[Heie]

I remember being on a hike and this person felt left out when I was snapping away...



Zoomed in:



-Heie

[bertwert]

I remember being on a hike and this person felt left out when I was snapping away...



Zoomed in:



-Heie

Apparently I can only like your post once...

[malinku]

Pentax really needs to work in repair support. Since most people making money with photography need quick turnaround and proper service the first time. Pentax is one of the worst at this right now. Making the other three brands a way better choice.

The main reason Im thinking of going with another brand for dslr. so in a way I feel left out but only about US repair quality.

[clackers]

And actually, I think street photography may also benefit from it. If your subject is walking on the street, there is movement, so some kind of tracking is welcome I think. I don't think you need "the best" tracking for it, but AF-S is not really useful when e.g. your subject is walking towards you.

That's what AF-C is for.


See my picture above, Starbase - much more challenging than a pedestrian in a street or a bride arm-in-arm with her father.


If as a rank amateur I can do it, you can.

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Last edited by clackers; 03-01-2016 at 05:58 PM.

[darylk]

Hey everyone,
It was a tough decision, going from Nikon to pentax, I had some issues with it in the beginning. With focus being blurred. And in India pentax market is really not so well. So had issues with support. Anyway somehow it automatically got fixed after so many months. I don't regret it a bit now. But that experience just put a dent in my confidence to really recommend or when I am commercially working. It's like that little phobia settled in.

Anyway apart from that I am really happy with the camera. Now that it's one year with k3. It gives me everything I need. And I've blown some people away by its image quality and convinced many people to switch too. Some people didn't even know and thought of it to be full frame till many months. Who never heard about Pentax dslrs. However I feel left out in matter of how common it is.

First is the support from other products, everyone supports canon/Nikon. Next is rentals. Next is support. Especially in India. It's so rare to find anything Pentax that sometimes I just feel like ditching this camera. No one even knows Pentax does DSLR!

I just wanted to know is it really that rare in your country/region? Do you feel the same sometimes? Do I switch? Cuz this is sometimes coming in way of my commercial work. And to switch is kind of a tough call. It's like back to zero and I'll have to deal with some broken months if I switch.

Please let me know where do you live and do you feel the same? And any suggestions. I live in Hyderabad, India & Kuwait, and this problem seems to be in both the places

I live in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. I probably see a Pentaxian "out in the wild" about once a year. There are a couple stores in Omaha (one of them focused on photography) and a photography store in the central part of the state (around 3 hours drive away), so reasonable support for purchases is present. However, support for repairs (knock on wood - I haven't had the need for around 4 years) is questionable at the present time based on reports I've read from others. I was talking to a Pentax rep around a year ago, and it was mentioned that things may be improving in that regard...time will tell.

As far as feeling "left out", I don't feel that way at all, especially after comparing the handling/build of my K-3 against the Canikon competition. I am confident in my well researched decision to use quality Pentax gear, and honestly believe that most other photographers are being "left out" by blindly buying into Canikon without seriously considering Pentax.

[macman24054]

I have serious issues with K3 and K5IIs focusing

I shoot mostly weddings with a K50 and 2 K30's and rarely get out of focus images. And I know for sure the K3 has superior auto focus than all my bodies. I have shoot in some pretty dark venues with no focus issues.

[amp]

He is talking about shooting weddings.

Outside of the staged portraits, there are significant AF challenges with weddings. A good example would be the brides entrance as she walks up the aisle. Lighting is often a bit dim and there are no options for repeat of a missed shot. You must nail focus and will have only a few seconds total for all attempts. Oh, and there are extra points awarded for not making a spectacle of yourself in the process.

At my daughter's wedding a year ago, the pro shooting the outside wedding used a FF Canon with (IIRC) a 70-200 for the ceremony itself and switched to cropped sensor with a short zoom for the reception. I did fine with my K-3 at the rehearsal the day before and at the reception, but am not sure it would have worked day of for the actual "trip down the aisle".*

Having said all of this, I know of high-end pros that routinely shoot weddings with manual focus medium format film** ( ) and have no problems getting the critical shots...no AF, no SR, no machine-gunning...


Steve

* As I remember the day, I always chuckle. I was walking her across the meadow towards the last rank of chairs and she wanted to hurry. I saw that the photog was not "set" and whispered to her to slow down or she was not going to get any photos.

** Here in the Portland area, many brides insist upon at least partial use of B&W film

From what I understood, Btnapa said he used to do weddings with Canon. He now has Pentax, but doesn't do weddings anymore. So, I'm wondering where he's having the autofocus problem?
I mentioned sports because I always hear talking about Pentax' continuous af problems with moving objects.

[MadMathMind]

The only way I feel left out is I can't say to someone "Here, try this lens!" or receive that pleasure myself. Otherwise it really doesn't matter.

[biz-engineer]

Odd. I don't have any camera focusing problems with either my K-30 and K-S1 at events (including a wedding workshop at a real ceremony). Any errors are mine. The cross point in your K-3 is as good as it gets in the industry, rated to f2.8 at light levels down to -3eV, so who would do this better?

I'm sure that you are fine with the K-30 and K-S1.... except when in low light or speed required, I never experienced focusing issues with my K200D, then I had the K-5 who wouldn't lock AF with DA300 but anytime it would lock the AF would be spot on. Then I got the K-3 who would lock AF much better than the K-5... but also the K-3 don't mind releasing the shutter when not in focus. My opinion on this: there were several repeated comments about Pentax AF that Pentax AF was too conservative versus Canikon AF, so I guess Ricoh relaxed the lock conditions. You don't seem to have a K-3, but if you had one, you could play a bit with AFC 27/9 points to see how it works compared to the former 11 points AF. Now, I also have to be honest: what I found out is that the Pentax AF works very well when the system is fixed (not hand held).

So I believe two things:
1) sensor based stabilization is a disadvantage, as far as AF lock and tracking are concerned, especially true with long lenses where any camera shake translate into huge pattern shift for the AF module
2) K-3 AFC algorithm is not what it could be. For example, AFC is unable to focus in continuous shooting if the defocus isn't close enough to focus position. The camera can't handle a direct press of the shutter when the focus is way off target and what it does is take photos out of focus. In burst mode, AFC, you can take 20 out of focus photos, the camera does it without question. So, what works a bit better is AFA: the camera likely starts with AFS (does not take out of focus shots if AFS is set to focus prio), and then switches to AFC tracking once the AF is in range and if the target is moving. Other solution is to use AFC mode and the back button AF to prefocus and then use the shutter.

[clackers]

Now, I also have to be honest: what I found out is that the Pentax AF works very well when the system is fixed (not hand held).

See my picture above, Biz-engineer.

It is handheld.

Shake Reduction is on.

My skills are no better than anyone else's.

The Tamron 70-200 *is* a screwdrive lens, so I'm guessing faster focusing than your DA300.

Other solution is to use AFC mode and the back button AF to prefocus and then use the shutter.

Well, my picture was done tracking the rider, centre AF point, backbutton focus because various steel poles were between me and the subject as I swept the camera from right to left.

But I haven't had a problem with cyclists approaching at speeds just as high or higher (40-60 kmh) with focus from the shutter button either, BTW.

I only changed technique on the day because of the obstacles.

[mikeSF]

left out? nope. Special? yep.

I've owned 7 Pentax cameras and scads of lenses and have thankfully have only needed Pentax service (lens) once, at which time I shipped it away and it came back repaired within a reasonable amount of time. I have never been to a camera retailer who carries the brand nor is that important to me in any way. I would say if your location makes you uneasy, just consider having a backup body and that may suffice for your needs. Most popular does not mean better.

good luck.

[Irfanintekhab]

Thank you for all your replies. I get the idea that service is a problem with pentax in many areas.

I've never had autofocus problems when it works. My problem was a hardware problem. It was, when I saw a sharp image in viewfinder, it showed autofocus confirmed and would give me a sharp image as well, when I focussed manually to be sharp in viewfinder, it wouldn't confirm focus, and would also give me an out of focus image. It had something to do with the focussing screen. I tried fixing myself, thought the focussing screen has moved, but it didn't fix. So sent for repair after finding Ricoh here. First they denied saying they don't service cameras here. Then I had to speak to some Indias head person, I was happy that he was helpful and did allow me a service. I had to ship my camera to Mumbai. And they shipped for around 3000 rupees. That's about 60$ I guess. Which I had to cover. Then it came back after one and a half month. Upon that it wasn't rectified. I was really pissed off. Somehow it works now automatically. But I still have that dent in my confidence as I said. A feeling that it might return.

However now that it works, it works nice. I don't have problems with it not locking focus or anything of that sort. I just majorly have problems with its availability. Firstly I can't rent from anywhere cuz there are no places who rent pentax gear. Many a times, I just need a lens for a specific project. So I can't justify 1000$ for that project. I'd rather rent like I did on Nikon. I have a few pentax lenses, but I am still not completely into the system, so I still have a chance to bail out, hence he confusion. Because the more I invest into Pentax, the more I'd be looking towards service and such.

Maybe I'll wait for a couple of months and see if they really improve their presence in my regions, if not, I might have to switch, and personally I really loved k3 it's such a brilliant camera. I wish it had more presence. I really love this camera.

[biz-engineer]

Zoomed in:

The Canon label isn't sharp. Was it miss-focused or shutter speed too slow?

[clackers]

I just majorly have problems with its availability.

Sure. Pentax is a niche brand and depending on where you live in the world and the type of support you expect, it may be impractical to own one.

[Rondec]

I have not had problems using Pentax. I have a few friends/family who use Pentax as well -- mainly because of my influence, I suppose. I don't actually know that many people who shoot a lot with SLRs. But I guess if you need quick service or things like that, you do need some local support and that would be a bigger deal to me, than if I had friends who shot with Pentax cameras.