[jamespentax]

Hi All,
I purchased a K1 earlier this month with HD PENTAX-D FA 28-105mm lens. I've photographed some fall scenes and am disappointed to find that the trees and bright colors(reds and yellows) are blurred. I will attach a picture that shows a blurred hill with red foliage (completely unedited photo). I have numerous photographs that illustrate this so I can attach others. The speed on this photograph is 1/200 with f-stop f8. I expected much more from such a high quality camera and lens. Is this a lens issue? Thanks in advance!

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[Medex]

Hi All,
I purchased a K1 earlier this month with HD PENTAX-D FA 28-105mm lens. I've photographed some fall scenes and am disappointed to find that the trees and bright colors(reds and yellows) are blurred. I will attach a picture that shows a blurred hill with red foliage (completely unedited photo). I have numerous photographs that illustrate this so I can attach others. The speed on this photograph is 1/200 with f-stop f8. I expected much more from such a high quality camera and lens. Is this a lens issue? Thanks in advance!

can you attach 3-5 different pieces of this picture (100% crop) for more details? Center, left, right, upper and lower part... Thank you.

[Gutta Perka]

....

shutter vibration and shake reduction - PentaxForums.com

[jamespentax]

Yes. Thank you. If it were shake I would assume all parts of the picture would be blurry. I have other pictures in which portions are completely clear and others are not.

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[BigMackCam]

Looking at that tree in the foreground, it seems like it may have been a windy day? If so, I'm thinking that 1/200s shutter speed may not be quite high enough to freeze movement of all the foliage... just a thought.

Furthermore, I'd try taking some shots in RAW format and processing viewing them with either the supplied Pentax software or your choice of RAW converter. Even at 85% quality, JPEG compression can cause a loss of detail. I understand that the K-1's JPEG engine is much-improved over earlier APS-C models, but - personally speaking - I've never been completely satisfied with Pentax's JPEG rendering. The fact that the red areas in particular are causing you concern makes me wonder if this is down to the camera's JPEG engine.

[Adam]

Looking at that tree in the foreground, it looks like it may have been a windy day? If so, I'm thinking that 1/200s shutter speed may not be quite high enough to freeze movement of all the foliage... just a thought.

Furthermore, I'd try taking some shots in RAW format and processing viewing them with either the supplied Pentax software or your choice of RAW converter. Even at 85% quality, JPEG compression can cause a loss of detail. I understand that the K-1's JPEG engine is much-improved over earlier APS-C models, but - personally speaking - I've never been completely satisfied with Pentax's JPEG rendering.

I agree. You might also want to bump it up to 1/250s or higher to avoid shutter shake. But apart from that, this is close to the level of detail you can squeeze out from the 28-105mm. Sharpening and cleaning up in post should make the photos pop. But, if you want more pixel-level detail, then you'd want to pair the camera with a prime.

[Ole]

Yes. Thank you. If it were shake I would assume all parts of the picture would be blurry. I have other pictures in which portions are completely clear and others are not.

For speeds above the sync speed you will not see blur in that part of the image that is exposed first, i.e. the part exposed before the first shutter curtain hits home and shakes the camera. I try to not go lower than 1/350s with the K-1. In low light I try to stay below 1/60s.

I'm just back from a trip and got tack sharp images throughout with the 28-105 by avoiding the speeds 1/60s through 1/250s. This opposed to a trip I made last year before being aware of this issue. I had to discard 70% of my images due to shutter blur. Most of those were shot at 1/125s or 1/180s.

[BigMackCam]

For speeds above the sync speed you will not see blur in that part of the image that is exposed first, i.e. the part exposed before the first shutter curtain hits home and shakes the camera. I try to not go lower than 1/350s with the K-1. In low light I try to stay below 1/60s.

It's worth noting - both for the OP and other interested parties - that this isn't unique to the K-1. Many (most?) DSLRs exhibit some degree of shutter shake (or shutter shock, depending on your terminology )...

[jamespentax]

Wow! I cannot believe the responsiveness on this forum. Thank you all very much. I will attempt to bump my shutter speed above 1/250 when possible. To note, these pictures are taken in raw .pef and are converted via Lightroom to the highest quality .jpg. I had a Nikon d610 before this and did not experience this problem although I did not like the camera itself and therefore traded up for a K1. I've considered getting a prime as well. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a defective lens/camera and something I should return within the first 30 days.

[pschlute]

The 28-105 has been implicated in enough posts by K1 users to fear that shutter-shock might be contributing to a soft image in the 1/60-1/200 range, even when hand held.

Please can you post or link to some 100% pictures so we can pixel-peep. And please tell us where you focussed in each picture.

Your first picture for example looks like it was focuseed on the foreground.

Have you used the Autofocus fine-adjustment menu to pair your lens with the camera ?

[marcusBMG]

Hand-held right? Well try using a tripod or eg a bean bag on a wall, and the 2 secs timer. I know the rule of thumb is 1/focal length for a shutter speed ok for hand holding but that was film, not 36MPx. I think you might be surprised...

[BigMackCam]

I will attempt to bump my shutter speed above 1/250 when possible. To note, these pictures are taken in raw .pef and are converted via Lightroom to the highest quality .jpg. I had a Nikon d610 before this and did not experience this problem although I did not like the camera itself and therefore traded up for a K1. I've considered getting a prime as well. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a defective lens/camera and something I should return within the first 30 days.

On a windy day, I'd probably try to shoot at, say, 1/500s or above (regardless of focal length)... the same kind of shutter speeds you'd use for a reasonably-fast-moving subject without panning. Perhaps the difference between your D610 and K-1 shots was the breeze? Perhaps not, but it's a consideration. The static elements in your scenes (the fence and, to a lesser extent, the telegraph cables - they can move, but are heavy) look plenty sharp to me, which suggests movement in the parts of the foliage that are blurry.

That aside, I agree with Adam that a good prime will pay dividends in sharpness and detail... plus, it will likely give you those results at faster apertures, allowing you to keep the ISO down as low as possible (always advisable for landscape / foliage). Of course, faster apertures will result in shallower depth-of-field, but there's always a trade-off

Since there are plenty of elements across your scenes that are sharp and detailed, I don't think you have any reason to be concerned about the lens

[jamespentax]

Thank you. You bring up some very interesting points. I've not investigated "Autofocus fine-adjustment menu to pair your lens with the camera" and this is very interesting. I will look into it. I'm attaching another puzzling picture in which the foreground and background (mountains) are clear. I'm not sure how to attach a 1:1 picture but I will attach something that I think is close. I'm not very technical. Thanks for your patience.

---------- Post added 10-01-17 at 02:11 PM ----------

On another note, are there any suggestions as to a lens I should use with this camera to get the best quality pictures without spending my entire paycheck :-) ? Thanks again.

---------- Post added 10-01-17 at 02:12 PM ----------

On another note, are there any suggestions as to a lens I should use with this camera to get the best quality pictures without spending my entire paycheck :-) ? Thanks again.

---------- Post added 10-01-17 at 02:13 PM ----------

On a windy day, I'd probably try to shoot at, say, 1/500s or above (regardless of focal length)... the same kind of shutter speeds you'd use for a reasonably-fast-moving subject without panning. Perhaps the difference between your D610 and K-1 shots was the breeze? Perhaps not, but it's a consideration. The static elements in your scenes (the fence and, to a lesser extent, the telegraph cables - they can move, but are heavy) look plenty sharp to me, which suggests movement in the parts of the foliage that are blurry.

That aside, I agree with Adam that a good prime will pay dividends in sharpness and detail... plus, it will likely give you those results at faster apertures, allowing you to keep the ISO down as low as possible (always advisable for landscape / foliage). Of course, faster apertures will result in shallower depth-of-field, but there's always a trade-off

Since there are plenty of elements across your scenes that are sharp and detailed, I don't think you have any reason to be concerned about the lens

You may be correct @BigMackCam. The only reason it's puzzling is because I've never used these high speeds before, even with another Pentax camera. Thanks!

---------- Post added 10-01-17 at 02:16 PM ----------

On a windy day, I'd probably try to shoot at, say, 1/500s or above (regardless of focal length)... the same kind of shutter speeds you'd use for a reasonably-fast-moving subject without panning. Perhaps the difference between your D610 and K-1 shots was the breeze? Perhaps not, but it's a consideration. The static elements in your scenes (the fence and, to a lesser extent, the telegraph cables - they can move, but are heavy) look plenty sharp to me, which suggests movement in the parts of the foliage that are blurry.

That aside, I agree with Adam that a good prime will pay dividends in sharpness and detail... plus, it will likely give you those results at faster apertures, allowing you to keep the ISO down as low as possible (always advisable for landscape / foliage). Of course, faster apertures will result in shallower depth-of-field, but there's always a trade-off

Since there are plenty of elements across your scenes that are sharp and detailed, I don't think you have any reason to be concerned about the lens

You may be correct @BigMackCam. The only reason it's puzzling is because I've never used these high speeds before, even with another Pentax camera. Thanks!

[pschlute]

Hand-held right? Well try using a tripod or eg a bean bag on a wall, and the 2 secs timer. I know the rule of thumb is 1/focal length for a shutter speed ok for hand holding but that was film, not 36MPx. I think you might be surprised...

The K1 has a shutter shock issue in the 1/60 to 1/200 shutter speed zone. With a long lens and I very much suspect with the 28-105, using a tripod at those shutter speeds without using the LV Electronic shutter, will only make the shake worse.

[Markovo]

Shoot RAW and use sharpening... you'll see the difference.