Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
03-04-2022, 04:21 AM   #31
Pentaxian




Join Date: Oct 2010
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 6,241
Remember that if you hack, there is real danger of some big problems...I'm not sure if going to factory settings,will boot to basic FW. I have real problem seeing why to do that?

03-04-2022, 04:33 AM   #32
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Norway
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 702
QuoteOriginally posted by Tjompen1968 Quote
Do you have an easy instruction for this?
No and I dont recommend anyone doing this. I have also not tested this on K-3 III. The bin file could be cryptographically signed and in that case, it would be impossible to change it.

But you have to use a hex-editor and the version number (01 29 in hex) is found in the header right after the Ricoh Imaging text.
If you decide to try this, change the version number to 1.42. If you use a higher number you will probably block the next official from Pentax
03-04-2022, 03:43 PM - 3 Likes   #33
Senior Member




Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Salt Lake City UT
Photos: Albums
Posts: 182
QuoteOriginally posted by RobG Quote
The TC was uselessly soft with the 150-450 and K3iii for me also. It would be great if that was fixed!
Im pleased to report that with the 150-450 and TC, my results shooting a brick building across the street seem to be VASTLY improved with FW 1.41.. So much so that it was hard to find much difference in test images shot between AFFA -2 and +2 (Ill leave it at 0 for now). Ill need to do some "real world" shooting to ensure the results are acceptable, cause in all honesty the combination of the 150-450 and TC is not exactly a very convenient combo to test with focus charts etc.
03-05-2022, 04:27 AM   #34
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
RobG's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Canberra
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 8,830
QuoteOriginally posted by PentaxScott Quote
Im pleased to report that with the 150-450 and TC, my results shooting a brick building across the street seem to be VASTLY improved with FW 1.41.. So much so that it was hard to find much difference in test images shot between AFFA -2 and +2 (Ill leave it at 0 for now). Ill need to do some "real world" shooting to ensure the results are acceptable, cause in all honesty the combination of the 150-450 and TC is not exactly a very convenient combo to test with focus charts etc.
Thanks! I'll have to give it a try if the weather cooperates!

03-05-2022, 04:39 PM   #35
cls
Junior Member




Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 49
QuoteOriginally posted by Kobie Quote
I'm going to go through my lenses all over again and test the focus adjustments.
I had noticed some inconsistent focusing issues as others have but am still very much in the learning phase for this camera, and had not embarked yet on fine tuning focus for any lenses. Would it be reasonable to think that AF should be better without fine tuning with this update or might I expect to need to do fine tuning still? Is there a good reference how-to to test focus adjustment? Thank you in advance!
03-05-2022, 06:46 PM - 1 Like   #36
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Kobie's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Bowmanville
Photos: Albums
Posts: 1,208
QuoteOriginally posted by cls Quote
I had noticed some inconsistent focusing issues as others have but am still very much in the learning phase for this camera, and had not embarked yet on fine tuning focus for any lenses. Would it be reasonable to think that AF should be better without fine tuning with this update or might I expect to need to do fine tuning still? Is there a good reference how-to to test focus adjustment? Thank you in advance!
There are honestly a number of ways you can do it. You can buy a focus chart, use a ruler on a 45 degree angle with something flat and high contrast right beside it half way up the ruler. You can use batteries placed diagonally and focus on the one in the center (use 3, 5, 7 batteries) to see if 1/3 closest to you is out of focus and center + 2/3 further from the camera is in focus.
Ideally, you need to multiply the focal length by 30 to 40 to be at the right distance for calibration.
50 mm would be about 2000mm/2 meters from the target.
There's also what's known as the dot tune method which uses the difference between live view and OVF with the green hexagon focus confirmation. I've had inconsistent results using that method though for some reason. Others swear by it though.
Or, you can use Pentax's suggested method...
How to optimize focusing accuracy with large-aperture lenses / explore | RICOH IMAGING
03-05-2022, 07:56 PM   #37
Pentaxian




Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Frozen white North
Photos: Albums
Posts: 1,128
QuoteOriginally posted by PentaxScott Quote
Im pleased to report that with the 150-450 and TC, my results shooting a brick building across the street seem to be VASTLY improved with FW 1.41.. So much so that it was hard to find much difference in test images shot between AFFA -2 and +2 (Ill leave it at 0 for now). Ill need to do some "real world" shooting to ensure the results are acceptable, cause in all honesty the combination of the 150-450 and TC is not exactly a very convenient combo to test with focus charts etc.
This is what confuses me and makes it so difficult to calibrate my lenses. You should absolutely see a difference between those values, otherwise the adjustment isn't doing what it is supposed to. This is what's making it so difficult to figure out focus on this thing My experience with the birds earlier today made me feel like I was back on my K5.

03-05-2022, 09:12 PM - 1 Like   #38
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Kobie's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Bowmanville
Photos: Albums
Posts: 1,208
QuoteOriginally posted by sebberry Quote
This is what confuses me and makes it so difficult to calibrate my lenses. You should absolutely see a difference between those values, otherwise the adjustment isn't doing what it is supposed to. This is what's making it so difficult to figure out focus on this thing My experience with the birds earlier today made me feel like I was back on my K5.
I found with the 1.41 firmware, the adjustments actually do work. Finally! I struggled before as well, got fed up reset the whole camera, started over and was able to make adjustments but +/-2 didn't show any real difference. On the latest firmware from my experience going over some of my lenses, it now does make a difference. But now my lenses have needed 0 adjustment compared to before which I wasn't expecting.
03-06-2022, 01:06 AM - 1 Like   #39
Senior Member




Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Salt Lake City UT
Photos: Albums
Posts: 182
QuoteOriginally posted by sebberry Quote
This is what confuses me and makes it so difficult to calibrate my lenses. You should absolutely see a difference between those values, otherwise the adjustment isn't doing what it is supposed to. This is what's making it so difficult to figure out focus on this thing My experience with the birds earlier today made me feel like I was back on my K5.
I think part of it was how I went about testing the lens. Shooting at building a good 200 ft away means that each value on the AFFA will visually mean a very minor adjustment. While this may not be an ideal way of calibrating the lens, I went about it this way, because for me, this is likely the most common way I would use this lens (birds in flight, wildlife, etc). Shooting a focus chart can be a lot easier...especially when your focal length isnt effectively 630mm.

Ive used focus charts in the past to check lenses. I did it when I first bought the original DA* 16-50 lens. Tested it with focus charts, flat brick walls, etc. I felt like the lens was decentered, but wasnt 100% certain. Had my camera at a family gathering, and took some small group shots of family members. As soon as I pulled them up on my computer to edit them, I was able to see with absolute certainty that the lens was decentered - Everyone on the right 1/3 of the frame was so soft that they almost appeared out of focus, while the center 1/3 and even the right 1/3 was in focus and sharp. Sent the lens to Pentax for servicing and it was replaced.
03-06-2022, 07:29 AM - 1 Like   #40
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Delaware
Photos: Albums
Posts: 68
One of the challenges of Astrotracer is the need to keep repositioning the lense to stay on target with longer lenses. Recentering the target every 10 or 15 minutes can be a chore, especially in the winter. Dedicated trackers solve this problem, but dialing in 'perfect' polar alignment on the long lenses/long exposures can be a challenge all its own.

So.....
Would a combination of 'close enough' polar alignment on a tracker and Astrotracer Type 3 be the perfect combo for set-and-forget interval shooting? Especially in winter, it would be really nice to minimize setup/calibration time and do hours of light collection with just a few hops outside to change batteries.

I don't think this would tempt me to switch out of my K3ii, but if a Ki-iii fell into my lap, I would definitely give it a try.
03-07-2022, 11:14 AM   #41
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
MossyRocks's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Minnesota
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 2,978
QuoteOriginally posted by hoffm141 Quote
Would a combination of 'close enough' polar alignment on a tracker and Astrotracer Type 3 be the perfect combo for set-and-forget interval shooting? Especially in winter, it would be really nice to minimize setup/calibration time and do hours of light collection with just a few hops outside to change batteries.
Likely no, or at least with an equatorial. If you had an alt-az mount with go-to that you could stop running while shooting it would work but then you would need to use the goto functionality every few shots.

QuoteOriginally posted by hoffm141 Quote
Recentering the target every 10 or 15 minutes can be a chore, especially in the winter.
Yes it is but I usually reframe every 2 to 3 minutes. With my "shorter" glass I will just stick it on my little equatorial, do a good enough polar alignment (not perfect but as close as my skills and patience will allow) and let the camera shoot 30s shots until the battery dies or I decide to head home. The difference from the first shot to the last shot is only a handful of pixels (usually less than 10 but always less than 20) and registering images with that small of a difference is something any astro stacking program can handle. I will run lenses up to 200mm like that and haven't had problems. For the really wide stuff like my 12mm I think so long as polaris is in polar scope it is good enough but even there I will try to do a proper alignment as practice means that when it matters more I will likely be batter at doing it.
03-07-2022, 11:31 AM - 2 Likes   #42
Pentaxian




Join Date: Oct 2010
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 6,241
I tried HDDA1.4 +DFA*70-200 today, no birds, but tried it with what I could see, other than that. Initial impressions are that AF did really improve. Also I thought before that with TC focus was bit in front. Now it seems to be spot on. So, good News. Haven’t got the time for astro yet
03-07-2022, 03:44 PM - 3 Likes   #43
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
RobG's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Canberra
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 8,830
QuoteOriginally posted by repaap Quote
I tried HDDA1.4 +DFA*70-200 today, no birds, but tried it with what I could see, other than that. Initial impressions are that AF did really improve. Also I thought before that with TC focus was bit in front. Now it seems to be spot on. So, good News. Haven’t got the time for astro yet
AF seems to be significantly improved with the HDDA 1.4x TC and DFA 150-450. I'm pretty sure that the only softness I'm seeing now is motion blur from using a 630mm equivalent lens hand-held.


Hitchhiker
by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

---------- Post added 08-03-22 at 09:45 AM ----------

And this one with the 150-450 + TC at close to minimum focal distance.


Willie Wagtail
by RobGeraghty, on Flickr
03-08-2022, 09:25 AM - 1 Like   #44
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
loyalt's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Minnesota
Photos: Albums
Posts: 258
QuoteOriginally posted by Kobie Quote
I'm going to go through my lenses all over again and test the focus adjustments.
So far with my D FA Macro, I had it set to +2 and can now leave it at 0 and it's perfect. Can't wait to test the Astrotracer function since I have 2 of the 3 "no restriction" lenses.
Will you please do a video on how to do focus adjustments? I am not very good at it and I love the way you do your videos. Thank you!
03-16-2022, 09:27 AM   #45
Senior Member




Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 183
I finally had a chance to test the Astrotracer function. I think I am happy with it for the most part. Not sure what went wrong in some images though. I am guessing since my first ones came out OK this is a result of my not focusing correctly? Or is my exposure too long? I was shooting at F5.6 for 25secs with a 300mm lens and 200iso.
This is a heavily cropped and enlarged image to show the detail more clearly of what I was getting.
Attached Images
 

Last edited by jcshellyg; 03-16-2022 at 09:32 AM. Reason: Photo doesn't seem to be showing
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
1.4x tc, af, aps-c, astrotracer, astrotracer type, beta, camera, connection, dslr, exposure, firmware, flickr, focus, iii, image, images, info, iso, k-3, k-3 iii, k-3 mark 3, k3 iii firmware, ricoh, tc, time, type
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
New Firmware 1.31 for K-3 III adds new JPEG profile JPT Pentax News and Rumors 132 01-03-2022 10:57 PM
Astrotracer Type 1 or Tyoe 2 With Pentax K3 III Painter Pentax DSLR Discussion 15 07-20-2021 07:30 AM
Ricoh GR III Firmware v1.41 Released kvoz123 Ricoh GR 15 04-28-2021 03:20 AM
GR III firmware 1.30 adds cross processing and more JPT Ricoh GR 6 10-11-2019 04:21 AM
Questions about C-41 and non C-41 BW film. SuperAkuma Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 23 02-14-2009 12:18 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:32 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top