Originally posted by UlrichSchiegg This is a statement (that with expanded area subject recognition doesn't work), that I can not really follow, since its 1st appearance in the K-3: Feature 1?K-3 | RICOH IMAGING. The manual is very weak in that respect. p62 speaks about "Subject recognition" on/off. You can also turn it on/off in expanded area mode, not just in zone select. It is not greyed out, as usual when a feature is not present. [...]
Originally posted by clackers I think you are getting confused, Ulrich!
The subject recognition I am talking about and the Zone modes it needs do not exist in the older K-3.
The resolution is too low.
The new K-3 III triples the number of pixels, so it can do eye and bird focus in the OVF, for example.
You cannot do that with the K-3.
That is why the manuals are now different, and have additional options.
Page 62 explicitly says: "Subject Recognition: You can make settings so that the recognized subject is
prioritized while autofocusing when [AF Active Area] is set to [Auto Area] or [Zone Select]."
Not Expanded. [...]
Also K-3, K-3 II, KP and also the FF K-1 and K-1 II have it in the documentation. Not in the manual, but if you check it in the feature product pages (Image: Pentax Real Time Analysis System) it is there. The K-3 ref I had given above. For the other:
Feature 1?K-3 | RICOH IMAGING Feature 5? PENTAX K-3 II | RICOH IMAGING Features4 | PENTAX KP | RICOH IMAGING Other features 1 | PENTAX K-1 Mark II | RICOH IMAGING Features5 | PENTAX K-1 | RICOH IMAGING
Sometimes call subject recognition (e.g. K-3 II), often subject detection. It is the same thing. Your statement, that the 86k Sensor resolution is too low does origin from where? Nikon quotes that it works with the D90 and a much smaller AE sensor.
As I wrote, I know what is in the handbook on 62. But I also know what is in the K-3 III Menue in front of me. The option is not greyed out for Expanded Area, as it should be.
Personally I experience a lot of improvements with the K-3 III in both zone and expanded area methods. I attribute this mainly to resolution and speed improvements (buffer, processor, AE sensor, Mirror down time, ...). I don't think that the system works differently now, than it used to. It is still the same DSLR OVF system that all Pentax, Canon and Nikon have for more than 10 years now. What is new is, that there are now options in the Menue to turn it on or off.
The origin of the problem is to me the poor documentation since its first appearance. And no, I have no problem using the AF. With help of Canon and Nikon documentation and check versus practical Pentax use, I am fine. Don't know why you refer to mirrorless. The discussion was about OVF AF methods.
PS AF Tracking to me is rarely about individual images, but rather hit rate. Question is, with which method the best hit rate can be achieved. Whatever method is used, misses will happen.
PPS Using the Canon one, beside the nikon one:
https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/infobank/autofocus/ gives some more insight. As I read the various sources, the difference in method between zone select and expanded area select is rather the AF tracking initialization than the AF tracking itself.
"Some cameras also feature a couple of AF Point Expansion settings for more control over tracking moving subjects. In AF Point Expansion mode, a single AF point is selected manually and the camera then uses that point plus four or eight surrounding points to help track the subject. These are very useful for sports photography when you're able to keep the active area over the subject. It's easier to keep a group of AF points over a moving subject than a single AF point.
Several EOS cameras also have a Zone AF method and in some cases more than one with additional options such as Large Zone AF: Vertical and Large Zone AF: Horizontal. These options allow you to target specific areas or zones of the image frame for focusing. The photographer selects the zone while the camera selects the particular AF points to use within that zone.
The Zone AF options are useful when you know approximately where the subject will be in the frame and it would be hard to keep a smaller active area over the subject."