[biz-engineer]

Two consecutive shots (100% keep rate). Ducks moving away from the camera. Pentax K3, ISO100, F8, 1/500 shutter, AFC Auto 9 points.
Best regards.

Attached Images

   

---

Last edited by biz-engineer; 05-01-2016 at 02:24 AM.

[Kunzite]

This is the kind of BIF that I don't see much in the Pentax forum:
Nikon D500 BIF Shots: Nikon Pro DX SLR (D500, D300, D200, D100) Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
Not just tracking parallel to flight but directly towards you. All that with a consumer lenses.

Oh, yeah. A consumer camera - which incidentally is more expensive than the K-1, despite having a crop sensor - with a $1400 consumer lens. A K-S1 with a 50-200 should better match that! (after all, it's consumer equipment, right?)

[biz-engineer]

A series of duck in flight tracking: 12 shots AFC / continuous burst.

[biz-engineer]

the last 2 of the burst of the sequence with branches in the way... (select AFC hold medium).

Attached Images

   

[gorme]

I am interested in the low light focus capabilities without assistent lamp. For a wedding, in a church, flash and assistent lamp are usually not allowed, same for some concerts.
I am trying the D800E at the moment and I would say that at 3200iso and above it starts beeing slow to focus or hit and miss with a 50mm f/1.4G (single shot). What would be the maximum reliable ISO for the K-1 without the lamp ?

[biz-engineer]

A few more AFC tracking shots: a burst of 17 images with AFC tracking, 100% keeper (with trees and branches in the way of the target).
Best regards.

[biz-engineer]

... and the 7 remaining of the burst.

---------- Post added 01-05-16 at 12:34 ----------

Id love to know this too. Im currently using a K3 and was thinking of moving to the Nikon 7200 as im not happy with the K3's performance.

IMO, fast and accurate AF is very very important in today's digital camera..I am using K-01 and Sony A7 and I am not fully satisfied with either one in terms of the AF speed and accuracy. I'm in the market for a new camera system and interested in K-1 but really wanted to know how its AF compares (focus tracking, live view AF) with newer DSLR/ mirrorless such as D500, a6300, A7R II etc.

I'm not talking about $10k of equipment, but maybe D500 ($2000) and 200-500 ($1400). Beside, I only posted because you made the assertion that the user is at fault when they miss focus. I just want to present another view that some equipment may facilitate capturing moving subjects better.

So you just have to get a K-3 and read the manual.

Attached Images

             

[monochrome]

Nice B-i-F series. You do understand the other guy is going to ask for a burst series coming at you now, right?

[Winder]

Yeah, if you make a short cut between market share (=relative number of photos) and AF tracking performance, and compare mirroless AF with phase detect AF of K3, then... I'm afraid that there's no point to argue about AF. The K3 AF trounce Fuji XT1 AF ANYTIME.

In good light the Fuji X-T1 has better AF-C if the subject is moving towards you. In poor light the K-3 will do better, but neither of them are acceptable in poor light using AF-C.

Mirrorless cameras have caught up and is some cases surpassed Ricoh in AF-C performance. The new Olympus EM-1 is rumored to have very good AF-C performance and Olympus is using it 2x crop factor and new AF to go after sports and wildlife shooters.

[bilybianca]

I was out for the first "real" shooting with my K-1 today. I haven't ever tried a high end Canon or Nikon, can only compare it to my K5.
I shot people walking towards me, in good light. The lens was the F* 300mm. I felt the AF was absolutely instant and precise, definitely faster than the K5.
Then I changed to the A* 85mm. No problems to focus manually, very high hit rate. Even better in the VF than my K5 with a Canon EES screen.
I haven't downloaded an pixelpeeped, but revising the pictures on the camera screen they look very sharp and crispy.
I'm utterly satisfied with my purchase.

Kjell

[biz-engineer]

Nice B-i-F series. You do understand the other guy is going to ask for a burst series coming at you now, right?

Usually, wildlife isn't going towards the photographer in a hurry, so this is the problem in the first place and not the camera AF. Now, is the bird is coming towards me, it is even easier for the camera AF, because the Pentax AF default behavior is to focus from far to near, so the most difficult to achieve for the camera is when a subject is going away from the camera. Ok, in the next three week, I may have a chance to get birds coming towards me :-)

Mirrorless cameras have caught up and is some cases surpassed Ricoh in AF-C performance. The new Olympus EM-1 is rumored to have very good AF-C performance and Olympus is using it 2x crop factor and new AF to go after sports and wildlife shooters.

Ok, I want to believe that the best contrast af detect are as good as phase detect real time af, I have nothing against people who would make this choice, based on paper specifications. But, the best is to try in real situation (no only believe marketing propaganda). I truly considered buying a 7DII and Tamron 150-600 for about $2000, so I borrowed it, and I tried in real situation, and I gave it back... because, the 7DII AF is outstanding... but when you mount a Tamron150-600 on a 7DII, the 7DII becomes like a Pentax K30 !!! I got a good price for a DFA150-450 and it is a step above the Canon 7DII+Tamron system. If I wanted to benefit from the 7DII, I also had to buy a 100-400 USM II or a 400 f4 , which was from $3000 to $6000.

[Winder]

Ok, I want to believe that the best contrast af detect are as good as phase detect real time af, I have nothing against people who would make this choice, based on paper specifications. But, the best is to try in real situation (no only believe marketing propaganda).

Most mirrorless cameras today employ both PDAF and CDAF points and have very good AF accuracy. The Sony A7rII has 399 PDAF points and in good light it does a very good job of locking onto a subject and tracking.

I used the Fuji X-T1 a couple of times. In good light the AF accuracy is better than my K-3. My A7II does a better job of tracking than my K-3 which is one key reason I keep it and deal with its other deficiencies. If Sony had the build quality,QC, ergonomics, and speed of operation of Ricoh I would probably go 100% with the FE mount.

---------- Post added 05-01-16 at 09:41 AM ----------

I was out for the first "real" shooting with my K-1 today. I haven't ever tried a high end Canon or Nikon, can only compare it to my K5.
I shot people walking towards me, in good light. The lens was the F* 300mm. I felt the AF was absolutely instant and precise, definitely faster than the K5.

Very good to hear. AF has been my biggest concern with the K-1.

[bobmaxja]

Let's stick to K1 AF. as per the OP subject

[biz-engineer]

I used the Fuji X-T1 a couple of times. In good light the AF accuracy is better than my K-3.

Yes, that certainly true if you used the K-3 with some of the SDM lenses. I was also complaining about K3 AF, but since I purchased a DFA150-450 it turned me around. The DFA150-450 focus position is deterministic (you can focus on a target 20 times, the result is 20 times the same), never hunt (I really mean never) and faster than any previous Pentax lens. It just feels robust and silent. The lens two years old or so. There should be a point where people don't continue to stick with the bad history of Pentax AF.

---------- Post added 01-05-16 at 17:00 ----------

Let's stick to K1 AF. as per the OP subject

Yes, although AF depends a lot on the lens. Camera can't drive AF faster than the maximum speed of the lens. So, judging by the camera body only is already incorrect.

[Sperdynamite]

Thank you to the two people who actually attempted to answer my question. Everyone else, start your own thread, yeesh.