Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
05-02-2012, 10:35 AM   #1
Senior Member




Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Sweden
Posts: 211
Why does my shots look out of focus?

Staff note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means Pentax Forums may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. If you would like to support the forum directly, you may also make a donation here.


Hi guys,

Hope I am posting this in the right forum.
I am a beginner to photography and took my Kx with a Takumar 50mm 1.4 out for a spin the first time.
Now, I could see the shots sharp through the viewfinder and thought the photos would come out as I see them, ie sharp and very focused. Yes I did adjustments to the aperture and ISO settings etc. But most photos, except for a few, have come out blurry where I though the focus was clear. I am posting two photos to demonstrate and request help with what I am doing wrong and what to do about it.

Attached Images
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-x  Photo 
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-x  Photo 

Last edited by voyager13; 08-24-2012 at 08:59 PM.
05-02-2012, 10:57 AM   #2
Administrator
Site Webmaster
Adam's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Arizona
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 51,584
Were you shooting wide-open? I would try stopping down for a better DOF. If this behavior continues, your lens might be busted in some way or another.
05-02-2012, 11:02 AM   #3
Veteran Member




Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Slovenia
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 2,182
Use live view to focus. You can see stuff better on the LCD.
05-02-2012, 11:11 AM   #4
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Lowell Goudge's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Toronto
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 17,869
a few very important things to note when using a fast lens.

the apparent depth of field in the viewfinder is much much more than exists in reality, unless you have a manual focusing aid like a microprism ring or split image focusing screen.

Your shot appears to be very close, and while you have shake reduction to manage vertical horizontal and rotational motion, nothing can manage motion along the lens axis, if you moved in and out this could be part of the problem.

ALso, how were you focusing, for shots like this you should use the center spot only and use the green hexagonal focusing indicator. When it is lit you are in focus.


You can also use trap focusing by leaving the focusing on AF-S and then the shutter will only trip when you get focus confirmation

05-02-2012, 12:04 PM   #5
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
boriscleto's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: North Syracuse, NY
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 16,464
Your shake reduction seems to be set to 100mm. Set it to 50 and you might get better results.
05-02-2012, 12:18 PM   #6
Senior Member




Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Sweden
Posts: 211
Original Poster
Adam - Yes I think at that stage I was shooting at 1.4 or 2 and later on I started to do 8 and even 16. I am attaching two more photos which were shot a few minutes after the first two and which shows more sharpness but they're still not good enough in sharpness. There is no way to know what f-stop has been used after the fact when using the Takumars or is there?

Lowell Goudge - Yes that may have been the problem, I tend to go in and out by moving the lens focus ring to get a sharp shot looking into the viewfinder. How do you mean to use center spot only and use the green hexagonal focusing indicator? I do have the 11 pt focusing system in AF but I have put the camera on 5 pt, but then I am using Takumars and AF doesn't come into picture. There is no green hexagonal focusing indicator that lights up again because AF doesn't work in M42 lenses (correct me if I am wrong) though I have seen the green hexagon when using the kit lens which supports AF. For focusing I only see the hairline structures in the viewfinder but they don't necessarily focus anything for me as I need to roll my lenses to find sharp focus.
Attached Images
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-x  Photo 
View Picture EXIF
PENTAX K-x  Photo 
05-02-2012, 12:20 PM   #7
Veteran Member
Davidw0815's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2011
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 437
The viewfinder isn't suited for manual focusing at large apertures (unless you have a split screen). Additionally the first shot seems to be taken from very close, so the depth of field is razor thin. You can play around with a DOF calculator like Online Depth of Field Calculator to get an idea how thin...
In order to check whether it's you or the lens you should somehow 'immobilize' your camera (tripod, bean bag, pile of books etc), switch to Live View, focus on something and shoot. Then check if the focus is where you wanted it to be. For testing ISO should be low, shutter speed high.

05-02-2012, 12:24 PM   #8
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
boriscleto's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: North Syracuse, NY
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 16,464
QuoteOriginally posted by voyager13 Quote
Lowell Goudge - Yes that may have been the problem, I tend to go in and out by moving the lens focus ring to get a sharp shot looking into the viewfinder. How do you mean to use center spot only and use the green hexagonal focusing indicator? I do have the 11 pt focusing system in AF but I have put the camera on 5 pt, but then I am using Takumars and AF doesn't come into picture. There is no green hexagonal focusing indicator that lights up again because AF doesn't work in M42 lenses (correct me if I am wrong) though I have seen the green hexagon when using the kit lens which supports AF. For focusing I only see the hairline structures in the viewfinder but they don't necessarily focus anything for me as I need to roll my lenses to find sharp focus.
You will get a focus confirmation no matter what lens you are using. The AF system is always in operation even if you are using a MF lens. If you are using a lens that shorts the contacts, or if you short the contacts with metallic tape, you can also use Catch-in-Focus.
05-02-2012, 12:26 PM   #9
MSL
Pentaxian
MSL's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Greater Toronto Area
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 4,721
QuoteOriginally posted by voyager13 Quote
Lowell Goudge - Yes that may have been the problem, I tend to go in and out by moving the lens focus ring to get a sharp shot looking into the viewfinder. How do you mean to use center spot only and use the green hexagonal focusing indicator? I do have the 11 pt focusing system in AF but I have put the camera on 5 pt, but then I am using Takumars and AF doesn't come into picture. There is no green hexagonal focusing indicator that lights up again because AF doesn't work in M42 lenses (correct me if I am wrong) though I have seen the green hexagon when using the kit lens which supports AF. For focusing I only see the hairline structures in the viewfinder but they don't necessarily focus anything for me as I need to roll my lenses to find sharp focus.
There is no autofocus with an M42 lens, but the hexagonal focusing indicator will light up when the focus is close (it is not exact). You may have problems with very fast lenses, but I do this all the time with my Tak 55/2 and 135/3.5 either as is, or mounted on extension tubes. Note that the AF system will only use the center AF point for this focus confirmation. They system will also fail to confirm focus if you've stopped down too much. My normal routine is to depend heavily on the A/M switch on the lens - I'll get the focus right with a wide open lens, and then close down using the switch. In Av mode I don't need to worry about green button metering, but in M, I need to hit the button first. Then shoot, and pray I haven't moved too much in the interim, or that the wind doesn't start blowing again.
05-02-2012, 01:30 PM   #10
Pentaxian
johnyates's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Saskatoon, SK
Photos: Albums
Posts: 1,345
It could be your focus screen needs to be re-shimmed.
Focusing Screen--How to adjust focusing screen--
05-02-2012, 01:33 PM   #11
Forum Member




Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Chicago
Posts: 95
It could also be the diopter on the viewfinder is out of whack couldnt it?
05-02-2012, 03:53 PM   #12
Veteran Member
Julie's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Illinois
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,069
Are you using an adaptor like this that you have to stick inside the mount ring of your camera? ---> orginal & genuine PENTAX PK m42 K Adapter | eBay
Or are you using one of these that sits on top of the mount ring---> M42 M 42 Lens to PENTAX K MOUNT Adapter | eBay

The second one will not allow you to focus on infinity. You will only get sharp shots of items very close to you/in macro range.
05-02-2012, 09:31 PM   #13
Senior Member




Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Sweden
Posts: 211
Original Poster
Thanks for all help you lovely people.
Julie - Its the first type of adapter I am using. I am aware of that issue
05-03-2012, 02:18 PM   #14
MSM
Veteran Member
MSM's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Alabama
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 994
QuoteOriginally posted by voyager13 Quote
Lowell Goudge - Yes that may have been the problem, I tend to go in and out by moving the lens focus ring to get a sharp shot looking into the viewfinder. How do you mean to use center spot only and use the green hexagonal focusing indicator? I do have the 11 pt focusing system in AF but I have put the camera on 5 pt, but then I am using Takumars and AF doesn't come into picture. There is no green hexagonal focusing indicator that lights up again because AF doesn't work in M42 lenses (correct me if I am wrong) though I have seen the green hexagon when using the kit lens which supports AF. For focusing I only see the hairline structures in the viewfinder but they don't necessarily focus anything for me as I need to roll my lenses to find sharp focus.

Voyager13: In the ideal world, you should see the green hexagon in every shot prior to hitting the shutter. Do you wear glasses? I agree that it may be a diopter adjustment issue. If I take my glasses off and MF then what looks good to me in the VF the image will be incredibly OOF. I mean F64 couldn't carry me with enough DOF to make up for the missed focus. Try this: take a picture wide open the way you have been to what looks good to you. Then, take the same picture and aperture but ignore the VF but just look for the Green hexagon to light up. (if the picture is sharp with the green hexagon but blurry in the VF then it is likely the VF diopter needs adjustment) See which looks better to you. I bet it is the diopter. If not it could be the lens or perhaps a shim problem. If you use live view and focus with the LCD you would bypass both, but that is not necessarily the best solution. Hope that helps.
05-03-2012, 09:02 PM   #15
Senior Member




Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Sweden
Posts: 211
Original Poster
MSM - Thanks for the valuable help. Yes I wear glasses For some reason (read - because I am a novice) I always ignored to see the green hexagon and just went by the beep that tells me I was in focus. After your message (and others who commented that the hexagon should be appearing) I went looking for it in the VF and found it It appears every time I hear the beep and when I am in focus.
I also saw that I was using the 1-point focus (when I had 11-point focus available too) and tried clicking with 1-point focus first, with the result that the focused area was sharp but rest around it was quite blurry, in fact even the focused area was blurry in the outer reaches of the round focus ring in the VF. Than I changed that to 11-point (all this time with f16) and clicked again and got a beautiful focused photo, this time the outer reaches of the ring in the VF was tack sharp. I realised I was using a fast shutter speed in low light conditions (1/1000 upwards at an iso of 1600) when I should've been using say about 1/100 and lower, which I tried now and am getting pretty sharp focused photos. Have to keep experimenting
But than again, Thanks Heaps MSM for the advise and help. You guys are wonderful.

Does anyone know(Pentax Kx) of any setting for the focus lines(and the center circle) in my VF can be made to light/blink when in focus (as I suppose that would help even further besides the green hexagon).
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!
camera, photography, photos, shots
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Haze/Soft focus with some zoomed macro shots monkadelicd Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 6 07-08-2011 04:31 AM
out of focus pictures in low light shots willwalker Photographic Technique 11 06-07-2011 05:23 PM
First Shots from the Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 Close Focus (aka K02) deadwolfbones Post Your Photos! 2 07-15-2009 02:12 AM
Shots using my +3 close focus xs400 Post Your Photos! 8 01-13-2008 09:44 AM
slwo focus, missed shots WMBP Pentax DSLR Discussion 40 05-09-2007 09:08 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:58 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