[beholder3]

Probably I should be worried about statistics, but I am not. I just shot a few images.
And they used the poor autofocus.
















My parents never told me to whine and say "but" and complain about tools when there are tasks to be done ahead, but to try harder.

Luckily shooting some sports is a nice experience with the K-1. Even with the less fast DA*300 I got more keepers than I wanted (usually after being shown 20 shots of the same subject I yawn).

[pathdoc]

Even with the less fast DA*300 I got more keepers than I wanted (usually after being shown 20 shots of the same subject I yawn).

You can never have too many keepers if you're shooting for someone else.

Terrible, terrible AF. Clearly you need a Nikon. (joke)

Speaking of polo, have a read of this for a laugh.

[RockvilleBob]

Nice sequence
Nice auto focus - encouraging

[gaweidert]

Looks like DPReview was right. In the last photo the person on the right is way out of focus.

[c.a.m]

What, no dude on a bicycle?

I would have been very happy to have taken shots like those. Thanks for showing the capability of the 'poor' AF.

- Craig

---------- Post added 7th Jul 2016 at 02:09 PM ----------

Looks like DPReview was right. In the last photo the person on the right is way out of focus.

Probably waiting for him to ride into the fixed focus zone!

[john5100]

Ahhh I want this camera!

[stevebrot]

What, no dude on a bicycle?

Obviously not a true test if not using a bicycle.

There is something to that, unfortunately. Assuming you are referring to the DPReview "bicycle test" for straight on AF tracking, the bike presents a unique challenge. Not only is the frontal area fairly small, but there are multiple high contrast elements of the photo (e.g. spokes and rim) moving at different speeds or present in different planes (e.g. knees, handle bars) than the presumed target (rider's face?)


Steve

---

Last edited by stevebrot; 01-07-2017 at 11:39 AM.

[c.a.m]

There is something to that, unfortunately. Assuming you are referring to the DPReview "bicycle test" for straight on AF tracking, the bike presents a unique challenge. Not only is the frontal area fairly small, but there are multiple high contrast elements of the photo (e.g. spokes and rim) moving at different speeds or present in different planes (e.g. knees, handle bars) then the presumed target (rider's face?)

Good points, Steve.

Although my earlier comment about the bicycle was posed mainly tongue-in-cheek (yes, I was implying the DPR review), it also opens up the question (or debate) of what type of test scenario would fairly represent a broad range of use cases. The 'bicycle AF test' may or may not be fairly representative. The objective of the test is also critical; an objective to capture a sequence of focused images is significantly different than an objective to capture at least one focused image that would serve well in a publication, print, or other display.

On the other hand, maybe I don't need to worry about the 'poor AF performance' if I never expect to take pictures of a guy riding a bicycle on a low-contrast city sidewalk. The camera's dynamic AF seems to work fine in many other settings.

Without knowing the specific details of the camera's AF design - its architecture, algorithms, limitations, etc - we are guessing at what test scenarios are best. No doubt, the DPR review will prompt many examples of successful real-life in-action AF shots taken by the K-1 across many different settings and scenarios.

- Craig

[12345]

Looks like DPReview was right. In the last photo the person on the right is way out of focus.

That is too funny! Thanks for the laugh!

[monochrome]

A very nice, sharp, well-exposed series.

I wrote elsewhere (repeating someone else ), the real issues with the DPR AF bicycle test are

1. It isn't repeatable
2. They executed it poorly
3. There isn't a shared, published and accepted standard for Poor, Fair, Good and Excellent labels
4. Therefore it appears to be poorly executed and subjective

OTOH, why should we expect professional competence from a free website owned by a ginormous online retailer? The best reviewers charge significant subscription fees for access to their content.

[jimr-pdx]

Did you adjust any of the AF settings, like AF Hold or Expanded AF Area?
I don't know what the K-1 AFc defaults are and I've no clue at all what DPR used, but it would be good to know - thanks

[beholder3]

Did you adjust any of the AF settings, like AF Hold or Expanded AF Area?
I don't know what the K-1 AFc defaults are and I've no clue at all what DPR used, but it would be good to know - thanks

I set up User Mode 5 for Sports as TAv. First used F4 but then the DoF often is not large enough for both head of the pony and the rider, so I settled for F5.6. This time I shot at 1/1000 for the 36 Mpx but generally I want the legs blurred a little to get some dynamic, so I do prefer 1/500 to not freeze everything.
AF is Select 9, AF.C. Hold:low.
It seems I had 1. image and later both set on "auto" (not really intentionally). I think next time I'll try focus versus shutter priorities.

Issue:
With a larger select area it is easier to keep the AF point on the subject and because the riders change direction quite often I need that. No way I can keep one point on the same contrast edge.
But if that area is too large I can't point at an indiviual pony because most often the action is in a group of multiple ponies and riders all shifting in front of each other.
Select 9 is my best balance.

Much easier to shoot a single greyhound racing across the field:

The players did not like it.

Here is some more:




And I admit that I am a fanboy for all four hooves in the air: Does look like it's hung on wires.




And thank you all for the nice comments.

[joergens.mi]

Good work, with a "bad equipment" I don't sell mine - the worse results are good enough for me.

[jlstrawman]

OTOH, why should we expect professional competence from a free website owned by a ginormous online retailer? The best reviewers charge significant subscription fees for access to their content.

Couldn't agree more.

[KDD]

Ask PF staff. Test it and new review.