I love my new K1, it is amazing. I have no complaints here.....it is near perfect.
Nope...I am not a sports shooter and did have sense enough to know in advance that Pentax is not a sports shooters best choice......I kinda figured that out years ago......however some are real slow at that realization.
What I would like to emphasize is the benefit of the Crop Mode, since it is much maligned by "real FF shooters".
Before you go any further.....look down at your shoes...if they are fancy alligator loafers...and you are wearing fancy pants and a many-button silk shirt, gold rim glasses and a holding a gold/ivory tipped cigarette holder that matches your diamond encrusted virgin leather belt...then this thread is not for you. Stay up in your cloud high above us and pity our ignorance.
So what is so neat about the Crop Mode?
First, that Pentax thought to offer it to us. I guess someone thought it might be useful and beneficial...and they were right!
For most of us, we have a shelf or two full of APS-C lenses that are just as decent on the K1 as they have always been....sure, not as man MP as the K3, but more than most of the prior Pentax cameras we have used over the past 10 years. Plenty of MP for web posting and more than enough for most of what we print...if we print at all?
What's better? Well, the fast and accurate focus is still there in the Crop Mode...maybe even faster than in the FF mode? Almost all of the other great K1 features...like superb SR is in the Crop Mode too. You are really shooting a FF shot and just taking the heart of it for use in the Crop Mode. What could be better for wildlife shooting or those close in shots when using a zoom that is a little too short for FF?
For those that don't have a K1...yet.....here is how it works, in brief.
You turn the main dial to Crop. You turn the Crop dial until you see APS-C on your info screen...that's it......fast and simple.
What next? You focus on your subject....and a nice large black lined rectangle lights up in your viewfinder and as you half press the frame turns from black to red indicating focus has been achieved...and it is lightning fast at doing it.
From there you can "frame your shot" by moving around the frame...re-composing..... getting exactly what you see in the finished shot. Most often no further cropping is needed in processing. Once you get the hang of it...which is quickly learned after a few snaps, you can cut out that post processing cropping by 0ver 90%.
So you want to go to FF for your next shot.......quick and easy...turn the Crop Mode dial and you're there! Couldn't be easier!
In the Crop Mode you get a better view of what you are shooting and how it will be framed, which in instances like wildlife are very helpful. Try it...and you will like it......
Almost every shot here was shot in the Crop Mode...using a FF lens, the Bigma 50-500. Works for me!...of course, I wear old farm pants and worn out farm boots, no belt and a shirt with a few holes in it and some spaghetti stains that won't come out...so your experience may vary...but you should still try it!
Crop Mode shots on Flickr...some good...some not.....some ugly. I am a good, bad, and ugly poster!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129469263@N03/sets/72157668217340465
Best Regards!