I have read many threads about Pentax's AF short comings. In particular, it's accuracy, speed in low lighting, etc... (you all know what i'm speaking of). I am writing this in Pentax's defense. I use my K100d, and when i am taking pictures (i.e. focussing) at weddings, casual shootings, portraitures, kids & pets, and even sports i have never felt (subjective) that i missed a shot due to the camera's lack of focussing speed. When in these situations - which ever it may be - it requires anticipation and actual photographer skill. You cannot simply rely on your camera to do all of the work. The camera is not a thinking object, you have to anticipate in which direction the play (in sports/children/pets) is going.
I have also used the 'newspaper's' D200, and the focussing speed on that is not substantially/significantly/a-world-of-difference faster than the K100d or the K10d. For those of you who object to this observation, i propose a scenario: think of how a well anticipated photographer (i.e. skilled) who gets his shot by getting into position is far better off than one who thinks photography is just pushing a button while her camera does all of the work.
On the K100d, it is possible to customize how you want to focus. What i mean is, i set my camera on Continuous mode and assign my focussing to the 'OK' button. This does make focussing more speedy because you are able to hold the focussing/OK button down and there is slightly less shutter lag when you do want to take the picture.
The serious photographer ought to concentrate on developing his skill sets rather than contributing the lack of 'good' shots on the camera and, in our case, the focussing speed. I am not objecting to the fact that a fast focussing speed is not helpful/wanted/desired. I just dont think that Pentax's focussing speed falls into the category of "slow" - and definitely not "slow" as to count it out when used to photograph kids, Pets and/or sports. Lastly, i highly recommend changing the way you shoot, including my suggestion in the paragraph above.
Tingster.
Last edited by Tingchaleun; 03-01-2008 at 03:38 PM.