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11-04-2013, 08:15 PM   #31
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go and see that new theads
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/172-pentax-k-3/241586-my-k-3-af-experiences.html#post2566036

11-04-2013, 08:33 PM   #32
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Sorry, didn't see that.
Thanks.
11-04-2013, 08:38 PM   #33
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QuoteOriginally posted by caledonian Quote
I was practicing flight shots this past weekend, also of Ring-Billed Gulls, and with the bird against an empty sky the K-5 with DA* 300 gives a high percentage of sharp photos in AF-C. If the bird flies in front of a tree I find the camera is almost guaranteed to lose the bird and focus on the background object instead.

So for anyone who previously used a K-5 can you say the K-3 is significantly better?
I've taken some very nice shots of birds in flight with my K-5 as well. A high contrast subject against the sky is pretty easy to focus on. The challenge comes when, like you say, there is a busy background, or when light is low. The low light situation is much better with the K-3; I had situations with my DA*300 where it wouldn't focus due to low contrast on my K-5.

Improvements between models are always corner cases. In good conditions almost everything works. I can even manual focus birds in flight if there is bright light.
11-05-2013, 05:54 AM - 1 Like   #34
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QuoteOriginally posted by traderdrew Quote
You know what you are doing dawg. (Dane Dawg gets some great shots.) Oh Man! I'm so tempted to hit the order button.

Edit: I just hit the order button.
Congratulations! You held out for over an hour.

QuoteOriginally posted by caledonian Quote
I was practicing flight shots this past weekend, also of Ring-Billed Gulls, and with the bird against an empty sky the K-5 with DA* 300 gives a high percentage of sharp photos in AF-C. If the bird flies in front of a tree I find the camera is almost guaranteed to lose the bird and focus on the background object instead.

So for anyone who previously used a K-5 can you say the K-3 is significantly better?
You tell me. These are from the same shoot as my original post. There's a three-shot sequence, followed by crops of the same three photos. They show that the K-3 locked on the subject in a busy frame. The main bird is tack sharp, the second bird, wires and pole are out of focus.













11-05-2013, 08:53 AM   #35
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QuoteOriginally posted by audiobomber Quote
You tell me. These are from the same shoot as my original post. There's a three-shot sequence, followed by crops of the same three photos. They show that the K-3 locked on the subject in a busy frame. The main bird is tack sharp, the second bird, wires and pole are out of focus.
That's wonderful! This is starting to sound like the performance of the Nikon D4 but it would be absolutely amazing if it could be on par with that camera's ablity. It's not the easiest thing to get BIF shots with the K-5 but I have done it many times. The AF-C servo is good for about two or three shots. I typically acquire focus and fire and reacquire again and repeat.
11-05-2013, 09:15 AM   #36
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QuoteOriginally posted by audiobomber Quote
You tell me. These are from the same shoot as my original post. There's a three-shot sequence, followed by crops of the same three photos. They show that the K-3 locked on the subject in a busy frame. The main bird is tack sharp, the second bird, wires and pole are out of focus.
Impressive stuff.

Quite noisy though. What was the ISO for these shots? How heavily cropped are they?
11-05-2013, 11:51 AM   #37
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QuoteOriginally posted by ChrisA Quote
Impressive stuff.

Quite noisy though. What was the ISO for these shots? How heavily cropped are they?
ISO 400, the main photos are full size jpegs, downsized to 1600 pixels for posting on Picasa, downsized to 800 pixels for posting here.

The three crops are under 6mp, so more than an entire K-5 image has been cropped away, then downsized to 1600 and downsized again to 800.


Last edited by audiobomber; 11-05-2013 at 12:10 PM.
11-05-2013, 05:03 PM   #38
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QuoteOriginally posted by audiobomber Quote
ISO 400, the main photos are full size jpegs, downsized to 1600 pixels for posting on Picasa, downsized to 800 pixels for posting here.

The three crops are under 6mp, so more than an entire K-5 image has been cropped away, then downsized to 1600 and downsized again to 800.
Downsizing and posting on certain places can make the sky look inconsistent. It can have a bitmapped look to it. I've experienced this on flickr. I figure your full sized images are cleaner?
11-05-2013, 06:31 PM   #39
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QuoteOriginally posted by NeverSatisfied Quote
has anyone else noticed the high number of brand-new forum members coming out of the woodwork to criticize Pentax/Ricoh's latest (and arguably greatest) effort?
Not really but I haven't been paying close attention. .
11-05-2013, 07:21 PM   #40
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QuoteOriginally posted by Canada_Rockies Quote
It looks like Ricoh's take on Pentax is a real winner. Now if someone will just give me more than the usual $$$ for Christmas ...
hey, thanks for writing this! maybe i can milkask my family for some money so I don't have to use as much of my own money.
11-05-2013, 08:17 PM   #41
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QuoteOriginally posted by traderdrew Quote
Downsizing and posting on certain places can make the sky look inconsistent. It can have a bitmapped look to it. I've experienced this on flickr. I figure your full sized images are cleaner?
Yes, considerably cleaner.
02-11-2014, 05:14 PM   #42
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Not so good for me!

Firstly it is winter here in the UK and a wet one at that! So I haven't had many opportunities in high contrast light. Nevertheless my K3 seems to behave in much the same way in continuous mode as all of my 4 previous Pentax DSLR's up to and including the K30 and now the K3. I thought this thread with these settings and my K3 was going to be my Eureka moment. What happens most of the time with me is that I lock on the bird and get initial confirmation then with back button focus held down in above settings and then following it just trundles along and red focus indicator and green confirmation flash on and off and the final shot is rarely in focus. If at any point I release and repress back focus button it then bleeps and re-sharpens. Any thoughts?
02-11-2014, 06:01 PM   #43
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I don't think the back button focus is a good idea for AF-C burst shooting. I keep focus tied to the shutter release.

Last edited by audiobomber; 02-12-2014 at 05:09 AM.
02-12-2014, 12:22 AM   #44
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I hope you're aware that you should keep the back AF button engaged while tracking your subject? :-)
02-12-2014, 05:49 AM   #45
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I am, yes. In fact further investigation is making me wonder if I have a camera fault. Just tried three different lenses, DA*300, DAL 55-300, Sigma 150-500 and this is what happens.
(Back button and shutter half pushed no difference). Tracks for approx 10 secs then just stops re-focusing until I release the button and refocus. The tracks again for about 10 secs (but slightly different each time) then won't change focus till I release button and start agin. Seems like a short or overheating or something.
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