Not liking the K7 for motorsports rant

**Mallee Boy** · 10-26-2009, 02:39 PM

Rockstar....just a question:
Have you tried taking any shots without filters? (apologies if you have already stated this).
If not....give it a go.

Rich_A · 10-26-2009, 03:49 PM

Brian, first off, thanks for hanging in there even after the first couple of posts flaming you pretty hard. You've definitely purchased an outstanding camera that will take a bit to get used to it. I don't shoot a lot of auto sports but I shoot a ton of wildlife and have used a Canon 20D, 5D, a Nikon D90 and now the Pentax K-7. You are going to find a couple of things that are a bit finicky with the Pentax, mainly high ISO performance and Continuous Autofocus.

The high ISO is manageable if you can remember to optimize the settings for your shooting conditions. I mainly try to use faster glass rather than cranking up the ISO if at all possible. I assume you're shooting for around 1/250th or faster with your shots to avoid subject blur? I wouldn't shoot at anything less than around ISO 400 for sports (I shoot a bit of bull riding which is about as crazy as you can get and I never shoot less than ISO 400).

For autofocus, the faster the lenses, the faster your camera is going to perform. Sigma has some nice tele's for the Pentax and from what I understand the Pentax 55-300mm is okay as well. Pentax's DA* glass is fairly pricey but top of the line, especially their 60-250mm DA* and 300mm DA*. I have decent success with Continuous AF but I wouldn't say that Pentax cameras are really designed to speed demons. The engineers err on the side of AF accuracy rather than speed and I can attest that I get more "keepers" with the Pentax but have to work harder to get them. As a reference point, I throw out around 25-33% of my Nikon D90 panning shots because the camera missed focus.

Stick with the central AF point or select another one manually if you want to keep the subject off-center. Don't rely on AF-Auto selection. Not many cameras out there can really beat the Central AF point for accuracy.

I hope this helps. Stick with the K-7 and I think you'll be very pleased with the results. I find it produces some of the punchiest, high-quality photos I can get with a mid-level DSLR. I like the RAW output much better than my Nikon D90. You just have to think about the metering and AF a tiny bit more on Pentax. I guess that's because Pentax shooters can be trusted to be a bit brighter than the average Canikon shooter.

tvfd911 · 11-02-2009, 12:39 PM

Originally posted by Marc Sabatella

Very clever!

Completely understandable. I'd say the CPL obviously was responsible your difficulty with shutter speeds, and probably wasn't helping contrast or color any, and replacing it should indeed be expected to make a difference. I think some experimentation with finding a balance between finding an ISO level high enough to get the shutter speeds you want without inducing too much noise - and also finding how to best control noise in PP - would be one of the next steps. You'll also still have to deal with the fact that DOF on a DSLR is a lot shallower than on a P&S camera for an otherwise similar exposure, but hey, some people pay extra for that...

I agree with Marc, slick idea. If you're having problems nailing focus with AF after following other suggestions on picking AF points, catch-in-focus seems like a technique to try. You're already planning your shot position in advance with the CPL, stacking CIF on top of it seems like you'd be killing two birds with one stone.

MJB DIGITAL · 11-02-2009, 10:11 PM

Originally posted by r0ckstarr

Thanks for all of the comments. You've all given me alot to think about and figure out. I'm going to ignore everything I learned from my previous P&S and start over from scratch. It's clear that I've pointed myself in the wrong direction and am doing something completely wrong. My first post came from frustration. I spent the day at the track, and when I got home to view the pictures, they were nothing like what I had expected them to be at the time of shooting. I had all of my settings wrong, and need to learn all of these "rules" that follow.

Thanks.

This is a great and humble attitude and I respect that.

Mitch.

5teve · 11-04-2009, 06:34 AM

Following on... this set is from my K20 with a sigma 70-300 cheapo lens.. harsh light... but didn;t really have any issues focusing and was panning using AF-C got plenty of keepers out of the 308 shots i took. number 54 is a friends 9 year old. He won his class that day

these little karts move well.... and this is the first time i have shot anything like this... ever!

Album here Picasa Web Albums - Rachael & Steve - Karting

few thumbs following to give you an idea

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10-26-2009, 02:39 PM	#31
Mallee Boy Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: South Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,904	Rockstar....just a question: Have you tried taking any shots without filters? (apologies if you have already stated this). If not....give it a go.

10-26-2009, 03:49 PM	#32
Rich_A Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Montana Photos: Gallery Posts: 213	Brian, first off, thanks for hanging in there even after the first couple of posts flaming you pretty hard. You've definitely purchased an outstanding camera that will take a bit to get used to it. I don't shoot a lot of auto sports but I shoot a ton of wildlife and have used a Canon 20D, 5D, a Nikon D90 and now the Pentax K-7. You are going to find a couple of things that are a bit finicky with the Pentax, mainly high ISO performance and Continuous Autofocus. The high ISO is manageable if you can remember to optimize the settings for your shooting conditions. I mainly try to use faster glass rather than cranking up the ISO if at all possible. I assume you're shooting for around 1/250th or faster with your shots to avoid subject blur? I wouldn't shoot at anything less than around ISO 400 for sports (I shoot a bit of bull riding which is about as crazy as you can get and I never shoot less than ISO 400). For autofocus, the faster the lenses, the faster your camera is going to perform. Sigma has some nice tele's for the Pentax and from what I understand the Pentax 55-300mm is okay as well. Pentax's DA* glass is fairly pricey but top of the line, especially their 60-250mm DA* and 300mm DA*. I have decent success with Continuous AF but I wouldn't say that Pentax cameras are really designed to speed demons. The engineers err on the side of AF accuracy rather than speed and I can attest that I get more "keepers" with the Pentax but have to work harder to get them. As a reference point, I throw out around 25-33% of my Nikon D90 panning shots because the camera missed focus. Stick with the central AF point or select another one manually if you want to keep the subject off-center. Don't rely on AF-Auto selection. Not many cameras out there can really beat the Central AF point for accuracy. I hope this helps. Stick with the K-7 and I think you'll be very pleased with the results. I find it produces some of the punchiest, high-quality photos I can get with a mid-level DSLR. I like the RAW output much better than my Nikon D90. You just have to think about the metering and AF a tiny bit more on Pentax. I guess that's because Pentax shooters can be trusted to be a bit brighter than the average Canikon shooter.

11-02-2009, 12:39 PM	#33
tvfd911 Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: WI Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 354	Originally posted by Marc Sabatella Very clever! Completely understandable. I'd say the CPL obviously was responsible your difficulty with shutter speeds, and probably wasn't helping contrast or color any, and replacing it should indeed be expected to make a difference. I think some experimentation with finding a balance between finding an ISO level high enough to get the shutter speeds you want without inducing too much noise - and also finding how to best control noise in PP - would be one of the next steps. You'll also still have to deal with the fact that DOF on a DSLR is a lot shallower than on a P&S camera for an otherwise similar exposure, but hey, some people pay extra for that... I agree with Marc, slick idea. If you're having problems nailing focus with AF after following other suggestions on picking AF points, catch-in-focus seems like a technique to try. You're already planning your shot position in advance with the CPL, stacking CIF on top of it seems like you'd be killing two birds with one stone.

11-02-2009, 10:11 PM	#34
MJB DIGITAL Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: st. louis Posts: 1,170	Originally posted by r0ckstarr Thanks for all of the comments. You've all given me alot to think about and figure out. I'm going to ignore everything I learned from my previous P&S and start over from scratch. It's clear that I've pointed myself in the wrong direction and am doing something completely wrong. My first post came from frustration. I spent the day at the track, and when I got home to view the pictures, they were nothing like what I had expected them to be at the time of shooting. I had all of my settings wrong, and need to learn all of these "rules" that follow. Thanks. This is a great and humble attitude and I respect that. Mitch.

11-04-2009, 06:34 AM	#35
5teve Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Perth - Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 226	Following on... this set is from my K20 with a sigma 70-300 cheapo lens.. harsh light... but didn;t really have any issues focusing and was panning using AF-C got plenty of keepers out of the 308 shots i took. number 54 is a friends 9 year old. He won his class that day these little karts move well.... and this is the first time i have shot anything like this... ever! Album here Picasa Web Albums - Rachael & Steve - Karting few thumbs following to give you an idea