[LFLee]

In 2009 I got my first DSLR, K200D.
along with many lenses after that.
and continue with K5, K5IIs, and two years ago, K1.
In the mean time I also caught the bug of film photography, so LX, two PENTAX 67II, two PENTAX 67, and PENTAX 645N, with many lenses.
I also got a Ricoh Theta V last year.

I enjoyed photography and learned along the way.

I thought about getting a 645z, but GFX look much more appealing.
I thought about sending in my K1 to make it a K1mII, but thinking I probably won't gain much.

After many considerations, I just got myself a A7RIII this Thanksgiving.
The focus speed and eye focus feature alone is crazy. like it's not even fair.

My baby turn 1 yo. and running around.
My Pentax K1 + Sigma 35 missed shot 90% of the time.
A7RIII nailed eye focus 95% of the time.

I don't know what's the purpose of this post.
I don't know. I really like PENTAX.

I will continue to enjoy my Pentax film gears and continue to shoot my K1 while I transition to Sony A.

I certainly looking forward to also get a MF in future, and I hope Pentax have something similar to a GFX 50R in near future and I can support Pentax again.

I hope we continue to enjoy photography, with whatever gear we use.

and hope Pentax/Ricoh all the best and come out with something that storm the photography world.

[travelswsage]

Well, the APS-C folks are getting their flagship next year maybe the 645z successor is not to far behind -- I cant imagine that this slot in the camera world will be abandoned.

[Paul the Sunman]

My Pentax K1 + Sigma 35 missed shot 90% of the time.

I get a far better keeper rate than that with the K1, even for birds, which are harder than 1 year olds.

Still, I take your point. I expect big AF improvements in the K-new.

[KiloHotelphoto]

I’ve been thinking of getting into medium format and looking at the 645z and Fuji.

Fuji is clearly investing into medium format while Ricoh seem to have just let it go into a state of hibernation. The 645z and the lenses available are fine for what I would like to try so I don’t have any concerns there but I don’t want to spend 7-8 thousand dollars and need to get service and have to wait months because they don’t have parts for it, we’ve all seen the threads about K1’s and some current lenses taking that long what would it be like on a 645z, are they even still producing new ones or are they still selling older production run bodies?

[totsmuyco]

I hope they'll wake up from MF hibernation. Fuji is slowly creeping up the ladder.

[Paul the Sunman]

... 645z, are they even still producing new ones or are they still selling older production run bodies?

The hype leading up to the release of the 645Z was well-managed by Ricoh. They put in the effort. And yet they were surprised by the very strong sales, so I believe there must have been further production runs following. I don't know the current status though. It may depend on when the next update is planned, for which we have no information.

[luftfluss]

I hope they'll wake up from MF hibernation. Fuji is slowly creeping up the ladder.

Slowly? Fuji has scrambled up the ladder and stepped on Pentax's fingers as they rushed by.

[lesmore49]

I don't know about a Pentax K1 not being able to nail the focus. I have an 22 month old grandson and this kid is greased lightning when it comes to speed. He moves !

I've been very happy with my available light, indoors photographs of him and here's what I do.

My daughter and son in law prefer me not to use flash which make sense. I have taken many pictures of him indoors, using only available light...during daylight hours...with window curtains open...get maximum light inside that way....and most pics I've taken have been keepers.

I used aperture priority...usually either my 100 DFA Macro @ F2.8 to 5.0, my 28-105 @ 3.5 to 5.6 (depends where zoom focal length is) , my 50 Macro F 2.8 @ F 2.8 to F 5.0...and 50 'normal' (F 1.4) @ F 2 to F 2.5, my 40 Limited from F 2.8 to 3.5.

I'm using his eye(s) for my auto focus point and using mostly ISO 800 to 3200, sometimes 6400...with which the F stops I use, generally gives me plenty of shutter speed to catch my little fellow. With the K1's high resolution at high ISO...I'm not worried about picture quality...the K1 can handle high ISO very well.

I've been taking pics now for 50 years + and during that time, have taken a lot of wild birds in flight, drag racing cars whipping down the strip, etc...and my experience is that usually I've been able to get clear pics of fast moving objects.

My key has been higher ISO to get good shutter speed...lower number F stops...using living subjects 'eye' as the focal point . I also try to anticipate where the fast moving subject may be heading next.., which I picked up from taking pics of the above mentioned subjects over the years.

Anyways this has worked for me, hope it is of some help.

[LFLee]

I don't know about a Pentax K1 not being able to nail the focus. I have an 22 month old grandson and this kid is greased lightning when it comes to speed. He moves !

I've been very happy with my available light, indoors photographs of him and here's what I do.

My daughter and son in law prefer me not to use flash which make sense. I have taken many pictures of him indoors, using only available light...during daylight hours...with window curtains open...get maximum light inside that way....and most pics I've taken have been keepers.

I used aperture priority...usually either my 100 DFA Macro @ F2.8 to 5.0, my 28-105 @ 3.5 to 5.6 (depends where zoom focal length is) , my 50 Macro F 2.8 @ F 2.8 to F 5.0...and 50 'normal' (F 1.4) @ F 2 to F 2.5, my 40 Limited from F 2.8 to 3.5.

I'm using his eye(s) for my auto focus point and using mostly ISO 800 to 3200, sometimes 6400...with which the F stops I use, generally gives me plenty of shutter speed to catch my little fellow. With the K1's high resolution at high ISO...I'm not worried about picture quality...the K1 can handle high ISO very well.

I've been taking pics now for 50 years + and during that time, have taken a lot of wild birds in flight, drag racing cars whipping down the strip, etc...and my experience is that usually I've been able to get clear pics of fast moving objects.

My key has been higher ISO to get good shutter speed...lower number F stops...using living subjects 'eye' as the focal point . I also try to anticipate where the fast moving subject may be heading next.., which I picked up from taking pics of the above mentioned subjects over the years.

Anyways this has worked for me, hope it is of some help.

I know everyone shooting style (and especially distance from subject) is different. I like to shoot wide open so Sigma 35 at 1.4 to 2.0 is where I like to shoot. Because this gave me a Medium-Format-kinda-like shot that I like. When I say I missed shots I meant i missed shot in this situation, not f8 with a wide angle lens. 🙂

I only have the cheap Sony 50 1.8 now and shooting wide open and up close it nailed focus most of the time. It's just ridiculous. I hated Sony as a company but this piece of technology is undeniably great. I wish the A7 is a camera from Pentax, because Pentax can probably make it more photographer friendly. I really like Pentax but the Sony A7RIII has reached a price point where it has all the things I want from Pentax and more, and also opened up many fast lenses that can be adopted (at this point of my photography journey I know what focal lengths I wanted so Sony ridiculous lens price doesn't affect me).

I do hope Pentax come up with something really great, it's the company that I really like - but at this point my son can't wait. He keeps growing and running 😂

Thank you everyone who reply this thread politely - I felt like I betrayed Pentax when start using Sony. 😂 I really hope I can continue to shoot with both systems, as long as I can.

[Serkevan]

What lenses were you using? Have you performed AF adjustment?
I get better keeper rate on my cat with a manual lens. And that thing does NOT like posing

[Kiwizinho]

My baby turn 1 yo. and running around.
My Pentax K1 + Sigma 35 missed shot 90% of the time.
A7RIII nailed eye focus 95% of the time.

.

My 'baby' turned 8 this year, and I've had a Pentax since just before her first birthday.
Before that I had two Fujifilm bridge cameras, (although I had used Pentax back in film days)
Fujifilm hadn't yet brought out the X ILC series when my baby was a baby, and the EVF lag on those earlier bridge cameras was quite something, so when I had the opportunity to buy a Pentax DSLR that I could stick my old film era lenses on, I went back to Pentax, and have stayed there since. (Even with manual focus lenses, the DSLR could often do better than the bridge cameras.)
It just goes to show though, brand loyalty can only go so far if brands don't deliver what their customers need. By all accounts Fujifilm makes nice cameras now, but they were too slow to get there, and some of them are pretty pricey, whereas for the last few years Pentax had served me well, although that may change.
About the time I bought my first Fujifilm bridge camera, I also bought a pair of Canon prosumer camcorders. (I wanted two so I could film events from different angles, and back then most still camera didn't do video well). Those camcorders are long in the tooth now, and Pentax isn't great for video either.
I've considered Panasonic, but low light performance for still images is important for me and I'm not sure about the 4/3 sensor.
I really hope Pentax does some work on the video on their next APS-C. If I'm going to spend money on a premium body, I'm probably going to want some reasonable video, as buying a second body just for video might be a bit much now that I don't do a lot of video.

[Madaboutpix]

My baby turn 1 yo. and running around.
My Pentax K1 + Sigma 35 missed shot 90% of the time.
A7RIII nailed eye focus 95% of the time.

Listlessly back-engineered as they are for the K Mount, reliable PDAF on Pentax DSLRs is not exactly a quality Sigma lenses are known for. (Impressed with test charts and on-paper specs, many Sigma buyers tend to ignore this. I'm not saying this needs to apply to you.) The odds are that your K-1 on latest firmware would show much better AF with recent DFA and DFA* glass.

That said, Sony's eye-focussing capabilities will remain in another league. Which will make sharp action shots of your 1-year-old a lot easier. Does this mean Pentax DSLRs and native glass are incapable tools for family photojournalism? Certainly not. Otherwise, use and enjoy whatever gets you the shot.

[Rondec]

I know everyone shooting style (and especially distance from subject) is different. I like to shoot wide open so Sigma 35 at 1.4 to 2.0 is where I like to shoot. Because this gave me a Medium-Format-kinda-like shot that I like. When I say I missed shots I meant i missed shot in this situation, not f8 with a wide angle lens. 🙂

I only have the cheap Sony 50 1.8 now and shooting wide open and up close it nailed focus most of the time. It's just ridiculous. I hated Sony as a company but this piece of technology is undeniably great. I wish the A7 is a camera from Pentax, because Pentax can probably make it more photographer friendly. I really like Pentax but the Sony A7RIII has reached a price point where it has all the things I want from Pentax and more, and also opened up many fast lenses that can be adopted (at this point of my photography journey I know what focal lengths I wanted so Sony ridiculous lens price doesn't affect me).

I do hope Pentax come up with something really great, it's the company that I really like - but at this point my son can't wait. He keeps growing and running 😂

Thank you everyone who reply this thread politely - I felt like I betrayed Pentax when start using Sony. 😂 I really hope I can continue to shoot with both systems, as long as I can.

Honestly, you are probably better using an FA 31 or HD FA 35 than the Sigma. I know the Sigma is sharp, but they haven't figured out Pentax's auto focus protocols and many of their lenses struggle as a result. I have five kids of various ages and haven't really struggled with auto focus the way you have -- certainly not to the point of missing 90 percent of my shots, but then, as you say, styles differ (but I do shoot with FA 31/55/77 at f2-ish a lot, which should have similar depth of field).

[Kerrowdown]

hope PENTAX/Ricoh will have a good year

Contrary to public opinions/beliefs, I don't think "We're Doomed' at all... I think the futures looking rather bright, with all that's going in the photographic world...

The really question is... what we gonna do with this film clip then?

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[totsmuyco]

Nah, Pentax is not doomed. How can people think we're doomed. It's going to be Christmas soon. I have the following items on my Christmas list. I'd like 2 KPs with 18-135 kit lenses each. I want 1 solo KP body. I want 3 battery grips, one for each KP and 9 extra KP batteries. I think Santa's elves will bring me my presents and slide them under my bed.