[whk1992]

Love the matte, pearl white body! The camera feels solid and certainly doesn't look like a toy. That grip fits my hand perfectly.

Time to read the manual. Sample shots later with the A50/1.7 that's half broken.

[blackcloudbrew]

Nice the storm trooper model. Very cool.

[rrstuff]

Very cool. Congrats. Did you not buy the 18-55 kit?

[whk1992]

Tested with A50/1.7 at f/2.8. I had a hard time holding the camera steady probably because I had a beer I am inexperienced, so I used the built-in flash.




100% Crop from above.


---------- Post added 08-21-14 at 09:10 PM ----------

Very cool. Congrats. Did you not buy the 18-55 kit?

It's still in the box. I want to play with the manual lens first.
I need some practicing on manual focus. I took a few shots of my guitar, and I thought it was properly focused. Viewing on my PC and I was like "Oh crap!"

The coming Sunday is Redbull Soapbox. Should I grab my A50/1.7 and train myself in manual focusing, or just bring the 18-55 and familiar myself with the camera without worrying too much about focusing?

[rrstuff]

Tested with A50/1.7 at f/2.8. I had a hard time holding the camera steady probably because I had a beer I am inexperienced, so I used the built-in flash.




100% Crop from above.


---------- Post added 08-21-14 at 09:10 PM ----------


It's still in the box. I want to play with the manual lens first.
I need some practicing on manual focus. I took a few shots of my guitar, and I thought it was properly focused. Viewing on my PC and I was like "Oh crap!"

The coming Sunday is Redbull Soapbox. Should I grab my A50/1.7 and train myself in manual focusing, or just bring the 18-55 and familiar myself with the camera without worrying too much about focusing?

I wouldn't worry, it's very difficult to manual-focus on digital. Just have fun with what you got.

There should be a focus confirmation on your camera. Also, there should be focus peaking in live view. Those two features are of great help. I was learning to focus for a long time now and I got to the point where I can shoot live soccer with a manual focus lens, *however* I still miss focus in a large fraction of my shots - even the static ones.

[whk1992]

I wouldn't worry, it's very difficult to manual-focus on digital. Just have fun with what you got.

There should be a focus confirmation on your camera. Also, there should be focus peaking in live view. Those two features are of great help. I was learning to focus for a long time now and I got to the point where I can shoot live soccer with a manual focus lens, *however* I still miss focus in a large fraction of my shots - even the static ones.

The focus confirmation is definitely a nice touch.

I just put the 18-55 WR on my camera. First thing: i love the mechanical sound of the AF motor!. Also the tiny shock when it reaches infinity and travels back (I'm an engineering student)

I'm avoiding the live view for now. One big reason why I bought the K-50 instead of a mirrorless is the viewfinder.

---------- Post added 08-21-14 at 11:01 PM ----------

Played around with the camera a bit more while I was reading the manual.
The focus confirmation is really helpful, although it sometimes miss the spot I want by a fraction.


(Yes, the first item I bought on my receipt was a sweet baby.)

First thing I hate about the camera: getting a SD card out of the slot is tedious with my fat fingers!!!

[AldaCZ]

SD card slot I have a K30 but I can't complain about it It gets out easy. Have fun with it!

[elpolodiablo]

Watch out for MFD(Minimum Focus Distance) if you are too close to the subject, the camera will not be able to focus.

Have fun with your new toy, I had used my A50 1.7 on K-01(basically a K-50 without the mirror box) and I love the result of this combo.

[Al_Kahollick]

First thing I hate about the camera: getting a SD card out of the slot is tedious with my fat fingers!!!

The spring in the card slot is quite strong. If you push the card in, then slide your finger off, it will fly out, but be forewarned, it'll shoot across the room if you're not careful! With a little practice, you'll be able to stop it before it completely shoots out.

[Kozlok]

One tip for manual focus, set the camera in high speed drive mode, focus as best as you can, fire off 5 to 7 shots and either move the camera back and forth or twist the focus just a bit each way. I find that I will almost always get one keeper in the bunch. If I'm in close range, I move the camera. If I'm out more than a meter or so, I twist the focus.

[mgoblue]

Love the matte, pearl white body! The camera feels solid and certainly doesn't look like a toy. That grip fits my hand perfectly.

Time to read the manual. Sample shots later with the A50/1.7 that's half broken.

Totally agree about the white. When I received mine it looked even better than I expected. I did not realize it was not glossy at all when viewing online. Looks much better than my black DSLR, and it seems to get more positive reactions from people on the other end as well.

It should keep you going for a long time. It is an excellent camera, and unbeatable at the price. As others have written about a lot on the forum, the focus points are large -- that can cause the camera to focus in a slightly different spot then you expect. Shooting focus charts/testing to set the focus adjustment this shows up in a bit of randomness and lack of precision, especially below f2. In everyday use (and I shoot a lot of portraits below f2) it does not cause me much trouble. I suspect part of the problem with a focus chart or a receipt is that it looks all the same so the camera algorithm isn't quite sure which line on the receipt you want, especially since 2-3 might fit in the focus point. Pointed at a face, the algorithm likely has an easier time identifying the eye as the place and hitting it.

---------- Post added 08-23-2014 at 08:50 AM ----------

Totally agree about the white. When I received mine it looked even better than I expected. I did not realize it was not glossy at all when viewing online. Looks much better than my black DSLR, and it seems to get more positive reactions from people on the other end as well.

It should keep you going for a long time. It is an excellent camera, and unbeatable at the price. As others have written about a lot on the forum, the focus points are large -- that can cause the camera to focus in a slightly different spot then you expect. Shooting focus charts/testing to set the focus adjustment this shows up in a bit of randomness and lack of precision, especially below f2. In everyday use (and I shoot a lot of portraits below f2) it does not cause me much trouble. I suspect part of the problem with a focus chart or a receipt is that it looks all the same so the camera algorithm isn't quite sure which line on the receipt you want, especially since 2-3 might fit in the focus point. Pointed at a face, the algorithm likely has an easier time identifying the eye as the place and hitting it.

Oh, One other thing -- I think it is worth playing around with center point only focus. I'm old school and almost always have center point only set and focus and recompose. Has worked for people for over a hundred years. Other people though become adept at switching focus points. YMMV, but thought I'd throw it out there.

[stevebrot]

although it sometimes miss the spot I want by a fraction

Yep! That is the weak point of all AF systems and a particular problem with curved surfaces.


Steve

---------- Post added 08-23-14 at 09:54 AM ----------

First thing I hate about the camera: getting a SD card out of the slot is tedious with my fat fingers!!!

It definitely is an issue for many of us. The card was easy to extract on my recently-sold K10D and is somewhat harder to get out on my K-3. Removing the card from my friend's K-50 is a lot more difficult, though I suppose that it gets easier with practice.


Steve

[timmijo]

Congratulations! Welcome to the DSLR world. You will be amazed at what you can achieve. I started with my first DSLR, a Pentax K-r, in 2012 (at the age of 52) and just now bought a K-30 from a member here. It was an awesome experience each time. I love both of those cameras. They each have their own personality. You are going to have fun! Starting out with a manual lens first, that is just how I would have done it. I shoot manual most of the time but use auto (Av or TAv) when I have to get a fast shot of impatient people, haha.

[whk1992]

Congratulations! Welcome to the DSLR world. You will be amazed at what you can achieve. I started with my first DSLR, a Pentax K-r, in 2012 (at the age of 52) and just now bought a K-30 from a member here. It was an awesome experience each time. I love both of those cameras. They each have their own personality. You are going to have fun! Starting out with a manual lens first, that is just how I would have done it. I shoot manual most of the time but use auto (Av or TAv) when I have to get a fast shot of impatient people, haha.

Thanks. First couple days of using the manual lens and I'm already loving it. Tracing animals and bugs with MF is much quicker and less frustrating than using AF.

TAv mode is something new to my photography experience; I've never seen it on other cameras. What's the difference between using manual mode with auto ISO value and using TAv?

[boriscleto]

TAv mode is something new to my photography experience; I've never seen it on other cameras. What's the difference between using manual mode with auto ISO value and using TAv?

Allowing AutoISO in M mode is a bug that Pentax has never fixed. It was implemented on the K-01 to allow a pseudo-TAv mode. When the firmware was used for the K-30 and K-50/500 they didn't change it. All other Pentax DSLRs switch to manual ISO automatically when the dial is set to M.