[ogl]

Looks pretty accurate to me. The photo was taken at f1.8, a point where the K5 classics would have struggled locking and been all over the place with accuracy.

It's strange situation - SAFOX X is proved to work at EV-3. OK. It works. But...No light, no photography.
We'd like to know how new SAFOX works in common condition with light? What is the situation with back and front focus?


AF points has the same big size as K-5. The speed of AF is the same.

The main question - is accurancy of SAFOX X much better that SAFOX IX? or SAFOX X is the same SAFOX IX with EV-3?
If no any difference except EV-3, no any sense to invest in new Pentax cameras at all.

[Adam]

It's strange situation - SAFOX X is proved to work at EV-3. OK. It works. But...No light, no photography. We'd like to know how new SAFOX works in common condition with light? What is the situation with back and front focus? AF points has the same big size as K-5. The speed of AF is the same. The main question - is accurancy of SAFOX X much better that SAFOX IX? or SAFOX X is the same SAFOX IX with EV-3? If no any difference except EV-3, no any sense to invest in new Pentax cameras at all.

I guess we'll see soon enough. It's probably not going to be as fast as the AF on even the Canon rebel, but it's bound to be more accurate in low light.

[JinDesu]

I guess we'll see soon enough. It's probably not going to be as fast as the AF on even the Canon rebel, but it's bound to be more accurate in low light.

I wasn't aware that the Canon Rebels were fast, having played with a few in store (and my friend's old T2i).

Isn't the SAFOX XI+ already a nice step up in terms of accuracy and decisiveness over the k-5? I've heard so many people say it doesn't hunt as much, and it feels more accurate. I do hope the SAFOX X improves over that even more.

[StigVidar]

I wasn't aware that the Canon Rebels were fast, having played with a few in store (and my friend's old T2i).

K-5 is similar to EOS 60D and a little faster than D7000 in this test.

http://www.colorfoto.de/testbericht/6/8/5/2/7/4/cofo2011-01_SLRs_RAW.pdf

[JinDesu]

K-5 is similar to EOS 60D and a little faster than D7000 in this test.

http://www.colorfoto.de/testbericht/6/8/5/2/7/4/cofo2011-01_SLRs_RAW.pdf

Thanks - but the 60D is a class above the rebels.

The rebels, from my memory, was faster than my k-x but did not feel faster than the k-5.

[StigVidar]

Thanks - but the 60D is a class above the rebels.

The rebels, from my memory, was faster than my k-x but did not feel faster than the k-5.

True. K-5 is fast compared to most cameras.

[Alizarine]

If we're going to compare AF speeds of Pentax screw-drive vs. even the lowest in-lens-motor lenses of Canikon, I think the latter will almost always be faster, same as how the DA18-135 is faster than a whole lot of screw-drive lenses. the camera's "decisiveness" on the AF is what matters to me.

my K-x just feels like it's a girl shopping for new shoes in a lot of situations especially low-light.

[ogl]

To be faster is not a problem for Pentax AF for last 3 years....

[nanok]

If we're going to compare AF speeds of Pentax screw-drive vs. even the lowest in-lens-motor lenses of Canikon, I think the latter will almost always be faster, same as how the DA18-135 is faster than a whole lot of screw-drive lenses. the camera's "decisiveness" on the AF is what matters to me.

my K-x just feels like it's a girl shopping for new shoes in a lot of situations especially low-light.

it's amazing to what level this bad reputation has grown. sometimes even i find myself believing this stuff at times.

a few years ago, i got to play with my friends entry level nikon (d40) and compare it with my humble k20d (remember, the worse sensor on the market at the time, and af so bad it's a waste of battery, etc); the comparison was hilarious, the nikon with kit lenses with in-lens motor (the only kind the d40 can handle anyway), and k20d with the screw drive kit lenses (18-55 and 50-200), it was like comparing a bicycle to a sports car.

decisiveness, focus tracking and so on are a different storry, and much harder to evaluate at a glance anyway, but please stop imagining speed-daemon rebels, pick up a rebel with the kit lens, and compare it with the k-5 or whatever you want from pentax which is less than a decade old, with the pentax 18-55, in any light, and you might be surprised.

[rawr]

it's amazing to what level this bad reputation has grown.

Agreed. People here will casually throw around one-liners about Pentax AF when they have no expererience with other systems.

Even all the data from various test sites that is out there in broad daylight for people to read about Pentax AF actually performing well gets repeatedly ignored in favour of anecdotes and misinformation.

Few Rebel users (except of the 7D, perhaps), would probably say their AF worked better than something like the K-5 if they ever had the chance to compare the two. Even the 5D II I shot a bit with a while ago didn't have AF that was any better than the K-5.

[normhead]

Even all the data from various test sites that is there for people to read about Pentax AF actually performing well gets repeatedly ignored in favour of anecdotes and misinformation.

There are posters here who either work for other camera companies or are selling Nikon and Canon product. The one guy I caught had a wack of Nikon glass he was selling through the venders market... and was vigorously trashing Pentax in the hope of moving readers to Nikon bodies so he could sell them the old Nikon glass he was peddling. When I walk away from this site , which I often do, it's because of the uncontrolled BS on the site trashing Pentax. I can go to other photography sites and never see an anti-pentax post. People use all kind of different cameras and are at all different levels, and no one ever launches into a diatribe against any camera company for that matter. That seems to be a function of this site. It may be the most useful Pentax site, but it's also the most anti-Pentax site. Go figure.

[westmill]

Well Ive used a number of systems and the K5 was my first ever Pentax in my 32years of cameras. In my opinion the K5 has without doubt the worst focus system Ive ever come accross. Pentax themselves have just partly fixed the problem in the K5 2 and K5 2s. It should now focus correctly in ambient light. Speed or sensativity was never an issue. Its speed of focus has always been good. Its sensativity has also been good. They made a gigantic blunder in the filter or whatever it is that prevented it from foccusing propperly in tungsten light. Even the cheapest consumer models could achieve this. If that was not bad enough, it has gigantic focus sensors. The size of these sensors make it impossable for the K5 to ever be very accurate. When there is an obvious fault, its only right that people should complain. If they did not complain they would not bother to put it right. Im all for praise where it is deserved but focus ability certainly is not an area that can be praised. Its total garbage. Hopefuly the K5 2 is what the K5 should have been in the first place. With luck, the next step will be to reduce the size of the sensors. For now, at least they have done enough so its not a total disgrace. Which is what the old standard K5 is in my opinion, in terms of its focus ability.

[deadwolfbones]

There are posters here who either work for other camera companies or are selling Nikon and Canon product. The one guy I caught had a wack of Nikon glass he was selling through the venders market... and was vigorously trashing Pentax in the hope of moving readers to Nikon bodies so he could sell them the old Nikon glass he was peddling. When I walk away from this site , which I often do, it's because of the uncontrolled BS on the site trashing Pentax. I can go to other photography sites and never see an anti-pentax post. People use all kind of different cameras and are at all different levels, and no one ever launches into a diatribe against any camera company for that matter. That seems to be a function of this site. It may be the most useful Pentax site, but it's also the most anti-Pentax site. Go figure.

Go easy on the persecution complex there, Norm.

Pentax is a great brand, but they have their faults like any other. AF has been one of them, even if it is blown out of proportion from time to time.

[normhead]

Im all for praise where it is deserved but focus ability certainly is not an area that can be praised. Its total garbage.

Really, you got any quotes to back that up? You seem to be well spring of anti-Pentax vitriole in this post.

The size of these sensors make it impossable for the K5 to ever be very accurate

Yet we can quote from a study by a German photo magazine that actually compared models from different companies and said Pentax was the best. Maybe they don't shoot what you shoot but hey, I don't see you acknowledging that. Maybe the large sensor make the Pentax's more accurate against large flat surfaces. Maybe there's a trade off you're not seeing. Maybe for some shooters, the large sensor is a plus. maybe this is you upset Pentax made a system that favours someone else's shooting style but not yours. I guess in 32 years you've never seen such a bad system. I guess, my response would be, in my approx. 55 years, started with my dad's twin lens reflex when I was 6 or 7, I haven't ever found a camera I couldn't make work for me. Who knows, maybe that's why I'm a Pentax kind of guy. I expect to have to know what to do when my camera doesn't do everything I want it to. ANd I don't expect them to do much because when I started everything was manual. Auto focus, even Pentaxes is still the latest thing since sliced bread around my house. I don't care what the limitations are. Give me one and I'll get'r done.

Its total garbage.

Really, is yours waiting by the curb in a garbage bag? If not, you either like having total garbage in your house, or you're a total hypocrit.

Come on, the part about the garbage in your house was really funny. Lighten up

[drugal]

I guess I'm still at the point where I don't totally trust technology. I often double check the focus point if there are several things in my selected focus area that the camera could have selected.

Other than that, the only major focus problems I've run into are errors on my part or failing to do the in camera lens adjustment. Then again I'm usually shooting outdoors on a tripod.
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