[Murfy]

I bought a used KP from Adorama about 5 months ago and haven't used it consistently in the past 5 months, but I did notice at times that some images were soft.
I didn't use it enough to pay attention, but after some experimenting tonight, it seems like if I use live view, either using autofocus, and using manual with focus peaking, my images are slightly out of focus.
But if using the viewfinder, either manual or autofocus, my images are sharp. I tested both the 18-135lens and Pentax 100mm. I also have a K3, and don't have any issue with the lenses on that, so it seems to be a KP issue. It seems a strange issue to have, live view not focus correctly - is that possible? Does it need to be sent off to repair?

[MarkJerling]

I wonder if it's not a settings issue?

Have a read of the review which explains various features of the various focus systems in the KP.
Pentax KP Review - Focusing | PentaxForums.com Reviews

[Unregistered User 8]

I bought a used KP from Adorama about 5 months ago and haven't used it consistently in the past 5 months, but I did notice at times that some images were soft.
I didn't use it enough to pay attention, but after some experimenting tonight, it seems like if I use live view, either using autofocus, and using manual with focus peaking, my images are slightly out of focus.
But if using the viewfinder, either manual or autofocus, my images are sharp. I tested both the 18-135lens and Pentax 100mm. I also have a K3, and don't have any issue with the lenses on that, so it seems to be a KP issue. It seems a strange issue to have, live view not focus correctly - is that possible? Does it need to be sent off to repair?

Are you able to post some of the out-of-focus KP images, with the EXIF data attached, to check your camera settings?

[Fogel70]

It can be difficult to hold the camera steady using LV. So may it be a camera shake issue?

Try use magnification in LV to confirm manual focus. If it still is soft it must be something else than focus problem.
And if you have a tripod at hand use that to avoid camera shake.

[Murfy]

It can be difficult to hold the camera steady using LV. So may it be a camera shake issue?

Try use magnification in LV to confirm manual focus. If it still is soft it must be something else than focus problem.
And if you have a tripod at hand use that to avoid camera shake.

I was using a tripod while testing this out.

[allanmh]

Have you checked whether shake-reduction was on or off for those shots?

[Murfy]

Have you checked whether shake-reduction was on or off for those shots?

off I was using a tripod for both

[Murfy]

Are you able to post some of the out-of-focus KP images, with the EXIF data attached, to check your camera settings?

Okay lets try this again with a better test photo. So I basically set the camera down, 2 sec timer, used a piece of paper with the lens name on it to test the lenses too. I took one image with focusing live view, then took one image focusing with viewfinder - I used autofocus each time. When I look at the live view, it's slightly out of focus. Like in viewfinder image, I can see the paper grain. In live view it's not as sharp.

[Fogel70]

Check if it makes any difference with manual focus with magnified view in LV.
A white paper like that may be challenging for CDAF, and it is difficult to use focus peaking on a flat surface like that.

This type of method is better to use when testing focus.
http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart

[mlag]

Is there a AF fine tuning active in the camera (from the previous owner, in menu C4 )? With a different set of lenses, you better start without any old corrections.

Might explain some focus differences (you have 4 combinations AF/MF and ViewFinder/Liveview, in some combinations you might override this camera fine tuning manually).

[MadBill]

Sorry to say I am often disappointed in CDAF on recent Pentax cameras. I suspect Ricoh has optimized CDAF for speed over accuracy with a wide range of image types. The old K-5 seemed better, but perhaps that's just my memory or the lower resolution of the K-5. I find that multi-point auto CDAF is frequently better than spot, though it doesn't always select the desired points. I recently sent a DA 20-40mm in to Precision for repair under warranty due to poor CDAF accuracy on a KP (purchased new.) They sent it to Japan where Ricoh declared there was nothing wrong with it. PDAF, at least on recent cameras, has been very good.

[Unregistered User 8]

Okay lets try this again with a better test photo. So I basically set the camera down, 2 sec timer, used a piece of paper with the lens name on it to test the lenses too. I took one image with focusing live view, then took one image focusing with viewfinder - I used autofocus each time. When I look at the live view, it's slightly out of focus. Like in viewfinder image, I can see the paper grain. In live view it's not as sharp.

As the grain of paper is really only tiny peaks and troughs on the surface, the way light hits it is crucial for comparisons. You only have to look at the sneaky way anti-wrinkle creams are sold. The before cream application photo has the worst angle light possible to accentuate wrinkles, while the second is much more flattering (check the shadows under the chin ). I think the same thing is happening here. The paper is not dead flat, and has been moved for each shot changing the focus point and the way the light is hitting it. Unless your tripod is top-notch, a 1 second shutter speed will pick up the slightest camera shake giving a motion blur. I don't think this is the case here though. For a focus test, I feel that a better subject is required. Ink on paper has too many variables to try and duplicate between shots IMO. Something with well defined edges, like a coin in good light, will give the camera a much better chance to focus. If the light and subject position are identical between the 2 photographs, a true comparison can be made.

I only mention the above, because I have tweaked your images and believe your camera is fine to my eyes. I put the grain visibility issue down to lighting only. The ink writing and the printed advertising text on the paper look as sharp on both images as those subjects can be. Apologies for downloading your images without consent, and I will delete them from my computer as soon as I put them here. I increased the exposure and made them sepia to show tonal differences of how the light is hitting the paper..

Edit - The top image is listed as Liveview and the bottom as Viewfinder on my downloaded images.

[Murfy]

As the grain of paper is really only tiny peaks and troughs on the surface, the way light hits it is crucial for comparisons. You only have to look at the sneaky way anti-wrinkle creams are sold. The before cream application photo has the worst angle light possible to accentuate wrinkles, while the second is much more flattering (check the shadows under the chin ). I think the same thing is happening here. The paper is not dead flat, and has been moved for each shot changing the focus point and the way the light is hitting it. Unless your tripod is top-notch, a 1 second shutter speed will pick up the slightest camera shake giving a motion blur. I don't think this is the case here though. For a focus test, I feel that a better subject is required. Ink on paper has too many variables to try and duplicate between shots IMO. Something with well defined edges, like a coin in good light, will give the camera a much better chance to focus. If the light and subject position are identical between the 2 photographs, a true comparison can be made.

I only mention the above, because I have tweaked your images and believe your camera is fine to my eyes. I put the grain visibility issue down to lighting only. The ink writing and the printed advertising text on the paper look as sharp on both images as those subjects can be. Apologies for downloading your images without consent, and I will delete them from my computer as soon as I put them here. I increased the exposure and made them sepia to show tonal differences of how the light is hitting the paper..

Edit - The top image is listed as Liveview and the bottom as Viewfinder on my downloaded images.

The paper was not touched between each shot, I set it up with a clip on my counter and did not touch it. I may have changed the camera slightly between adjusting by accident, but the paper was only changed between each series of shots, when I changed the lens. I changed the paper, set up the lens, took the shot via live view, changed the dial, took the shot using viewfinder. The lighting was overhead kitchen lighting, with a side window, on an overcast day. The paper wasn't moved

[Murfy]

Sorry to say I am often disappointed in CDAF on recent Pentax cameras. I suspect Ricoh has optimized CDAF for speed over accuracy with a wide range of image types. The old K-5 seemed better, but perhaps that's just my memory or the lower resolution of the K-5. I find that multi-point auto CDAF is frequently better than spot, though it doesn't always select the desired points. I recently sent a DA 20-40mm in to Precision for repair under warranty due to poor CDAF accuracy on a KP (purchased new.) They sent it to Japan where Ricoh declared there was nothing wrong with it. PDAF, at least on recent cameras, has been very good.

I have had my k-3 since it first came out - 2014, and I started using a cheap wireless remote with it since covid started, to do self portraits and practice studio lighting in my basement, but I wanted the KP to be able to use the app on my phone because I thought it would be easier than the remote for self portraits.
I had many images out of focus and just went back to using the K3. I thought it was me and didn't want to take the time to figure it out.
Then I took the KP outside just nature, macro images, using the 100MM and I had like 1 out of every 5 images in focus. On my k3 the images taken with 100mm look incredible.
I have been playing with it all night, I just upgraded firmware, and I will probably reset everything and see if that helps.

[Murfy]

I wonder if it's not a settings issue?

last night, I upgraded the firmware and reset all the settings and it seems to be better. I don't know what the setting was that was off, which is frustrating because I don't want it to happen again!