[labidas]

"Pentax AF sucks has been nonsense since the K-3 was released."

I don't agree.

[MetalUndivided]

I don't agree.

[MarkJerling]

"Pentax AF sucks has been nonsense since the K-3 was released."

I don't agree.

I did not have problems with my K5's AF and I don't have problems with my K-1. I must be real "lucky" I guess.

[lesmore49]

I did not have problems with my K5's AF and I don't have problems with my K-1. I must be real "lucky" I guess.

X 2...my K5 and K-1's AF work real well. In fact I was out and about through Western Canada (prairies) last week and I'm very impressed with how my K1 AF works quickly and accurately with the two lens I was using on that body...the DF A 100 and my 28-105.

[normhead]

"Pentax AF sucks has been nonsense since the K-3 was released."

I don't agree.

Thanks for sharing.

I didn't say all Pentax users have been able to get the best out of Pentax AF since the K-3. I know there are people who have their problems.

[labidas]

I've talked about my AF issues many times. Not gonna do that again. Just gonna share an image and a blog post.

AF.S - single point. Stationary subject. DA*50-135.

0015ccJune 04, 2019 IMGP6820


This blog post - I swear I could have written it myself.
Pentax and the AF.C – thefoxtakespictures

[beholder3]

I know there are people who have their problems.

Don't worry. You'll meet all those with serious self-perception- and skill issues on the internet in a few hotspots.

Just look for two key criteria: a) whines a lot with loads of overgeneralizations and b) never shares images proving that he/she really is limited by the toy features and lacking other evidence of its claims.

[Rondec]

The arguments suggesting you know nothing about Pentax af unless you use ONE specific lens* makes no sense. All that does is highlight that the lens lineup needs a refresh and that its not good enough at the moment.

*HD DA 55-300mm f/4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE

I think Pentax auto focus is actually pretty good with any DC motor or ring motor driven lenses which include the DFA 24-70/70-200/150-450/50/28-105, as well as the DA 18-135/16-85/20-40.

The 55-300 PLM is probably a little faster than those others, but plenty of the people commenting in this thread are still using SDM or screw driven lenses, both of which are not perfect with respect to auto focus.

[normhead]

I think Pentax auto focus is actually pretty good with any DC motor or ring motor driven lenses which include the DFA 24-70/70-200/150-450/50/28-105, as well as the DA 18-135/16-85/20-40.

The 55-300 PLM is probably a little faster than those others, but plenty of the people commenting in this thread are still using SDM or screw driven lenses, both of which are not perfect with respect to auto focus.

I doubt Pentax AF.c is ever going to be all that good. But I rarely have opportunity to even use AF.c and most of the time when I do, it works for me. I don't shoot in gyms, or indoors a whole lot. I have many images of my dogs playing in parks taken with APS-c that had keeper rates way above what the more critical posters on the forum do. But long story short, the only reason I ever shoot AF.c is to find out what all the fuss is about, and it's never as bad as some on the forum claim it is. And with BiFs, the camera has worked for me flawlessly for me when I kept the bird in the viewfinder. I can think of 3 occasions in 01 years where I even used it.

Simple fact, I'm guessing of the 120,000 images taken with my K-3 less than 200 were taken using AF.c IN other words, Pentax AF sucks, based on AF.c performance is completely irrelevant to me. with my dogs, my keeper rate is over 80% I get the images I want. What's the big deal?

I find it incredible that people go on and on about how bad Pentax AF.c is, with no understanding of how irrelevant that is to my shooting, and I would expect most Pentax users shooting. I look though flickr images and I can tell you, there are a lot of other shooters out there for whom it's also irrelevant. SO here's why the whole Pentax AF.c sucks thing is nonsense for me. What Pentax AF is lower than average for, I rarely do. I would call people warning people like me not to buy Pentax because of AF.c performance irresponsible.

People make big deal out of a function I use .17 percent of the time. Translationn 1.7 shots per thousand. And when I do use it I have about an 60%-80% keeper rate. This is probably the most over blown deficiency in a camera ever, at least for me. (Please spare me, the "not everyone is you nonsense". Everyone may not be like me, but an awful lot are.) And completely bogus for all but a few.

Honestly, I'll take an OVF with IBIS over what else I see from other brands any day. I use IBIS every day. I use AF.c once or twice a year. People really need to get grip, to understand the fact that they have point with Pentax AF.c doesn't make it relevant to most shooters. For the most part they are looking at a very small picture, and ignoring the big picture. The big picture for myself and i suspect a lot of others make a difference in 2 images per thousand. That's pretty irrelevant by any estimation.

[biz-engineer]

Just gonna share an image and a blog post.

This also happens with other cameras such as the new Nikon Z7, Sony etc. If you focus on a dark subject with bright background, the Z7 will have your subject completely OOF.

[Dan Rentea]

Just gonna share an image and a blog post.

If it's not user error, he has to check his lenses for front/back focus.

[labidas]

Here we go again.

[Dan Rentea]

Here we go again.

So what are you saying, that the image with the girl that you posted above is hard to get due to the backlight scene? The girl is far away so we're not talking about an image with shallow depth of field and the dress has more contrast than what's around her. The distance is big enough so you don't need af-c even if she's not steady. If you ask me, it's user error here rather than front focus or poor af system.

[mattb123]

I recently shot a mountain bike race with a K-3 & Tamron 70-200 and a K-1ii & D FA 24-70.
I used AF-C on both cameras and while not perfect, I find I can work with it.
If I was a dedicated sports shooter, especially indoors, I'd probably get a better performing system in terms of AF.

But for me shooting outdoors for a few events a year it works well enough.

Two days of MTB racing, if anyone is interested, is posted here:
https://www.mattb.net/halfgrowler2019
https://www.mattb.net/fullgrowler2019

The many similar shots are for racer photos. I was trying to get a shot of every single rider.
I definitely had some AF failures with a handfull of missed shots. I just make a point of getting those particular riders at another spot.
Most of the time it was predictable and good enough.

[normhead]

I recently shot a mountain bike race with a K-3 & Tamron 70-200 and a K-1ii & D FA 24-70.
I used AF-C on both cameras and while not perfect, I find I can work with it.
If I was a dedicated sports shooter, especially indoors, I'd probably get a better performing system in terms of AF.

But for me shooting outdoors for a few events a year it works well enough.

Two days of MTB racing, if anyone is interested, is posted here:
https://www.mattb.net/halfgrowler2019
https://www.mattb.net/fullgrowler2019

The many similar shots are for racer photos. I was trying to get a shot of every single rider.
I definitely had some AF failures with a handfull of missed shots. I just make a point of getting those particular riders at another spot.
Most of the time it was predictable and good enough.

And that for most of us is the issue. Can we get by when the camera is at it's weakest, to be able to enjoy what it does really well?
It's always a personal choice, informed by skill level etc.

If a bad photographer can get the same images I do with better gear, no sweat off my back and more power to them. But that's irrelevant to me personally. I only care if a good photographer gets better images than I do with my gear. And if he had to go places I don't go and do things I wouldn't do to get those better images, it's still irrelevant. I have to decide," what's it worth to me, personally, internet blog BS aside.. So far I have no evidence would have single image I don't have now with better gear. I might have more copies of the same image, but that doesn't help at all.