[kenspo]

Who said anything about Tuesday?

[saladin]

Everyone!








* may be a hyperbolic statement.

[kenspo]

Well..Not me. Nothing will happen on tuesday.

[jaad75]

Ricoh and I have a different view on this Also Ricoh were so unhappy with the AF, that they saw the urgent requirement to do something about it.

The K-5ii has an unacceptably bad AF-S, regarding the hit rate.

Oh, really? Maybe your camera/lens should be serviced or maybe you'll have to learn a little bit more how to use it?
Here you have tests that measure exactly what I'm talking about - the AF-S accuracy and repeatability:

Test Pentax K-5 II - Operation and ergonomics - Camera Test - Optyczne.pl
Test Pentax K-5 IIs - Use and ergonomics - Camera Test - Optyczne.pl
Test Pentax K-3 - Use and ergonomics - Camera Test - Optyczne.pl

Nikon announced the D7200 March 2

I know, I know...
Even if Nikon didn't get it, Ricoh still could. I hope so and I hope they had a time to learn it and tweak everything to get the best results. You know IMX271 has quite different options than older sensors and with the new processor there is some learning curve too I guess...

[redrockcoulee]

Well..Not me. Nothing will happen on tuesday.

So I might as well stay home from work tomorrow? Or were you meaning in regards to Pentax announcements?

Ken, keep up the work of giving small clues and hints. I am not buying either of the new models coming out but it is fun to see the large conclusions made from a tiny scrap of data.

[Frater]

Here you have tests that measure exactly what I'm talking about - the AF-S accuracy and repeatability

That doesn't help much. The AF-C is the frustrating one (YMMV) , and the one I have to use most of the time (due to the nature of my shootings).

The AF-S is seemingly better, yes, but restricted to static targets. And also AF-S shows some amount of random variation with my lenses, more than the Polish guys experienced, but this may be due to the screw drive autofocus mechanism being prone to some randomness generally. Which may be even not Pentax specific, but common brand-independent wisdom. In the tests, the Polish guys used an SDM lens, not a screw driven lens. I don't own any SDM lens, never liked the idea of SDM motors having an expiration date

Another suspicion is, that with Pentax, the non-central AF areas may be inferior to the central one? The central area is normally used in reviews and by many users. I almost always use one of the non-central ones.

Again, I'm glad that whoever (ambassadors?) brought AF issues such as above to Ricoh's attention in the past, so that a better AF was (and is) on their priority to-do list.

[jatrax]

Please stop quoting this dude. I boriscleto'ed™ him ages ago and if you quote I have to read it.

Sorry.

[kenspo]

So I might as well stay home from work tomorrow? Or were you meaning in regards to Pentax announcements?

Ken, keep up the work of giving small clues and hints. I am not buying either of the new models coming out but it is fun to see the large conclusions made from a tiny scrap of data.

Go to work Im shure plenty will happen around the world tomorrow, but nothing from Pentax HQ

[kooks]

Everyone!








* may be a hyperbolic statement.

no body said Tuesday.. Asahiman said THURSDAY.. and he said that COULD happen.. but is not 100% sure..

[Stavri]

I'd listen to Kenspo and Asahi man

[jaad75]

That doesn't help much. The AF-C is the sh*tty one (YMMV) , and the one I have to use most of the time (due to the nature of my shootings).

So now it's the AF-C suddenly? Yes, the AF-C is much worse, but still good enough to nail some basic situations if you know what you do. I use the BBF all of the time, so I am in the AF-C mode mostly - it can be used quite effectively and in quite similar manner you use the AF-S, you just need to know what it can (and what can't) do.

And also AF-S shows some amount of random variation with my lenses, more than the Polish guys experienced, but this may be due to the screw drive autofocus mechanism being prone to some randomness generally. Which may be even not Pentax specific, but common brand-independent wisdom. In the tests, the Polish guys used an SDM lens, not a screw driven lens. I don't own any SDM lens, never liked the idea of SDM motors having an expiration date

Most of my lenses are screw driven as well - they work ok. Optyczne/Lenstip testers had serious AF problems with their copy of the DA50/1.8 - maybe this is your problem too?

Another suspicion is, that with Pentax, the non-central AF areas may be inferior to the central one? The central area is normally used in reviews and by many users. I almost always use one of the non-central ones.

Me too. While the central one is certainly the most accurate, I don't find the others to be much worse - even the outer line points are spot on most of the time with my camera (it was quite a different story with my older K-5 "classic", not to mention the K10D).

Again, I'm glad that whoever (ambassadors?) brought AF issues such as above to Ricoh's attention in the past, so that a better AF was (and is) on their priority to-do list.

One of the first things we saw after Ricoh takeover was much better AF module of the K-5II/s - they are constantly improving in that matter.

[Cambo]

I'm looking forward to this new camera on Tues/Thurs/never. Improved AF, and I hope they re-implement the power zoom-clip mode and image-size tracking that they had in the 90's...I still think they need a new FA* 250-600 power zoom and get into the sports arena. That would be the best lens EVER for sports.

I'm going to be selling off my FA*s soon and going all in on APSC...I'll wait to see what this new camera has on Tues/Thurs/Never.

I'm glad they're doomed.

Cheers,
Cameron

[Stavri]

One of the first things we saw after Ricoh takeover was much better AF module of the K-5II/s - they are constantly improving in that matter.

Do not antagonize the monkeys......

I'm looking forward to hear that K3ii sweet shutter sound (radio voice), it's my favorite part of new product unveiling....

I call my K3 Christa Tippett......(the NPR radio personality). it's shutter sounds soothe my soul...

[Frater]

Yes, the AF-C is much worse, but still good enough to nail some basic situations

Yes, that's probably a fair way to put it. The AF-C yields a good percentage of properly focused and wonderful sharp images. It's just the failure rate which could be lower. I'd say it is between 20% and 50% (for f/1.8 low depth-of-field usage). Someone shooting a dog possibly wouldn't bother, he/she would just delete these and enjoy the sharp ones. But we (my fashion blogging model and I) are picky with regards to the expression and the flair of captured special moments. After every shooting there are always these disappointments, when a favourite cannot be used due to OOF blur. That's why I'm very ambitious with the keeper rate.

Yes a simple solution would to go for a pro body such as Nikon D750 or higher (or equivalent Canons). That'll bring down the failure rate to a small and reliable one-digit percentage. But it's much more money than I want to spend on the issue resolution.

Optyczne/Lenstip testers had serious AF problems with their copy of the DA50/1.8

Yes I saw this as well before my purchase, but attributed this to the generally less capable AF of the K-5 (original) they used.
I'm impressed with my sample optically, no decentering (as if a Limited), good performance wide open. There's some focus randnomness at AF-S, but not severely, maybe just within the range -/+ 3 in AF fine adjustment terms, up to +/- 5 are rare outliers.
This is not perfect but in line with my other Pentax lenses.

I suspect that a main cause of the AF-C issues may be, that the AF-C may not be sensitive enough for small reductions in the object distance. I.e. the defocus threshold, which is required to recognise a distance change and trigger an adjustment, may be higher than what the shallow DoF can bear. I remember faintly from the times when the D7100 came out in 2013, and a couple of Pentaxians switched over from the K-5ii(s) to the D7100, one reported that the D7100 AF-C would be more sensitive towards small distance changes, and issue more frequent focussing updates.

If we then add a minor amount of general mechanical randomness on top, maybe this explains my issues (which may be applicable only to shooting subjects and styles comparable to mine) completely.

[Stavri]

@ Frater

Keep the posting short my friend and don't hijack the thread. This is about the new K3ii, If you have a lot on your mind, open a separate thread and we can talk in detail
-regards