[shoebox]

... The question for Other K-X owners who graduated from cameras with lower megapixels or point and shoot cameras, what your opinion of your K-X's picture quality vs. your previous digital camera, eg. superior, about the same, a little better but not much?

My older cam (Olympus Camedia) tended to be more heavily sharpened and are more saturated out of camera. I have learned to appreciated the look of the pictures on my K-x. However, when I miss the old look for certain situations, I usually just toggle the SF (superfine) on and I'm happy.


SB

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Last edited by shoebox; 03-19-2010 at 06:59 AM.

[noahpurdy]

One last thing I want to add:

Megapixels do not gauge the quality of the image, only the amount of pixels. Just because a camera has more megapixels than another does not mean it will produce better images.

[Ira]

The kit lens is pretty decent at f8-ish, although wide open it may suffer a little both at the long end and the wide end.

Also, the kit lens surpasses at full out 18mm, and degrades substantially as you zoom in.

I wholeheartedly recommend and direct you to the Kit Lens club, with some of the most remarkable photos you will ever see, your lens included. Spend some time reviewing these photos, and see if your P&S can compare:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/45425-kit-lens-club.html

[rawr]

To hearten the OP, and show that regular folks can take great photos with the K-x, they may also like to browse the K-x sample shots page on flickr:

Flickr: Camera Finder: Pentax: K-x

Like all tools, getting the most out of them involves some practice and experience. Even the average point and shoot has a learning curve. Hang in there.

[Marc Sabatella]

DOF is either set via. the lens or via. an internal camera menu/option, ex. AV and a wheel.

OK, but that's not a menu - that's a direct control, results visible in the viewfinder. There are as far as I know no menus anywhere on the camera that affect aperture. if you're looking at a menu, you are not controlling aperture.

The issue, does the Fstop set on the menu screen correspondence to the actual Fstop on the lens or a fake software based attempt to mimic the Fstop?

Again, no menus involved if you're doing it correctly. ut assuming you are doing it correctly - eg, Av and wheel - then yes of course it's actually closing down down the aperture on the lens.

My main issue, and one NOT addressed by any of the 12 replies, is for depth of field normal for this camera and lens or could the K-X + len kit be defective?

In what way did my previous response not address this? I asked what set your expectation of what the DOF *should* be. Without sample images, we have no way of knowing if what you are seeing is appropriate or not, but all I can say is what I already wrote earlier: DOF is gets shallower the larger the sensor, so yes of course your DSLR will have much shallower DOF for the same f-stop than your P&S. That much is 100% normal.

I have shot over 500 pics with the K-X, and the auto focus is too "random" for consistant results.

Are you letting the camera select the focus point or selecting it yourself?

I can use manal mode, but does not possess a good manual focusing system.

In what way do you mean that? You focus by turning the ring on the lens, and it works as well as any other DSLR.

[dmfw]

I have a P&S Camera but I also use a SLR film camera with a F16 lens. I am not comparing the KX's DOF vs. my P&S, rather I am comparing it to my film camera.

Also, I am comparing my test shots to the example pictures attached to a Kx reviews. I wonder why I am not getting the same results with similar settings.

Bottom line, I have no way to compare my Kx with another KX to see if my issues are ME or the camera. At this point I am a confused Pentax owner!

[noahpurdy]

I have a P&S Camera but I also use a SLR film camera with a F16 lens. I am not comparing the KX's DOF vs. my P&S, rather I am comparing it to my film camera.

Also, I am comparing my test shots to the example pictures attached to a Kx reviews. I wonder why I am not getting the same results with similar settings.

Bottom line, I have no way to compare my Kx with another KX to see if my issues are ME or the camera. At this point I am a confused Pentax owner!

Please see my post earlier in the thread.

Comparing depth of field to your 35mm SLR is STILL inaccurate because the APS-C is smaller than the 35mm frame.

I am willing to be 100% that your K-x is fine.

[Marc Sabatella]

I have a P&S Camera but I also use a SLR film camera with a F16 lens. I am not comparing the KX's DOF vs. my P&S, rather I am comparing it to my film camera.

In that case, it should actually be slightly deeper for the same f-stop and FOV. But post an image (with EXIF intact) if you expect anyone to be able say if what you are seeing is normal or not - there's no other way we can possibly say.

[dmfw]

As per "Marc Sabatella" suggestion, I took several pictures using F12 to F16. I uploaded some of the better ones at

Pentax DOF Pics - a set on Flickr

The Pics' Shutter Speed and F stop appear below the picture.

Do these appear to be normal for the Kx with the indicated Fstop?

Thanks

[rawr]

Those photos are a bit boring , but they look perfectly normal.

If you want to study depth of fiend more, and examine the differences that exist between point and shoots, DSLR's and film cameras, the following links may be worth a visit:

Digital Camera Sensor Sizes: How it Influences Your Photography

along with the rest of the tutorials there:
Digital Photography Tutorials

and the DOF table maker here
Depth of Field Table

[sterretje]

Those photos are a bit boring , but they look perfectly normal.

For the last 2 I agree. The others are quite OK in my humble opinion. Don't forget it's just for demonstration purposes, so who does really care as long as they demonstrate the possible problem (or absence there of).

Having said that, I agree that they look normal. And as I said before, use a dof calculator or indeed print a table for when you go on a shoot. It's my understanding that the kit lens that comes with the KX does not have a distance scale, so you have to estimate or measure the distance.

[dmfw]

Thanks for the help and opinions on the photos.

I also notice, when I shoot the flowering trees, from a about 10 feet, all of the flowers become fuzzy blobs whlle the branches are sharp. I am not sure if this is a DOF issue or that the auto focus on the camera.

In face, I have found that auto-focus, even on the center mode, to be very questionable.

[Rondec]

I had though initially the issue was something else, but I would go ahead and do a focus test. Print a focus chart, stick your camera on a tripod, position the focus chart at 45 degrees and shoot some photos. That will tell you if your camera is front or back focusing.

One of the biggest problems with focusing is that the focus sensors are bigger than they look (I know the kx doesn't actually show them) and so they pick the spot with the greatest contrast in their general vicinity. Often you feel like you are focusing on the person's eyes and the camera decides to focus on their shoulder instead.

[LiveNLearn]

You can get a feel for DOF with a DOF calculator like Online Depth of Field Calculator. Select your camera, focal length, aperture and subject distance and it will tell you what you need to knoow

With regards to your focusing 'issue'. If you don't use center spot focus, you will have a problem as the Kx does not indicate where it has focused at the moment that the green hexagon lits up). So I suggest (as somebody else mentioned before) to use spot focusing only.

I ran across this here and I must say i have a smile from ear to ear right now, i have the kx as-well and had the same problem with focusing with multi-segment or center weighted....THE SAME ISSUE.....and when I choose the "spot" my problems became not a problem...I also want to thank you for that info as it has helped me tremendously with focusing...Your the man Cheers and thank you again

[Ira]

I ran across this here and I must say i have a smile from ear to ear right now, i have the kx as-well and had the same problem with focusing with multi-segment or center weighted....THE SAME ISSUE.....and when I choose the "spot" my problems became not a problem...I also want to thank you for that info as it has helped me tremendously with focusing...Your the man Cheers and thank you again

Manual, man. Go manual!