[beachgardener]

yep, sort out the back focus and you should be good to go
unless it seems de-centred to the bottom left, but that might be the lens corners, and angle of camera.

try photographing a brick wall on tripod, the sensor parallel with the wall, worth a try, see what happens.
edit: yes forgot, as mentioned below, shake reduction off for tripod use

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Last edited by beachgardener; 12-30-2017 at 11:36 PM. Reason: add info.

[Glen]

Hi all,
Pentax newbie here. My husband and I have just bought our first dslr, the K-S2. So far we have used mostly CSC cameras like the sony nex line and decided to upgrade. We chose the K-S2 for raving reviews about image quality and performance in low light situations, and ended up finding a very good deal for the zoom kit (18-50 DAL and 50-200 DAL). We thought that for our needs for everyday photos, the kit lenses should be fine.
Unfortunately, we are underwhelmed by both lenses... slow AF in any setting, even if you get the desired part in focus, the photo will be unsharp, even with good lighting conditions or with flash. The collapsible kit lens is massively annoying and clumsy, the zoom lens is slow and noisy too. The latter we still need to test better.

Honestly, besides the sharpness and unreliable focus, all else we could deal with. Maybe is us who do something wrong, but the sony kit lens has so far outperformed the pentax one (please don't hate me ).

Came here to ask:
- Are we doing something wrong - or you really cannot expect anything more from a kit lens?
- What would you suggest as a good replacement for starters?

For the replacement, the ideal lens is: sharp, fast, performs reasonably well in low light and you can preferably take it a bit closer to your subject, maybe up 15-20 cm. If possible, something that can be used for general street photography too. Prime lens are OK, if there is a bit of zoom, it is preferred.

So far this is my top choice: Pentax HD DA Limited 35mm F2.8 Macro Lens - any other opinions?

Thank you in advance.

It looks like you are getting some great advice already so I'll just add some additional comments to help clarify what you should expect.
First the 50-200 is probably the cheapest lens offered by Pentax. You can usually pick one up used slightly for next to nothing. So it follows that you should be under whelmed by its performance. It is not for nothing that photographers spend a lot of money on better lenses.
Pentax has a well deserved reputation for poor focus on moving subjects but at the same time Pentax is known for excellent focus in various lighting conditions on stationary subjects. However it may take some experimenting with the various focus methods to find one that works best for you. Generally single spot focus where you can move the spot around works best.
Turn off the shake reduction if using a tripod, turn it on when you are not using a tripod.
Do buy a better lens and the 35 macro is known for its sharpness. Good choice.
Remember that the further out you zoom, the more attention you need to give to the shutter speed. This of course is irrelevant with a prime lens like the 35. I really think that if you buy that lens you will be pleased with the results or else there is something else wrong.

[Des]

Welcome to PF.

Lots of good advice. I'd just underline this point. The first issue to address is getting the focus right. That means for starters checking each lens to see whether fine adjustment of the focus is necessary. It's common for lenses to need some calibration - this is not especially a Pentax thing or a kit lens thing.

So with the lens adjusted (if necessary), I'd suggest going back a step with your technique: start with centre point focus, and learn the focus-and-recompose technique. That is, use the centre point to focus on the key part of the subject, and while holding the focus on that point, move the camera to frame the image the way you want it. If you are using a half press of the shutter button to focus, make sure that the AF is set to AF-S, and hold the shutter button at the half-press while reframing. (If the AF is set to AF-C, the camera will keep trying to re-focus as you move it.) It seems awkward at first, but with a few practice shots you will get the hang of it.

Many of us instead set the camera up to use only the back-button for autofocus, so that the half-press of the shutter only does exposure metering, not focusing. [Edit: And Shake Reduction, of course. Thanks to @AyeYo for reminding us of this.] This means that you use your right thumb on the AF-AEL button to focus. Once the focus is on the relevant point, just lift your thumb and the focus will stay where you set it. Then re-compose. You can leave the AF on AF-C this way - it's a handy setting for moving subjects.

Using a single focus point gives more control over the focus. If you use multi-points, the camera will find the nearest thing in the focusing area and focus on that. That is more likely to be someone's nose than their eyes! Multi-point AF is good for things like birds in flight against a clear sky at some distance - it's not recommended for people or for things at close range, with relatively short depth of field.

The DA 18-50 isn't a great lens, but it does have two things going for it. The AF uses a DC motor (that is a motor in the lens), so it should be reasonably quick and quiet. The second thing going for it is its minimum focus distance (MFD) is 30cm, which is fairly good for a non-macro lens. If the lens isn't focusing quickly, it's probably not because of the AF system in the lens; it's because not enough light is getting in to the camera for the phase detect AF system (viewfinder) or contrast detect AF (LiveView) to work effectively. An external flash with a focusing beam could help here; otherwise you need a lens with a wider maximum aperture. As for the minimum focus distance, I wonder whether you might be pushing even the 30cm. It's possible that the reason the focus point in the snake photo is on the paper towel rather than the snake is not because the lens needs fine adjustment but because you were just under the MFD from the snake. If you use single point AF, and focus confirmation, you will know if you are under the MFD.

[Timea]

Hi all, thanks for all the good advice. Today I did a few test shots with objects lined up after one another and at least in daylight and from sufficient distance, the focus seems sharp. However, didn't have time to play around too much with it but will report back once there is progress. Wishing you all a happy new year and thanks again for the help!

[Clothears]

Many of us instead set the camera up to use only the back-button for autofocus, so that the half-press of the shutter only does exposure metering, not focusing. This means that you use your right thumb on the AF-AEL button to focus. Once the focus is on the relevant point, just lift your thumb and the focus will stay where you set it. Then re-compose. You can leave the AF on AF-C this way - which is handy for moving subjects.

I'm using a K-S1. It too has the AF-AEL button on the back. However I couldn't immediately see how to set the camera up as you describe above. Where is that setting on the K-S2? I'll see whether I can figure it out for the K-S1 from that.

Thanks.

[Des]

I'm using a K-S1. It too has the AF-AEL button on the back. However I couldn't immediately see how to set the camera up as you describe above. Where is that setting on the K-S2? I'll see whether I can figure it out for the K-S1 from that.

It's really buried in the menus. Record mode menu 4 -> Button customization -> AF/AE-L button -> AF2. This enables AF with the AF/AE-L button and disables AF with a half-press of the shutter button.

[Clothears]

It's really buried in the menus. Record mode menu 4 -> Button customization -> AF/AE-L button -> AF2. This enables AF with the AF/AE-L button and disables AF with a half-press of the shutter button.

Ah yes got it now, thanks, it's the same place.

Hmm, too bad it's so buried. SWMBO uses this camera too (and takes better pictures than me) but tends to uses it as a p&s. If I start changing that for my use all her pix will go wrong. Food for thought.

[Jonathan Mac]

Hi all,
Pentax newbie here. My husband and I have just bought our first dslr, the K-S2. So far we have used mostly CSC cameras like the sony nex line and decided to upgrade. We chose the K-S2 for raving reviews about image quality and performance in low light situations, and ended up finding a very good deal for the zoom kit (18-50 DAL and 50-200 DAL). We thought that for our needs for everyday photos, the kit lenses should be fine.
Unfortunately, we are underwhelmed by both lenses... slow AF in any setting, even if you get the desired part in focus, the photo will be unsharp, even with good lighting conditions or with flash. The collapsible kit lens is massively annoying and clumsy, the zoom lens is slow and noisy too. The latter we still need to test better.

Honestly, besides the sharpness and unreliable focus, all else we could deal with. Maybe is us who do something wrong, but the sony kit lens has so far outperformed the pentax one (please don't hate me ).

Came here to ask:
- Are we doing something wrong - or you really cannot expect anything more from a kit lens?
- What would you suggest as a good replacement for starters?

For the replacement, the ideal lens is: sharp, fast, performs reasonably well in low light and you can preferably take it a bit closer to your subject, maybe up 15-20 cm. If possible, something that can be used for general street photography too. Prime lens are OK, if there is a bit of zoom, it is preferred.

So far this is my top choice: Pentax HD DA Limited 35mm F2.8 Macro Lens - any other opinions?

Thank you in advance.

Kit lenses are rarely going to shine, it's one of the big problems with getting into good cameras - the lenses that come with them usually are not that great and leave people wondering why they are not seeing the leap in image quality that they expected.

The Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 is the lens that I usually recommend to beginners as a replacement for the 18-55mm kit lens. It's fast, has a good range, focuses very close for a standard zoom and has excellent image quality. Make sure that your copy focuses correctly - sometimes they need focus micro-adjustment to focus accurately but sometimes micro-adjustment isn't enough, in which case you'll need to change it for a different copy.

I've recently got a Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 and that's also very good, maybe even better than the Tamron, but more expensive. If you're will to spend more I'd probably recommend that over the Tamron.

However, since you've mentioned the 35mm f/2.8 limited as something you're interested in, that changes things. That's my favourite lens ever - it's well-built, fast, has 1:1 macro and astounding image quality. Most people wouldn't get a prime as their first non-kit lens but if you're happy with not being able to zoom then there simply isn't a better lens you could get for your K-S2.

[Des]

Hmm, too bad it's so buried. SWMBO uses this camera too (and takes better pictures than me) but tends to uses it as a p&s. If I start changing that for my use all her pix will go wrong. Food for thought.

My partner also likes shutter button focus, whereas I like back button focus. Fortunately that is one of the settings that can be saved in the User profiles, so when she uses the camera we just twirl the dial to User2. You can include focus point setting and shooting mode (Program mode for example) too, so your wife can have p&s mode if that's what she prefers. It makes more sense to do it that way than to assign a user mode to you if (like me) you are changing the settings often (e.g. switching between TAv, Av, M and Tv as the occasion requires). BTW, User1 for me is Birds in Flight, because they are the settings I want to be available as quickly as possible when required.

- I shoot raw and fiddle with it, husband does it mostly to post on fb about his snakes, so he shoots jpeg

This is something else that the User1 and User2 modes are handy for.

The other way to deal with these different preferences is to shoot RAW + jpg, so you have the best of both. About the only disadvantages of doing so are that you have more files, which takes up more space on the SD card, and it fills the camera's buffer faster.

The Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 is the lens that I usually recommend to beginners as a replacement for the 18-55mm kit lens. It's fast, has a good range, focuses very close for a standard zoom and has excellent image quality.

@Timea, just to clarify one point here. When we talk about a lens being "fast", as Jonathan does here, it's referring to the maximum aperture (f2.8 in this instance), not to the speed of the autofocus. (Although of course a wider maximum aperture does generally also mean that the lens can focus better in low light.)

[Clothears]

My partner also likes shutter button focus, whereas I like back button focus. Fortunately that is one of the settings that can be saved in the User profiles, so when she uses the camera we just twirl the dial to User2.

That would be a nice trick if my K-S1 could do it but unfortunately that feature is not available to me. Sounds extremely useful, though.

[i_trax]

Hi guys, thanks for the great advice so far. I was thinking of buying the HD macro lens used, as yes, it is quite pricey. Will review the other options recommended!
Some comments:
- shake reduction is def on (thought of it and checked multiple times)
- I shoot raw and fiddle with it, husband does it mostly to post on fb about his snakes, so he shoots jpeg
- single point AF has worked best so far, yes, but manually selecting where to focus hasn't worked too well so far if it was not the centre point. It simply didn't focus where it should have.

Not the most optimal samples to show, but you can see some photos on my husbands snake page on facebook here. The ones after mid-December are with the K-S2.
He says it takes him quite some tries to get the sharpness right,

Hi Timea,
I only used once the kit DAL 18-55 and DA 50-200 ( not DAL but optically they are identical) + Pentax-F 1.7x AF teleconverter with my Pentax Kx.
It was on my trip to Melbourne in NOV2010, I was not disappointed.
Melbourne NOV2010 | Flickr
Images are jpegs straight from the camera, Kx is a very enjoyable tool, still with my Family with both kit lenses.
After a short research I upgraded my kit to used Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5 DC Macro ( non HSM) , absolutely loved it, you could practically touch the subject with the lens and image was still in focus.
I purchased two more of them ,both used, did a lot of traveling with them. Sold one, the second one did go to my niece with Pentax K-5 , the third one is permanently attached to K-30.
You can get them very well priced on the used market. Perfect for narrow old European Street and dark Churches.
Some photos taken with them:
Sigma DC 17-70 MACRO 2.8-4.5 | Flickr
Sigma DC 17-70 2.8-4.5 MACRO | Flickr
By using fast zooms you can find out what focal length is most important for you, then you can invest in good primes.
I would not recommend DA35 2.8 Macro as your first Prime.
It is very sharp and well build but focusing could be frustrating while you are trying to get something in a hurry.
This lens has very long focus run from macro to infinity.
I also have newer Sigma 17-70 2.8-4 DC Macro HSM Contemporary, AF is a bit faster and silent but optically they are very similar:
Sigma C 17-70 2.8-4 DC Macro HSM | Flickr
Auto Focusing , in the most cases, I use central single focusing spot, AF.S mode, lock the focus on the important part of the image,recompose and take the picture.

[Des]

I would not recommend DA35 2.8 Macro as your first Prime. It is very sharp and well build but focusing could be frustrating while you are trying to get something in a hurry. This lens has very long focus run from macro to infinity.

This is true of all macro lenses. They tend to have a long focus throw, which allows for precise focusing, but makes for slower autofocus. But if you can live with the slower autofocus, a macro lens is going to be sharp from corner to corner (they generally have little field curvature), and have a relatively short MFD. I have two macros, the FA 50mm f2.8 and the D FA 100mm f2.8 and they are probably the two sharpest lenses I have (and I have several other sharp lenses). They are not just good for true macro but also for landscapes, flowers, reptiles (!), insects, product shots, and many other things.

But personally I'd agree with @i_trax that a better zoom lens covering the wide-normal range would probably be more useful as your first upgrade from the kit lenses, unless you are already confident that a single focal length will best meet your needs. If you are not sure, try leaving the 18-50 set at 35mm for a few days so you can imagine what a 35mm prime would be like. Or you could take the plunge with the cheap but good DA 35mm f2.4 (the "plastic fantastic").

If you go for a zoom instead, there is a wealth of choices, some of which have already been mentioned. If you want f2.8, there's the Tamron 17-50 and Sigma 17-50 that Jonathan mentioned, and also the Pentax DA*16-50 (which is a premium lens and also weather-resistant). If you don't need f2.8 across the range, but want a WR lens (with quiet DC autofocus), there's the Pentax DA 16-85, DA 18-135 and DA 20-40 Limited. If you don't need WR and don't mind noisier screw-driven AF, there are the Sigma 17-70 models that @i_trax referred to, and the older Pentax DA 16-45. The DA 17-70 f4 was highly regarded for image quality, has quiet AF and is now cheap, but is in less demand because the autofocus was unreliable and known to fail on many copies. For a wider zoom range (at the price of lower resolution and more distortion) there is the Tamron 18-250, its Pentax clone the DA 18-250, its successor the DA 18-270, the Sigma 18-250 and the current champion superzoom, the Sigma 18-300. This is just a small selection of the options.

[AyeYo]

Obviously you've gotten plenty of good advice so far, but just wanted to chime in because I felt the same way when I first got the KS2 with the kit lenses.

First off, not sure on your experience level, but even when using back button focusing you need to make sure you're half pressing before firing the shutter or shake reduction will not be working. This solved 50% of my sharpness issues right away.

Second, again, not sure of your experience level, but if you're new enough you might not know - even with shake reduction you need to make sure you're steady when firing the shutter. This includes breathing technique (slow exhale or hold your breath), bracing the camera and your arms, and light press of the shutter with follow through. This solved the other 50% of my sharpness issues.

So with sharpness issues likely solved, my observations on those lenses...

The 50-200 is basically trash. It produces a picture with a recognizable subject and that's about it. When in the vicinity of 135mm f8 it's decent. It benefits greatly from a hood if you don't already have one. Best thing I ever used it for was shooting a running race for organizers that didn't care about picture quality. At medium size, 2 star JPEG it looks great lol. The focus is indeed noisy, but it was plenty fast enough to do rapid fire AF-C across an endless stream of runners coming at me and still have a >80% keeper rate.

The 18-50 isn't bad at all. It's a great hiking lens, being incredibly light and weather resistant. Again, with the element hanging out front it greatly benefits from a hood. I've taken plenty of good pictures with it. If you're getting bad pictures, don't run out and get a new lens. Figure out what you're doing wrong first, then give it a chance.

[kh1234567890]

The 50-200 is basically trash. It produces a picture with a recognizable subject and that's about it.

Mine must be broken ...

[UncleVanya]

Mine must be broken ...

I liked mine but no longer have it to show. Glad you posted.