[schnur07]

I upgraded from my K30. I really consider myself still a novice even though I've dabbled in photography since I was a kid - started out with the K-1000. So I'll probably be on here asking all sorts of stupid questions. I just downloaded the 148 pg manual... I never played much with the settings on the K30 other than the basics like fstop, focus points and back button focus.

One question to start off: Does anybody shoot sports photography? Curious what focus settings people use or other settings I should be aware of. I shoot basketball and soccer (both my daughters play). I have a sigma 70-200mm 2.8 and a tamron 18-50 2.8. I got the 18-135 lens with the camera but not sure it will be fast enough inside for basketball. One thing I don't like so far is the location of the back button focus. Hopefully I can get used to it. It seems too high up for a comfortable position.

Happy to be part of the KP club. I live in the Salem, OR area BTW.

[Vmax911]

Welcome to the KP club! For sports I use AF.C with the medium group setting (SELm I think, it's been a while since I set it up). I also use back button focus. I typically shoot outdoors, and the 55-300 PLM has worked great for me. I know there's a bunch more settings, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[timb64]

I upgraded from my K30. I really consider myself still a novice even though I've dabbled in photography since I was a kid - started out with the K-1000. So I'll probably be on here asking all sorts of stupid questions. I just downloaded the 148 pg manual... I never played much with the settings on the K30 other than the basics like fstop, focus points and back button focus.

One question to start off: Does anybody shoot sports photography? Curious what focus settings people use or other settings I should be aware of. I shoot basketball and soccer (both my daughters play). I have a sigma 70-200mm 2.8 and a tamron 18-50 2.8. I got the 18-135 lens with the camera but not sure it will be fast enough inside for basketball. One thing I don't like so far is the location of the back button focus. Hopefully I can get used to it. It seems too high up for a comfortable position.

Happy to be part of the KP club. I live in the Salem, OR area BTW.

I had the same problem with the back button focus and ended up disabling the Green button which I never use anyway as I often hit it by mistake.

[mikesbike]

It seems there are always some changes in controls from one model to another one must get used to. I shoot with 3 models these days, my trusty K-5 IIs workhorse, my smallest-the K-S2, and now for the last 2 years my KP. Every one of them is different from the other two. But I have become so used to these differences I can switch from one to another and adapt very quickly.

Enjoy your marvelous new KP- a very unique, compact powerhouse!

[rod_grant]

Tim, I too kept hitting the green button, and still do once in a while.
I haven’t thought to even look if it could be disabled.
Should I read the book?
Do other men read instructions and manuals?

[cport]

Yes, I am reading manuals

It is just a habit - AF button is right next to the roller, not below it? I regularly use the green button to get back in Auto ISO mode.


For AF-C - my experience from the last few weeks is that I do have much higher keeper rate when use SEL-3 or SEL-4 option.

Good luck with this unique body!

[timb64]

Tim, I too kept hitting the green button, and still do once in a while.
I haven’t thought to even look if it could be disabled.
Should I read the book?
Do other men read instructions and manuals?

No Rod, I didn’t read the manualI posted a similar gripe on this forum and someone kindly pointed out the solution!

I’ll find the relevant post and attach a link

Edit Here you go

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/203-pentax-kp/386156-possible-disable-green-button.html

[kypfer]

Should I read the book?
Do other men read instructions and manuals?

I spent "years" thinking I "knew it all" and not bothering to fully familiarise myself with my K-5 ... turns out it could do a whole bunch of stuff I didn't even know was possible!

When I got my K-70 (and now my KP) I spent very many hours trying to learn, not how to do something, but what capabilities the camera has to cope with what circumstances. If I can remember that the camera can achieve such-and-such a result with a specific combination of circumstances I've then at least got half a chance of finding the option(s) in the menus and taking advantage of them! Ideally, I'd have the manual in my bag or the pdf on a portable electronic device, but the books are too fragile for that kind of use and I don't have a "suitable electronic device".

I've only had my KP three months and I'm still finding features that "might be useful one day" or "I could have used that this morning"... there's just so much to remember

RTFM

[cport]

cmn Reading the user guide is not about remembering everything. You likely know what features you plan to use, so you should just read some specific parts on new functionality, personalization and similar stuff ;-)


KP provides us many possibilities, I admire its multiexposure modes!

[rod_grant]

Thanks Tim.
And kypfer, I admit that I do thumb through the manual from time to time: but when the brain of 72 years doesn’t remember very well, it all seems a bit futile.

Edit: Cport has captured how I generally use the manual - read the bits that I think might be useful and that I might remember.

[rogerstg]

One thing I don't like so far is the location of the back button focus. Hopefully I can get used to it.

I used to do the same thing, but then I adopted the same technique hunters use to become accustomed to switching off the safety while properly mounting their shotgun: a version of dry firing. I simply concentrated on hitting the focus button properly during a few practice sessions of taking a dozen shots or so. Now, the green button seems far to the left. You just need to establish muscle memory. BTW, there is a pretty substantial bump to stop your thumb from going too far to the right.

Congrats on getting a KP.

[kypfer]

Thanks Tim.
And kypfer, I admit that I do thumb through the manual from time to time: but when the brain of 72 years doesn’t remember very well, it all seems a bit futile.

I'm "only" 70, so I guess it's going to get worse

Unfortunately the manuals don't seem to be logically written. There are far too many cross-references to other pages, it becomes almost too easy to forget where I'd come from so's I can go back and continue reading if I don't find what I'm looking for first time! Then there's all those silly little icons used instead of text ... I need to use a magnifier to see which icon is being used, then I need to cross-reference what it means, by which time I've possibly forgotten what I was looking for in the first place, let alone where I was looking for it Then sometimes it's a bit of a guessing game to figure out what word or phrase has been used so's to look in the index for it ... assuming it's in the index. All too often I end up using the "search" function in my pdf reader to find what I'm looking for in the manual!

To top it all, not even the menus on the camera are consistently written! Referring to different auto-focus selection settings, on the "Control Panel" screen there's 'SEL S' 'SEL M' etc but in the viewfinder it's 'SEL2' 'SEL3' etc., that had me going for a while

Then, when a firmware update incorporates new features, there's no updated manual, so then you've really got to remember the feature is available, where to find it and how to utilise it


Some days my *ist DS just seems so much easier to use

[carlb]

I find that the manuals are way too complicated and really only tell you what the buttons do - not how they affect the picture taking experience. I've learnt more about how to use my K30 and KP from this place. There's tons of helpful people here with a mountain of practical experience.

And the KP is an amazing camera. To the OP.........enjoy it. You have bought well.

[kypfer]

I find that the manuals are way too complicated and really only tell you what the buttons do - not how they affect the picture taking experience.

It's not the manuals that are complicated, it's the cameras ... there's so much functionality built in to the modern Pentax it must be a nightmare for the manual authors to figure out how to cover it all without repeating themselves over and over again, hence all the cross-referencing
I will agree however, there's little or no description of the end results achievable by virtually any of the "extended features", one really needs to sit down with paper and pen then work through the features whilst making notes of frame number and settings so's they can be reviewed on the computer afterwards.
Long gone are the days of Av or Manual with the only choice being which film to load

[Ronald Oakes]

Should I read the book?
Do other men read instructions and manuals?

Only IF you are forced to !