and in wide angle it looks much better

I'm opened to suggestions

[Na Horuk]

I think it is mostly what Adam said - the kit lenses faults will be much more visible on a K-30 because of its high MP count. It would be great if you could try a prime lens and see the IQ then.
The other thing is, the AF might be off (this can happen because of camera/lens tolerances, not a big deal) so you can try with focus fine adjustment in the camera menu. You can try printing a test chart and taking photos and then finding the adjustment that you need. There are many threads about this topic, so please search for them.
I also noticed in those photos the shutter speed is a little low for those focal lengths, maybe try a faster shutter speed?

[elliott]

The focus doesn't appear to be wrong on any of those, they are a little soft and could maybe use some post processing, but I don't see any focus issues.

[EarlVonTapia]

As a proud kit lens wielder, I would say those photos look about right for what a kit lens can deliver on the K30.

[ak_kiwi]

or is it rather faulty?

Just had a look at your exif data Which shows the DA "AL" lens. Pentax made a version II of this lens for a very good reason. I have both the AL and WR / ALII and can vouch the AL II / WR versions are a good improvement. As mentioned by Elliott post processing works too.
Were you using a lens hood when shooting?

[Michael Shea]

I bought the K-5 almost exactly a year ago and was as disappointed as you obviously are with the performance of the kit lens. Post processing won't give you what you want, because it's practically impossible to get genuine sharpness from the lens, weather sealed or not, unless it's just the very centre of the frame you're looking at. Don't blame the camera and perhaps get the 35mm f2.4, at the earliest opportunity. At full resolution you'll get a far better indication of what the camera sensor is capable of achieving from something like that.

In my opinion, the 18-55mm is just about usable on a 16 megapixels camera at 24mm or thereabouts, but otherwise don't bother at all, or else view your pictures at half size. Anything more than that is torture.

[redimp]

Would stopping down the lens so that the camera uses less of it work?

[m112]

The focus doesn't appear to be wrong on any of those, they are a little soft and could maybe use some post processing, but I don't see any focus issues.

indeed they are washed out - I've had k100d and focus was "100" times better. I cannot do post processing with all photos and looks like all photos in wide angle in kit lens are washed out.

I will try another kit lens today or tomorrow to test if the lens is not faulty however I would expect images at least as good as k100d

[elliott]

With weather like that you can't really expect vibrant colors and good contrast, the light was absolutely terrible. I assume these were all JPG, what image profile are you using in the camera? The "natural" one will usually seem a little flat and dull compared to what you are used to looking at.

ak_kiwi is right, the first version of the 18-55mm really isn't the greatest, the second one is much better. You should still be able to get acceptable shots out of that one though. The K-30 is much more demanding than the K100D was, so you might be seeing flaws that did not show before. The extremes of any zoom are usually weak points, I see a lot of yours were taken at 18 or 55mm, this could also be contributing to the unsharp look.

I'm still not seeing any focus issues, maybe you could try it with a properly setup focus chart to see if there are any problems.

Some really quick post processing really does help:

[Na Horuk]

Would stopping down the lens so that the camera uses less of it work?

That is not how things work, but stopping down usually does improve overall IQ. The optimal aperture is usually one or two stops from wide open, but it can vary from lens to lens. Some reviews give you numbers that can help you out in that regard. For the kit lens you probably want it around f8, but not above f16.

[Hamiltom]

After a quick look at the EXIF data on some of the images, I would try bumping the ISO up so you can stop down the lens at least 2 stops. I have also seen this occur with poor quality filters. If you have a filter on the lens, take it off. I find anything that is not fully coated on both sides can be a problem. If you have a hood, always use it. If you don't, get one. There are plenty cheap ones around and it is surprising how much IQ you can lose from stray light. Finally, I would make sure the inner lens is clean. I came across a lens years ago that looked perfect, but had a light film on the surface of the glass that was almost invisible. I also noticed that the image size seems small - What size/quality setting are you using? I always use the maximum size and quality, you can always re-size later. Hope this helps.

[m112]

I've tried today second kit lens and the results seems to be exactly the same - photos are still washed out in wide angle therefore I can exclude lens being faulty.

Therefore it might be a issue might be with camera or poor quality lens on high resolution sensor (however I'm still far from beliving that this is the case faster getting great results with k100d)

Should Sigma 18-50 2.8 improve situation a little bit. At the moment I do not want to spend much more.


Hamilton,
I was using Tiffen filter and did not have hood during taking this images. As far I know I did use full resolution also lens seem to be clean on both sides.

[Hamiltom]

Next step I would try is the same scenes (if possible) with manual focus. If you can achieve greater sharpness than the AF, the AF is a little out. The picture of the door seems soft, not what is to be expected with a flash. For outdoors use f8 to f16 at minimum 1/60 with SR on (manual or Aperture priority mode) set your White Balance manually to the observed conditions. For indoors, use 1/125 at f/8 with flash and manual focus. Sometimes you have to keep experimenting, but it is half the fun. It also a great way to finely control DOF. Good Luck.