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03-17-2016, 04:22 PM   #1
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Focus Peaking

I am probably the only Pentax shooter in our local camera club. At wildlife outings I am humbled by the keeper rates of Canon and Nikon shooters. Today I found an area where Pentax excels - focus peaking. I rely on it a lot for macro photography. Our macro special interest group started up today - about 20 of us. I led the session and proceeded to use LV with focus peaking to create a 1:1 stacked image using the Vivitar Bokina lens. I was bewildered when the Canon and Nikon shooters said they never heard of focus peaking or if they did they thought only SONY offered it.

It goes to prove there is no perfect camera but the K3, despite is relatively poor AF.C system versus Canon and Nikon is still a winner. I rely heavily on focus peaking for my macro shooting.

I am guessing there is a high end Canon or Nikon system with focus peaking - but there wasn't one in our group.

I still need Pentax to pony up and introduce a industry competitive AF.C system .. but there is no perfect camera and for macro work I am very pleased to own a Pentax system.

03-17-2016, 04:26 PM   #2
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Good to hear the focus peaking and i recently started using catch in focus on manual lens makes it much easier in some cicumstances when you can not see the screen.
03-17-2016, 04:34 PM   #3
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I don't think any Nikon DSLR has had focus peaking until the D500/D5. Canon doesn't have it unless you use third-party firmware. Yet Pentax has had it in all DSLRs since 2013. So we're definitely ahead in that area!

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03-17-2016, 04:59 PM   #4
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Your post was a pleasure to read. Glad to hear you are happy with your Pentax. When I just recently started shooting I quickly realized how much I like my camera. I started to remember those posts where someone had praised their camera and expressed how much they loved it - because I felt the same way.

Moments like this make up for those times when we told someone what camera we were shooting and their response was "I've never heard of that."

03-17-2016, 05:30 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Adam Quote
I don't think any Nikon DSLR has had focus peaking until the D500/D5. Canon doesn't have it unless you use third-party firmware. Yet Pentax has had it in all DSLRs since 2013. So we're definitely ahead in that area!
I am shooting butterfly macro with my K5 and K30, sometimes I have focus issue and sounds my 2 cameras didn't have the focus peaking function.

Hope the coming K1 have this and I can get it by the end of the year. (when I have enough money)...
03-17-2016, 05:44 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by micl161 Quote
I am shooting butterfly macro with my K5 and K30, sometimes I have focus issue and sounds my 2 cameras didn't have the focus peaking function.

Hope the coming K1 have this and I can get it by the end of the year. (when I have enough money)...
The K-5 does not have focus peaking, but the K-30 does. It was the first Pentax DSLR to have it (introduced on K-01).
03-17-2016, 06:49 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by micl161 Quote
I am shooting butterfly macro with my K5 and K30, sometimes I have focus issue and sounds my 2 cameras didn't have the focus peaking function.

Hope the coming K1 have this and I can get it by the end of the year. (when I have enough money)...
The K-30 does have focus peaking, but the K-5 doesn't.


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03-17-2016, 07:07 PM   #8
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The K-5 does not have focus peaking, but the K-30 does. It was the first Pentax DSLR to have it (introduced on K-01).


QuoteOriginally posted by Adam Quote
The K-30 does have focus peaking, but the K-5 doesn't.


Thanks and I need to read the menu carefully again !!
03-17-2016, 09:55 PM   #9
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Honestly i've never tried this feature but it sounds worthwhile. So much to learn
03-17-2016, 11:57 PM   #10
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FP is the most significant new feature in both my current bodies and super useful in landscape photography where AF points are often irrelevant. It has equal utility in portraits, macro, and product work as well.
03-18-2016, 12:42 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by micl161 Quote
The K-5 does not have focus peaking, but the K-30 does. It was the first Pentax DSLR to have it (introduced on K-01).






Thanks and I need to read the menu carefully again !!
The option should be in the control panel while you're in live view, as well as in the live view sub-menu under the record tab of the main menu.

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03-22-2016, 01:32 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by RockvilleBob Quote
I am probably the only Pentax shooter in our local camera club.
I recently took my K5IIs and DA* 300mm to my local astronomy club and amazed them with the astrotrace feature on the O-GPS1 unit. Many of them had £5000-10,000 telescopes with £1000-1500 of Canikon strapped to them, but not one had heard of astrotrace or could do anything similar.
I took some longish exposures on a Manfrotto tripod and got more keepers than they were getting with their self-tracking telescopes but without sensor shift.
You pays your money and takes your choice, but after 25 years as a Pentaxian (before that I was shooting with a Praktica MTL5B) I will never join the herd.
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