So I was eager to try my new K1 at todays wedding and found much to my dismay that the AF was struggling. I switched from center zone to spot AF, and turned SR off too. Nothing I could do would make it perform at the same level as my K3II or even my K5IIs. After the initial realization that it was hesitating and missing shots, which I had not really expected, I started A:B'ing the cameras under the same conditions and settings to see which was doing what. The K3II and K5IIs were much faster at acquiring focus and taking the shot under the same conditions. The k1 hesitated enough to make it not preferable in those conditions for this kind of work. So far...
Not only does it seem to hesitate by waking up for a 1/2 second, it also seems to take 1/2 -2 seconds to acquire focus after that 3 seconds is a long time to wait for a camera to take a shot at a wedding. And this is of course made more painful when you have 2 other lesser and older cameras that have no lag in under the same conditions. I keep wondering if I have something not set right?
I was really surprised because in most all other ways the k1 AF seems to be smoother and more sophisticated than either the K3II or K5iis. I really never expected it to gag on lower light AF subjects.
It is also fully possible that I didn't have something set right, I know the k3II and K5IIs pretty intimately and have spent a few years really dialing those cameras in. But everything I did with the K1 should have worked.
The K1 had the Pentax 24-70 and the K3II had the Tamron 17-50 2.8 and the K5IIs had the Pentax 18-55 F3.5-5.6. (The K5IIs was MUCH faster at acquiring and taking the shot than the K1 was even with a MUCH slower lens attached as was the K3II with the Tammy 2.8.)
So as of now, the K1 is relegated to the formals only (until I figure this out) and the K3II and K5IIs gets the low light reception and candid's duty.
Also, and I have not looked in the manual yet
, what's up with no flash in live view? What's the bloody point of having a tilt screen at a wedding if you can't use your flash for dancing shots with the camera held over your head?
So the formals were stunning in all their 36mp glory, but the rest of the shooting was not any better and in some ways worse than my K3II and K5IIs. But I am still researching these issues...
(For those who don't know me, I have been shooting weddings professionally for 30 years and this is about the 7500th wedding I've shot, so please factor that into understanding these comments.
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