[Lloyd_Christmas]

Tony and Chelsea Northrup have a youtube video up where they make all their own predictions for 2023.
Besides talking about any new cameras or lenses, they also predicted firmware updates for pretty much all the flagship bodies.
What was a common prediction for firmware updates? Fixing AF problems was called for in almost all of them: Canon, Nikon, Sony...
So it seems that AF problems are not just a Pentax thing, eh? Some of these cameras are far more expensive the Pentax too.

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[Madaboutpix]

Yeah, the others have animal-eye-and-what-not AF. However, if my venerable eight-year-old K-3 coupled with the affordable 55-300 PLM and judicious use of single-point AF-C get me images like the following, which had eluded me for many years, I'm mostly fine, I should say :







If I wanted more, I could still upgrade to the K-3 III, as I likely will at some point. This is not talking down the insane tracking capabilities of some of the competitors. It just goes to show that a lot can be compensated by using what we got, by skill, and by perseverance.

[jersey]

Pentax AF was alyas good with accuracy. It lacked in tracking department and K-3/3 mostly fixed it. Eye tracking and other magic I suppose will not be possible with separate sensor, at least not to the extend of MILC, but I think it is already a bit too much. James Popsys, after trying newest A7 I think said that it feels bad cause camera is starting to do too much, not leaving room for photographer.

K-3 Mk III is kinda sweet spot for DSLR. I suppose you can make the AF even better as there are still some mistakes with tracking and AF Hold could be updated, but if we are talking about hobbyist photography tool it is more or less where it should be for reflex camera. For pro, I suspect MILC is the way and they want advancements. Perseverance will not make enough money to feed you.

[StigVidar]

Pentax AF was alyas good with accuracy.

It depends on the model. I found K-5 IIs to be very precise and K-3 to be more or less a disaster. But K-3 III is good. Probably the best camera I have owned.

[mattt]

These “creators” get paid by YouTube and advertisers based on views. I do not endorse their drivel and I wont support it by viewing.

I have essentially stopped watching channels that do gear review or photo critique. To them I say “Show me some great/horrible conditions in the field - an adventure, and the pics that resulted. - then I will be a fan!”

[Hattifnatt]

Since ML become dominant I have been obsessed with the difference between phase AF and contrast AF. I always feel I'm missing focus a bit if I'm not using contrast AF, so as a result I have been using my K-1 almost exclusively in live view. It works surprisingly well, I was able to shoot a few paid events this way (with DFA 50mm, Sigma 35 Art, FA 77). Miss ratio is probably around 1% or less.

I cannot even recall last time I used phase AF and shooting through the ocular.

[Rush2112]

Pentax AF was alyas good with accuracy. It lacked in tracking department and K-3/3 mostly fixed it. Eye tracking and other magic I suppose will not be possible with separate sensor, at least not to the extend of MILC, but I think it is already a bit too much. James Popsys, after trying newest A7 I think said that it feels bad cause camera is starting to do too much, not leaving room for photographer.

K-3 Mk III is kinda sweet spot for DSLR. I suppose you can make the AF even better as there are still some mistakes with tracking and AF Hold could be updated, but if we are talking about hobbyist photography tool it is more or less where it should be for reflex camera. For pro, I suspect MILC is the way and they want advancements. Perseverance will not make enough money to feed you.

Mostly fixed fixed it? What made you say that?

What mistakes with tracking?

[luftfluss]

Not all AF "issues" are created equal.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

Pentax has bad AF

Most people will believe that (and they do if you repeat that statement long enough) until they really work with a Pentax camera. I always kept writing/saying that Pentax AF is very good, it is accurate and by no means slow! (Face detection is just wrongly written Phase detection .)

[jersey]

Mostly fixed fixed it? What made you say that?

What mistakes with tracking?

I am talking about plane shooting, so it may not apply to all scenarios but: on zone AF or full auto it tends to switch from initial object to other things, mostly when they are in brighter colors. With big objects it randomly moves focus point from closest, to biggest, to most bright etc. While it is not an issue on big distances as DOF is enough to cover whole object, with closer ones and smaller objects it can ruin your shot when AF is switched from hull to tip of the wing. It also tends to select random AF points even outside of moving object - for example you aim for starting plane, it is only(!) object moving, it is in the center etc and K-3/3 focuses on runway grass cause why not.

This all made me use only spot or SEL-1 for AF-C. So while it is tracking well if you tell him exactly which point to track, it is not, for my needs, to keep tracking of selected object in zones or auto modes. There are still things in software (I think this is the case) to be fixed or improved.

[normhead]

Pentax never had bad AF. Their subject acquisition in AF.s was always ahead of the pack in some metric ahead of even the most advanced cameras. Their tracking took a long time to catch up, but it did. The industry could have gone with asking other companies to catch up with Pentax speed of acquisition and accuracy, but they chose to emphasize the things Pentax's didn't do well as opposed to the things it did do well. A clear example of confirmation bias. The issue was the unethical behaviour of the internet prognosticators, not Pentax cameras. Tony is still living in a confirmation bias universe populated by lazy researchers who only look for confirmation for of what they believe to be true.

[scc]

It is not only related to the body AF system (phase or contrast) but also to the lens AF motor.
My son with its D500 and a 300 mm AF lens (both Nikon) is able to achieve results than I’m unable to get with my KP and my 60-250 sdm lens (both Pentax).

[normhead]

It is not only related to the body AF system (phase or contrast) but also to the lens AF motor.
My son with its D500 and a 300 mm AF lens (both Nikon) is able to achieve results than I’m unable to get with my KP and my 60-250 sdm lens (both Pentax).

Absolutely, the DA* 60-250 is probably bit less than average, try with DA 55-300 PLM. I miss shots with my DA*60-250 I wouldn't miss with my PLM.

[jersey]

SDM is pretty good at tracking. It is fast enough and accurate enough to keep up even with fast moving target. I always had issues with SDM speed when it comes to focus acquisition, not with following. But then I shot airplanes and trains and while those move really fast distance and dof help.

[scc]

In my experience, using the AFC setting with trigger priority, central spot AF, the 60-250 has difficulties to lock, it hunts back and forth. In AFS, no problem to lock but for birding AFS is not exactly the best option.