[Photodana]

Hello
I want to study the programs used in the latest Pentax cameras like the K-1, K-1ii, I cant seem to find any charts that can explain/show the algorithms behind Auto, Normal, Action, Landscape, Portrait and perhaps MTF
Anyone knows where to find these, please?

[ProfessorBuzz]

I don't think the algorithms are published, they are proprietary intellectual property of Ricoh/Hoya/Pentax.

The algorithms bias the exposure triangle using the ISO, aperture, speed, and optical characteristics of the lens including focus.

Landscape will tend to go for "infinite" focus, Action to higher speeds (and thus lower depth of field), and so on.


There is an interesting discussion of MTF here:
Technical notes on the MTF program line - PentaxForums.com

[steephill]

You can find a set of charts in the manual for the *istD, page 158 on my .pdf copy. There are 4 program lines on that camera, Normal, High Speed, Depth of Field and MTF. They show the program lines for the FAJ18-35 lens and you can see that the line varies with maximum aperture. Other lenses may produce different charts. It would be straightforward if a little tedious to construct similar charts for any body/lens combination.

[mikesbike]

Suffice it to know- Auto used via the mode dial will have the camera take total command, disengaging virtually all controls and access to adjustments. This likely includes having the Custom Images processing set to Auto where the camera will select this category as well, being "best" according to what kind of scene it "thinks" it is "seeing". It is actually useful for handing the camera to some very novice person temporarily, so they are not able to mistakenly engage a button or other control that would bring an unsuccessful result. As ProfessorB says, Action is for biasing automatic exposure towards higher shutter speeds with corresponding wider apertures. If ISO is also set to Auto, this might also be factored in with any AE setting. Landscape will likely also bias towards smaller apertures for greater DOF, while Portrait will be the opposite to better blur the background to make the subject stand out from it. These can also be found as categories among the Custom Image selections, which also include other factors such as color palette, contrast, sharpening, etc. MTF refers to the camera reading which lens is installed and from that information will bias towards apertures where that particular lens is rated at its highest performance capability.