Pentax no good for action shots

PePe · 08-09-2009, 01:04 PM

As we all know sloppy AF performance and slow frame rate make the Pentax system totally unfit for action photography

Being my usual ignorant myself, I still took my Pentax gear to the recent world championship rally near by.
Enclosed some snapshots of a car approaching at 140-150 km/h.

Seriously speaking there may still be faster AF systems than the current K 7 one, but it sure is a major improvement over the previous ones. And the frame rate is more than sufficient for my needs!

Attached Images

Last edited by PePe; 03-04-2016 at 09:22 AM.

**Ash** · 08-09-2009, 01:12 PM

Looks like a succesful series of captures.
AF managed well under the circumstances and the images are reasonably sharp.
Only what happened to the driver and car after the last shot?!?

JayBee · 08-09-2009, 01:13 PM

Can't wait to see shots 6,7,8!!

GerryL · 08-09-2009, 01:20 PM

One thing for sure is photographer is still alive to tell the tale..and post some pictures..

philbaum · 08-09-2009, 01:30 PM

Pepe,
Between your car shots, and the current thread from WalterGA on the national diving meet with a K20/Sigma combo, I would say all that moaning about the Pentax AF is not very relevant any more.

Congratulations on your images - fantastic!!

Phil (diving for cover :-))

**Mallee Boy** · 08-09-2009, 02:07 PM

Wow Pepe,
Saw the TV footage of that....incredible.
Russian driver and an Australian navigator I think, and they were very lucky they made such a perfect landing, otherwise it could have got serious.

Too bad if you had any engineering secrets tucked away under the car

Great capture, thanks for sharing.

WalterGA · 08-09-2009, 02:54 PM

Originally posted by philbaum

Pepe,
Between your car shots, and the current thread from WalterGA on the national diving meet with a K20/Sigma combo, I would say all that moaning about the Pentax AF is not very relevant any more.

Congratulations on your images - fantastic!!

Phil (diving for cover :-))

I was doing a lot of "fooling around" photographing that diving meet, as that was the first occasion where I'd used the new Sigma with the K20D for any kind of action photography. I took a few shortcuts, as I wasn't trying to capture pics for the cover of S.I., but just kind of acclimating myself to the camera and lens.

I'd let the camera use AF and focus on the tip of the diving board, then quickly switch to MF before using the "Hi" continuous feature. Continuous shooting seems to work a lot smoother and faster for me when the camera's not having to focus. I was using high-enough f-stops so I knew I'd have a pretty long depth-of-field. Some of the shots, in hindsight, would have been better, had I opened up the aperture and blurred the background.

The fly-in-the-ointment for me, in deciding to go with the K20D, as opposed to the 50D that I'd been lusting after, was the low f.p.s. on the K20D. However, that was a tradeoff I was willing to make, in that I got the K20D for $629.

I like the Pentax controls and menu choices over the Canon...maybe because I've been shooting with an istDs2 for four years now. Also like being able to get cheap memory cards and to use the same cards that I've been using.

jimboberella · 08-09-2009, 07:02 PM

Nice series. I too have used a Pentax in sports photography with good success.

However I do think the main difference is that here you show us the Buffer shots on the k-7 and we miss the aftermath. On most of the Canikon's you would have had shots 6,7,8,9,10,11...

Depends on how much of the action you need to capture.

Peter Zack · 08-09-2009, 07:18 PM

jimboberella, Not so. I've done a little of this (not much though) and in every case, set the camera to Jpeg with an ExtremeIII card. The camera will fire at 3Fps for more than 20 frames before a buffer pause. Plus if you wanted to use the burst mode, you can take over a 100 frames at lower res (21Fps) If you set the camera to AFc and Hi, it can do the job. In MF it's even faster.

jimboberella · 08-09-2009, 08:08 PM

Agreed you can do more but the extra shots on a Cannikon (@3.5-5fps) will also be interleaved with the 3fps you can get on the Pentax showing you more of the series and deeper into the series, as some can do it @3fps to card full.

I'm not bagging Pentax here but it is a fact that Bust shooting is a weak point, but not one that can't be delt with, or that is not compensated by other great features.

kittykat46 · 08-09-2009, 09:01 PM

Very good series.....thanks for sharing.

When I saw the title of the thread, I thought...OMG, not another "war".....but it turns out to be a very good post.

Vaikis_ · 08-10-2009, 12:56 AM

for me K-7 seems good for car drift

some shots with slow 50-135 and 55-300

Drift Kova 3 | Ryga 2009-08-08

pingflood · 08-10-2009, 01:30 AM

Am I the only one who noticed the last shot is badly out of focus?

kittykat46 · 08-10-2009, 02:52 AM

Now, we just need an RH-equivalent to come along and remind us no-big-deal, even an entry level-Canon would have taken more shots in the time period, and all perfectly in focus....

eagle · 08-10-2009, 04:45 AM

I thought the worst also, when I saw the thread title.

That's a great series of shots! Pentax can do sports, no problems.

If you don't mind - here's a few shots I got from the K-7 on the weekend. These are not a burst sequence, though I did a couple of those.

These were shot at around f/3.2 on AF-C

08-09-2009, 01:04 PM	#1
PePe Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Helsinki, Finland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 597	Pentax no good for action shots As we all know sloppy AF performance and slow frame rate make the Pentax system totally unfit for action photography Being my usual ignorant myself, I still took my Pentax gear to the recent world championship rally near by. Enclosed some snapshots of a car approaching at 140-150 km/h. Seriously speaking there may still be faster AF systems than the current K 7 one, but it sure is a major improvement over the previous ones. And the frame rate is more than sufficient for my needs! Attached Images Last edited by PePe; 03-04-2016 at 09:22 AM.

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08-09-2009, 01:12 PM	#2
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Looks like a succesful series of captures. AF managed well under the circumstances and the images are reasonably sharp. Only what happened to the driver and car after the last shot?!?

08-09-2009, 01:13 PM	#3
JayBee Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Manitoba Photos: Gallery Posts: 119	Can't wait to see shots 6,7,8!!

08-09-2009, 01:20 PM	#4
GerryL Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: CA Posts: 2,731	One thing for sure is photographer is still alive to tell the tale..and post some pictures..

08-09-2009, 01:30 PM	#5
philbaum Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Port Townsend, Washington State, USA Posts: 3,659	Pepe, Between your car shots, and the current thread from WalterGA on the national diving meet with a K20/Sigma combo, I would say all that moaning about the Pentax AF is not very relevant any more. Congratulations on your images - fantastic!! Phil (diving for cover :-))

08-09-2009, 02:07 PM	#6
Mallee Boy Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: South Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,904	Wow Pepe, Saw the TV footage of that....incredible. Russian driver and an Australian navigator I think, and they were very lucky they made such a perfect landing, otherwise it could have got serious. Too bad if you had any engineering secrets tucked away under the car Great capture, thanks for sharing.

08-09-2009, 02:54 PM	#7
WalterGA Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Atlanta Posts: 110	Originally posted by philbaum Pepe, Between your car shots, and the current thread from WalterGA on the national diving meet with a K20/Sigma combo, I would say all that moaning about the Pentax AF is not very relevant any more. Congratulations on your images - fantastic!! Phil (diving for cover :-)) I was doing a lot of "fooling around" photographing that diving meet, as that was the first occasion where I'd used the new Sigma with the K20D for any kind of action photography. I took a few shortcuts, as I wasn't trying to capture pics for the cover of S.I., but just kind of acclimating myself to the camera and lens. I'd let the camera use AF and focus on the tip of the diving board, then quickly switch to MF before using the "Hi" continuous feature. Continuous shooting seems to work a lot smoother and faster for me when the camera's not having to focus. I was using high-enough f-stops so I knew I'd have a pretty long depth-of-field. Some of the shots, in hindsight, would have been better, had I opened up the aperture and blurred the background. The fly-in-the-ointment for me, in deciding to go with the K20D, as opposed to the 50D that I'd been lusting after, was the low f.p.s. on the K20D. However, that was a tradeoff I was willing to make, in that I got the K20D for $629. I like the Pentax controls and menu choices over the Canon...maybe because I've been shooting with an istDs2 for four years now. Also like being able to get cheap memory cards and to use the same cards that I've been using.

08-09-2009, 07:02 PM	#8
jimboberella New Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Queensland Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 8	Nice series. I too have used a Pentax in sports photography with good success. However I do think the main difference is that here you show us the Buffer shots on the k-7 and we miss the aftermath. On most of the Canikon's you would have had shots 6,7,8,9,10,11... Depends on how much of the action you need to capture.

08-09-2009, 07:18 PM	#9
Peter Zack Pentaxian Moderator Emeritus Join Date: May 2007 Location: Edmonton Alberta, Canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 10,643	jimboberella, Not so. I've done a little of this (not much though) and in every case, set the camera to Jpeg with an ExtremeIII card. The camera will fire at 3Fps for more than 20 frames before a buffer pause. Plus if you wanted to use the burst mode, you can take over a 100 frames at lower res (21Fps) If you set the camera to AFc and Hi, it can do the job. In MF it's even faster.

08-09-2009, 08:08 PM	#10
jimboberella New Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Queensland Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 8	Agreed you can do more but the extra shots on a Cannikon (@3.5-5fps) will also be interleaved with the 3fps you can get on the Pentax showing you more of the series and deeper into the series, as some can do it @3fps to card full. I'm not bagging Pentax here but it is a fact that Bust shooting is a weak point, but not one that can't be delt with, or that is not compensated by other great features.

08-09-2009, 09:01 PM	#11
kittykat46 Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 923	Very good series.....thanks for sharing. When I saw the title of the thread, I thought...OMG, not another "war".....but it turns out to be a very good post.

08-10-2009, 12:56 AM	#12
Vaikis_ Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 213	for me K-7 seems good for car drift some shots with slow 50-135 and 55-300 Drift Kova 3 \| Ryga 2009-08-08

08-10-2009, 01:30 AM	#13
pingflood Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Borås, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,169	Am I the only one who noticed the last shot is badly out of focus?

08-10-2009, 02:52 AM	#14
kittykat46 Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 923	Now, we just need an RH-equivalent to come along and remind us no-big-deal, even an entry level-Canon would have taken more shots in the time period, and all perfectly in focus....

08-10-2009, 04:45 AM	#15
eagle Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 82	I thought the worst also, when I saw the thread title. That's a great series of shots! Pentax can do sports, no problems. If you don't mind - here's a few shots I got from the K-7 on the weekend. These are not a burst sequence, though I did a couple of those. These were shot at around f/3.2 on AF-C