[dsimaitis]

Hello...

I am terribly frustrated right now. I got this new K7 from my husband because I love photography and needed to move up from a point and shoot. He wanted to get me something I would not grow out of quickly. No problems with that here!!!

I can't even get my pictures in focus. The camera zeroes in on one spot, and one spot only, to put in focus and the rest is uncrisp or even blurry. I have determined that it is no longer my hand shaking... although it did take me a while to get used to the weight of the camera and its lens.

I just can't take a picture for the sake of taking a picture even! If one thing is in focus, everything else isn't. I have tried auto mode, p mode, tv mode, and manual mode. Someone on another thread said it might be the lens... that the lenses may not have kept up with the technology of the camera. I have a Pentax DA SMC 18-55mm lens right now. Once I get something that I think is focused, I try to take the picture and the camera re-focuses it for me anyway.

Granted, I am still reading my book... but, I would think that a camera straight out of the box would take a decent picture without manipulating any settings yet.

Does anyone have any idea what might be going wrong? It very well could be me... but, I just tried to take a picture of my husband's new motorcycle and they are awful. With a camera of this price, I would expect them to be crystal clear!

Here are a couple of examples:



Nothing in focus...



Again, nothing in focus...

Here are a few other technical examples I have:



A few flowers are in focus... that's it.



No focus...



And again, only one tiny spot "may" be in focus...

I am sorry for my ignorance... but, if anyone has ANY suggestions... please help!!! I am not even in to the advanced stuff yet, because I can't even take a simple picture!!!

Sorry so long... Thank you in advance for any contributions!

Davina

P.S. Any suggestions as to how not to compress the images too much so you can actually see what I am talking about would be great, too!!! LOL

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Last edited by Peter Zack; 07-08-2010 at 02:26 AM.

[JeffJS]

Do you mean you're photos are looking similar to This?



If so, Google is your friend. Look for DOF and Exposure.

If Not, are you sure you aren't re-focusing just before taking the picture? Are you sure you are focusing on what you think you are? My K7 and all other cameras, stay on Center point AF...

[dadipentak]

Davina

I'm 99% sure the camera and lens are fine. I think the issue is that you've got a lot to learn and it's going to take some patience (ok--a lot of patience ;~)

By all means check out the manual (but read it selectively-going 'cover to cover' will be an exercise in frustration.) I highly recommend that you get an intro to digital photography book &/or find a mentor.

I think your immediate issue is either that you have the aperture set too wide (that is, too low a numerical setting) and/or have the camera set for AUTO or SEL focus. I'd suggest (as a starting point) that you set the aperture at f8 and use CENTER focus. See if that helps.

[wshi]

I can't see the pictures you posted, but you described what you're seeing pretty well. Basically, you've discovered part of what makes dslr's so great: control over your depth of field. With your old point and shoot, everything in a picture would largely be in focus because of the small sensor.

With your K-7, you have control of exactly what part of the image is in focus and what isn't. If you continue to read your manual, it should explain the exposure triangle of ISO, f-stop (aperture), and shutter speed. What you should play around with is the aperture, so put your K-7 on Av priority mode and mess around with the aperture. Smaller f number (e.g. f/3.5) means narrower depth of field- less stuff is in focus outside of what plane you have focused on. Larger f number such as f/11 means more stuff will be in focus outside of the plane you have focused on.

Hope this helps, and make sure to read the manual back to back

[Ira]

Hello...

I am terribly frustrated right now. I got this new K7 from my husband because I love photography and needed to move up from a point and shoot. He wanted to get me something I would not grow out of quickly. No problems with that here!!!

I can't even get my pictures in focus. The camera zeroes in on one spot, and one spot only, to put in focus and the rest is uncrisp or even blurry. I have determined that it is no longer my hand shaking... although it did take me a while to get used to the weight of the camera and its lens.

I just can't take a picture for the sake of taking a picture even! If one thing is in focus, everything else isn't. I have tried auto mode, p mode, tv mode, and manual mode. Someone on another thread said it might be the lens... that the lenses may not have kept up with the technology of the camera. I have a Pentax DA SMC 18-55mm lens right now. Once I get something that I think is focused, I try to take the picture and the camera re-focuses it for me anyway.

Granted, I am still reading my book... but, I would think that a camera straight out of the box would take a decent picture without manipulating any settings yet.

Does anyone have any idea what might be going wrong? It very well could be me... but, I just tried to take a picture of my husband's new motorcycle and they are awful. With a camera of this price, I would expect them to be crystal clear!

Here are a couple of examples:



Nothing in focus...



Again, nothing in focus...

Here are a few other technical examples I have:



A few flowers are in focus... that's it.



No focus...



And again, only one tiny spot "may" be in focus...

I am sorry for my ignorance... but, if anyone has ANY suggestions... please help!!! I am not even in to the advanced stuff yet, because I can't even take a simple picture!!!

Sorry so long... Thank you in advance for any contributions!

Davina

P.S. Any suggestions as to how not to compress the images too much so you can actually see what I am talking about would be great, too!!! LOL

You're images aren't showing because you're not linking them correctly.

1) Upload jpegs to your album here--or Flickr account.

2) Open image, right click on the image, select "Copy Image Address."

3) Do your post here, and type:

[IMG]

4) Hit Control V to paste the address (Apple V on the Mac).

5) Type this at the end of what you just pasted:

[/IMG]


Your image should now appear in your post.

[aleonx3]

May I suggest you change the auto AF point select to center point AF focus? This way, you have more control where you want to focus on. Just like the one below, I have set the AF focus point to the middle-right off the center point. And I also include the 100% crop to show the details... all taken in JPG. Hope you enjoy taking pictures with your k-7 - a very fine camera indeed.

[hcc]

I would follow up the earlier posts.

When I got my K-7 (with DA18-250mm), I was very disappointed by my photos. They looked no better than the shots that I take with my FZ20 after 5 years of experience. I spent 4 weeks to read the instruction book, and I practice a lot during the same time. Now my shots are much, much better, and the quality is way above any P&S camera.

The K-7 is a very powerful camera, and I may suggest that you start with some simple settings:

- Use the P mode in the dial mode (top left); the P-mode is basically an "automatic" mode; (You can in addition set manually some setting with the dials, but let leave this for later)

- set the focus to Center mode as suggested by aleonx3 (top right next to LCD);

- set the Auto-focus to AF-S; (left handside, on lens side)

- check your lens to be in AF and automatic A aperture;

- if you push a wrong button or dial of the camera body, press the Green button (top right of LCD) to reset the default settings;

Take your camera outdoor and start shooting. The daylight will give you better lighting for a start.

And read the instruction manual.

You are not alone the forum is a friendly place. We all have been a beginner one day and there is always something new to learn.

Happy shooting ....

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Last edited by hcc; 07-06-2010 at 02:11 PM. Reason: Typos

[Reportage]

if you want a simpler instruction, turn the command dial to Av. Using the dial nearest to the shutter, change the value till you see F/5.6 or F/8 on the screen. Generally that should allow most of the picture to be in focus. Thing is the higher you go, diffraction kicks in.

[builttospill]

Sorry for your frustration. There is a huge difference between a K-7 and a point-and-shoot. Here is a great place to experiment with aperture settings, etc. to see the difference with different exposure settings. This is an easy read and much more interesting than your camera manual. Notice the difference in the picture (bluriness) as you slide the aperture lever.

Aperture, shutter and ISO value | SLR Camera Simulator

[ll_coffee_lP]

"I just can't take a picture for the sake of taking a picture even! If one thing is in focus, everything else isn't. I have tried auto mode, p mode, tv mode, and manual mode. Someone on another thread said it might be the lens... that the lenses may not have kept up with the technology of the camera. I have a Pentax DA SMC 18-55mm lens right now. Once I get something that I think is focused, I try to take the picture and the camera re-focuses it for me anyway. "
...
You have your camera set to "continuous focus", rather than "single focus". There's a switch on the front of the camera...change it to AF-S. Once you focus you will be able to recompose the image and it will stay focused on what you focused on earlier, rather than trying to refocus again. Every time the K-7 refocuses it takes a quick moment for the in body stabilization to kick in (hand in circle in viewfinder lights up when it's ready).

Hope this helps.

c[_]

[dsimaitis]

Do you mean you're photos are looking similar to This?



If so, Google is your friend. Look for DOF and Exposure.

If Not, are you sure you aren't re-focusing just before taking the picture? Are you sure you are focusing on what you think you are? My K7 and all other cameras, stay on Center point AF...

Without the result being quite so beautiful, kind of yes! I have set my AF to center, and will report back once I can take a good group of test shots. Thanks!!!

[Marc Sabatella]

"I just can't take a picture for the sake of taking a picture even! If one thing is in focus, everything else isn't. I have tried auto mode, p mode, tv mode, and manual mode. Someone on another thread said it might be the lens... that the lenses may not have kept up with the technology of the camera. I have a Pentax DA SMC 18-55mm lens right now. Once I get something that I think is focused, I try to take the picture and the camera re-focuses it for me anyway. "
...
You have your camera set to "continuous focus", rather than "single focus". There's a switch on the front of the camera...change it to AF-S. Once you focus you will be able to recompose the image and it will stay focused on what you focused on earlier, rather than trying to refocus again.

I missed this first time around. The other possibility is that the OP is trying to focus manually and is then surprised the camera tries to focus when the shutter is pressed. Either that or the OP is successfully taking one picture with the focus in the desired spot, but then is surprised to find the camera refocus *between* shots.

In any of these cases, though, it's definitely something you have full control over - you just have to read up on how to use the camera, to keep it from refocusing when you don't want. AF-S is a start. Looking into the use of the AF button (OK button on some models) to control when focus occurs is another.

Bottom line: it's almost certainly something you are doing that you should not be, or not doing that should be, but without sample images, it's impossible to say what exactly.

[aleonx3]

Two user errors are common for beginners transitioning from P&S, and they are AF-C and auto focus select, this is especially true in the C camp as Servo focus was touted to be slick and also face detection (auto focus point select) from P&S. Again, I am sure if this is the case, AF-C setting seems to be the most likely culprit.

[dsimaitis]

I would follow up the earlier posts.

When I got my K-7 (with DA18-250mm), I was very disappointed by my photos. They looked no better than the shots that I take with my FZ20 after 5 years of experience. I spent 4 weeks to read the instruction book, and I practice a lot during the same time. Now my shots are much, much better, and the quality is way above any P&S camera.
...

You are not alone the forum is a friendly place. We all have been a beginner one day and there is always something new to learn.

Happy shooting ....

Thank you so much for the great suggestions! I need to read a couple of things, but then I will take some test shots and post them here... I can't wait to see better results!!! Your post makes me feel much better...

[dsimaitis]

Sorry for your frustration. There is a huge difference between a K-7 and a point-and-shoot. Here is a great place to experiment with aperture settings, etc. to see the difference with different exposure settings. This is an easy read and much more interesting than your camera manual. Notice the difference in the picture (bluriness) as you slide the aperture lever.

Aperture, shutter and ISO value | SLR Camera Simulator

What an awesome site!!! This will help me tremendously!!! Thank you... !!!