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10-19-2010, 10:51 PM   #1
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Frustrated With My K-7 (Blurry Muck)

After several months with my K-7 I'm finding that I'm consistently not getting the results I feel that I should be getting. To be sure, my results are less satisfactory than they were with my K10 (which, sadly, has been sold).

The issue is blur, or more specifically, a double image that quite frequently occurs. Attached is a 100% crop of an image that by no means should have suffered from image blur. It was shot at 1/125, f 6.3, ISO 250. SR was set to OFF. Lens is a Sigma 17-70. (Incidentally, a crystal clear shot at 1/20 with the K10 with this lens was never a problem.)

Sorry--I know this issue appears in many other places on this forum. To be honest, I still don't quite understand the problem. Is it a fact of life of the K-7? Is my camera defective?

Thanks in advance for your help. If the attached photo is insufficient to diagnose the problem, I can post more.

Attached Images
 
10-19-2010, 11:06 PM   #2
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Please include an image that has the EXIF information still embedded. Can't make much sense out of the photo without it.

- Jason
10-19-2010, 11:22 PM   #3
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have you tested for front focus / back focus? Just because your lens worked with your k10d does not mean it will play nice with the k7. Bodies and lenses can be out, and sometimes they play nice together because they are out in opposite directions.

is it focused on the clouds?

why is SR off?

was this shot from a moving car?
10-19-2010, 11:33 PM   #4
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One thing is clear. It is not a fact of life with the K-7. If it were, every single K-7 sold would've been recalled by now. I really can't see why anyone would even think that could be the case.

Either it's a faulty K-7 or you're shooting it wrong. My bet is on the latter. It looks like motion blur. Yes it can happen at 1/125s. It looks like it was shot from a moving car (which would explain everything). If you were standing still when you shot it, then having the SR on might've helped.

Here's something you can try. Put the cam on a tripod and shoot. If you still get a blur, it's a broken unit.

10-19-2010, 11:43 PM   #5
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http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5096123696_2b871c30e9_o.jpg

Here's a shot from a Rough Idling car.. 1/25s f2 and it was still underexposed so it had to be pushed.

Here are a bunch more taken from the same rough idling car..

Index of /Photos/HelpandStuff/A135f28/NightTime

10-20-2010, 12:26 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by slowdive101 Quote
The issue is blur, or more specifically, a double image
What blur and double image? If this is a 100% crop, it looks OK. There is no double image anywhere - for example the horizontal lines of the telephone lines at the bottom of the image are clear and distinct.

What I am seeing is some softness, however, which could be the product of poor technique, poor optics, or something as basic as you using a poor quality UV filter on your lens.

You need to post a full image, with EXIF, and then supply 100% crops of areas of the image that illustrate what you see as problems, before anyone can really draw any conclusions.
10-20-2010, 12:42 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by slowdive101 Quote
After several months with my K-7 I'm finding that I'm consistently not getting the results I feel that I should be getting. To be sure, my results are less satisfactory than they were with my K10 (which, sadly, has been sold).
Just wondered, did you upgrade firmware between clear and blurry shots? Also did you apply noise reduction on both?


Last edited by cbaytan; 10-20-2010 at 12:56 AM.
10-20-2010, 01:06 AM   #8
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It may be that your K7 is suffering from the shutter blur problem.
I know mine does, and in consequence some shots that should be blur-free come out with this double image, no matter how you hold the camera (even seems to be amplified when you try to hold really still).
This happens with wide lenses, around 1/125... In these cases, changing the speed to 1/50 or 1/200 usually solves the problem.
10-20-2010, 01:17 AM   #9
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he isnt using SR so that rules out SR faults.
10-20-2010, 02:59 AM   #10
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Clouds are in good focus, power lines look pretty sharp also. I am failing to see the problem. Post an other sample.
10-20-2010, 06:35 AM   #11
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I can't help notice this thread as I have been dealing with double images sine I bought my K-7. Specifically with fully charged batteries in combination of the use of hotshoe flash and shutter speeds from 1/125 to 1/180 seconds (used flash as fill flash). Coincidentally I have the same Sigma 17-70mm as you do, but this ghosting also occurred on other lenses too.

After many long conversations with customer service they suggested I send the camera in to have it checked and tested. I included a long letter explaining exactly how to get the ghosting to occur consistently. Under the repair status on the Pentax website it was saying something about adjusting the SR to original manufacturer specs. I am not sure what that means, but I will definitely let you know if the adjustment helped.

I would recommend to carefully document exactly when this blur with your camera occurs. Your 100% crop looks pretty sharp actually, especially compared to the ghosting I was having. Keep in mind that the K-7 has higher resolution than the K10D, and so it will show lens resolution limits at 100% crops more easily.

Good luck,

Eric
10-20-2010, 06:45 AM   #12
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Here is what you are going to do.

Put the camera on a tripod, and get like a box or something with a lot of writing on it. focus off the target and then focus on the target with AF. If the results are not sharp enough, you need to either adjust the AF forward, or back and figure out which direction it gets sharper. Remember to focus off the target and focus back on to it each time to get the most accurate AF reading. Simply going from 0 to say -2, your camera is not going to change the AF lock it already has.

Don't be surprised if you have to go all the way to +/- 8... Yesterday I spent an hour to get the AF adjustment setting down for my new FA 50 F/1.7 down. It was sharpest at -8.

Last edited by Chwisch87; 10-20-2010 at 06:58 AM.
10-20-2010, 06:49 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by RawheaD Quote
One thing is clear. It is not a fact of life with the K-7. If it were, every single K-7 sold would've been recalled by now. I really can't see why anyone would even think that could be the case.

Either it's a faulty K-7 or you're shooting it wrong. My bet is on the latter. It looks like motion blur. Yes it can happen at 1/125s. It looks like it was shot from a moving car (which would explain everything). If you were standing still when you shot it, then having the SR on might've helped.

Here's something you can try. Put the cam on a tripod and shoot. If you still get a blur, it's a broken unit.
Definitely not shot from a moving car. I've been shooting for over 20 years, and like to think I know my way around a camera. A clear shot at 1/125s has never been a problem before the K-7. I'm not seeing a pattern at all, though, as a 1/30s shot could come out crystal clear.

Having said all that, problem does seem to diminish when shooting with a tripod. I know that would lead one to suspect that the problem is with me (ie; shaky hands), but I just don't think it is...I really don't.
10-20-2010, 06:52 AM   #14
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I have taken a few shoots with my K200d where it was the same issue. I assumed it was because my shutter speed was to slow for a hand held shot. I am not sure it should be a back/forward focus issue since it looks like he is enough distance away from the objects to be focused to infinite right? let us know if tech support resolves your issue.
10-20-2010, 06:53 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by rawr Quote
What blur and double image? If this is a 100% crop, it looks OK. There is no double image anywhere - for example the horizontal lines of the telephone lines at the bottom of the image are clear and distinct.

What I am seeing is some softness, however, which could be the product of poor technique, poor optics, or something as basic as you using a poor quality UV filter on your lens.

You need to post a full image, with EXIF, and then supply 100% crops of areas of the image that illustrate what you see as problems, before anyone can really draw any conclusions.
Hmmm, not sure why the JPEG did not maintain the EXIF data. Can I just attach a RAW image? If not, what would be the best way to show an image?
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