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12-07-2009, 12:38 PM   #31
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QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
Anyhow, I don't no one is saying focus recompose is objectively "better" - just that it is far more viable than its critics believe. And *subjectively*, for me and the way many of us think and work , yes, it is actually better.
Obviously it can work, and work well, I believe I said as much. And since in my initial comment in this thread I said "Not a deal breaker, but sometimes a pain. If none of the above [a specific list of conditions] apply, then it's a non-issue." I'm not sure how I became the designated K-x hater. It's like people go out of their way looking for disputes.

I did not mean to offend anyone.
I did not mean to offend anyone.
I did not mean to offend anyone.

Do whatever you like or gets you the results you want.

Can you center focus recompose people untwist your panties now?

12-07-2009, 01:16 PM   #32
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QuoteOriginally posted by junyo Quote
Obviously it can work, and work well, I believe I said as much. And since in my initial comment in this thread I said "Not a deal breaker, but sometimes a pain. If none of the above [a specific list of conditions] apply, then it's a non-issue." I'm not sure how I became the designated K-x hater. It's like people go out of their way looking for disputes.

I did not mean to offend anyone.
I did not mean to offend anyone.
I did not mean to offend anyone.

Do whatever you like or gets you the results you want.

Can you center focus recompose people untwist your panties now?
Dunno, man. Doesn't sound like it's us whose panties need untwisting.
12-07-2009, 01:40 PM   #33
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QuoteOriginally posted by junyo Quote
Obviously it can work, and work well, I believe I said as much. And since in my initial comment in this thread I said "Not a deal breaker, but sometimes a pain. If none of the above [a specific list of conditions] apply, then it's a non-issue." I'm not sure how I became the designated K-x hater. It's like people go out of their way looking for disputes.

I did not mean to offend anyone.
I did not mean to offend anyone.
I did not mean to offend anyone.

Do whatever you like or gets you the results you want.

Can you center focus recompose people untwist your panties now?
Yeah but your list of conditions was incorrect
12-07-2009, 01:46 PM   #34
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I sadly just dont read anymore

I just cant seem to buckle down and read these 3 and 4 pages of comment threads anymore. Maybe my forum days are numbered as the arguments used to be so much fun.

So I am sure this has probably been said in the responses.... but, for the folks who shoot a lot of wide open-ish, portrait orientated shots like I do. The idea of center focus on the eyes / recompose to put the head at the top of the frame is laughable to me! The Dof is so shallow that you will seldom get eyes in perfect focus.

The Kx looks to be a great sensor in a crippled body to me.
For Bill and Betty Newbie who may never buy a 1.4 / 1.8 portrait lens... it is probably truly a non- issue. But for folks who want to use the F1.4 and High ISO in indoor portraits, selectable Auto focus points would be a great thing to have IMHO.

12-07-2009, 01:48 PM   #35
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QuoteOriginally posted by Igilligan Quote
The Kx looks to be a great sensor in a crippled body to me.
For Bill and Betty Newbie who may never buy a 1.4 / 1.8 portrait lens... it is probably truly a non- issue. But for folks who want to use the F1.4 and High ISO in indoor portraits, selectable Auto focus points would be a great thing to have IMHO.
K-x HAS selectable points!
12-07-2009, 02:25 PM   #36
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QuoteOriginally posted by Igilligan Quote
For Bill and Betty Newbie who may never buy a 1.4 / 1.8 portrait lens... it is probably truly a non- issue. But for folks who want to use the F1.4 and High ISO in indoor portraits, selectable Auto focus points would be a great thing to have IMHO.
The AF points are still selectable, just not with your eye to the viewfinder (unless you've got a better sense of control-by-feel than I do).
12-07-2009, 03:31 PM   #37
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QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
For the record I was talking specifically about using the center point only.
Sorry, I didn't catch that.

QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
If you happen to be one of the small minority of people who require this method of focusing
How do you know it is a small minority?
And if it is, why does almost every DSLR has multiple focus points?

If it is true that one doesn't need more than one centre AF point, isn't it stupid that Pentax builds in all the other AF points into the K-m and K-x? Couldn't they save some more money and simplify the user interface?

Just saving the indicators just doesn't make sense to me. Either go all the way or not. But perhaps there is some business logic behind, e.g., if you build in a centre focus point then getting more comes basically for free whereas the indicators mean more hardware.

QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
The reality is quite the opposite - only macro lenses and/or the most expensive primes tend to have very flat focus fields. Most tend to curve, and curve in the same way that you'd expect: more or less spherically, ...
I believe "more or less spherically" is a gross exaggeration. I've read somewhere that only really cheap lenses deviate considerably from a flat focus field. The FA 50/1.4 is less flat than the FA 50/1.7 but I believe still far from "more or less spherical".

QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
You kind of have to go out of your way to see the effect.
Gus, you need to go less out of your way.

12-07-2009, 03:33 PM   #38
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QuoteOriginally posted by Eruditass Quote
Yeah but your list of conditions was incorrect
Which of the conditions?
12-07-2009, 03:34 PM   #39
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QuoteOriginally posted by Igilligan Quote
I just cant seem to buckle down and read these 3 and 4 pages of comment threads anymore.
Set your forum preference to have double the number of posts per page. This way you would have gotten through this within 2 pages!

QuoteOriginally posted by Igilligan Quote
Maybe my forum days are numbered as the arguments used to be so much fun.
Just avoid the notorious topics. But please don't leave.
12-07-2009, 06:03 PM   #40
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QuoteOriginally posted by Class A Quote
How do you know it is a small minority?
Sorry, a bit of hyperbole. It might be a sizable minority. But I don't doubt for a moment that it *is* a minority - - many if not most people buying entry level DSLRs have no intention of using anything but the kit zooms. Unless it is to replace them with a superzoom, or perhaps a pair of f/2.8 zooms.

QuoteQuote:
And if it is, why does almost every DSLR has multiple focus points?
Including the K-x, I might add. They have them because some people find them useful. Just as most cameras have spot metering, mirror lockup, DOF preview, and a host of other features that a lot of people never use and some entry-level models have eliminated in the interest of saving money. I'm not claiming no one ever would have reaosn to want such features. But I do think that people that can't imagine doing without any of these features should consider the possibility that they might be in the minority.

QuoteQuote:
perhaps there is some business logic behind, e.g., if you build in a centre focus point then getting more comes basically for free whereas the indicators mean more hardware.
Could be, indeed.

QuoteQuote:
I believe "more or less spherically" is a gross exaggeration. I've read somewhere that only really cheap lenses deviate considerably from a flat focus field.
I've read the latter claim, too, but I think *it* is a gross exaggeration. The truth is undoubtedly somewhere between.
12-07-2009, 06:06 PM   #41
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QuoteOriginally posted by junyo Quote
I'm not sure how I became the designated K-x hater.
You didn't; you just happen to be someone who posted something I disagreed with. That's not a crime, nor is my rebuttal. No offense taken or meant.
12-08-2009, 12:12 AM   #42
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QuoteOriginally posted by junyo Quote
Which of the conditions?
You missed one important condition which makes it the whole thing even less of an issue:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/836237-post27.html
12-08-2009, 10:28 AM   #43
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QuoteOriginally posted by Eruditass Quote
You missed one important condition which makes it the whole thing even less of an issue:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/836237-post27.html
That doesn't seem like a quantum leap in functionality to me, but I'll have to give it a whirl. But the ability to manipulate the points at eye level was never an issue, at least to me, the ability to confirm the point chosen was, and this doesn't really speak to that issue. For that matter pulling the camera an inch away from your face and looking down greatly mitigates the problem, that doesn't mean it's as easy as having the points indicated in the VF.

The original post asked for comments about the lack of focus point indicators. A lot of people seemed hellbent on listing each and every possible way in which you can work around that lack, which is fine, but to reduce that argument to it's logical conclusion, you can work around almost anything. One can happily take absolutely great pictures with a K1000 with a busted meter. That doesn't mean that you can take pictures as easily or conveniently as you can with a functional, full featured modern camera. Outside of a light tight box, a way to let light into that box in a controlled manner, and recording media, almost every other feature of the modern camera is basically there for convenience, accuracy, or automation. Therefore whether you can do something via another method is really irrelevant, the baseline value of a particular feature is whether it does something more or less conveniently/accurately/automatically than a given alternative or the lack of that feature. And while the lack of VF focus point indication certainly doesn't preclude the use of the center point, or the selectable points, it does make the selectable AF point functionality less useful than it would be if the indicators were there. Can some workaround work as well, or even subjectively be a better fit with someone's process? Yep. But we're talking objectively, because arguing subjective worth is a bottomless pit. No matter how convenient the workaround, it's still a workaround and therefore requires additional time, control manipulation and/or effort , which by definition is objectively less desirable than the alternative.
12-08-2009, 10:42 AM   #44
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If the green hexagon indicates focus is locked, and the focus point can be selected reliably without seeing it selected (Eruditass' method), why do you need the visual confirmation of the red box? Especially when in most cases you can actually visually confirm whether the target is in focus? All the red box does is confirm whether the AF is working properly--it doesn't affect the AF itself at all.
12-08-2009, 11:00 AM   #45
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QuoteOriginally posted by deadwolfbones Quote
If the green hexagon indicates focus is locked, and the focus point can be selected reliably without seeing it selected (Eruditass' method), why do you need the visual confirmation of the red box? Especially when in most cases you can actually visually confirm whether the target is in focus? All the red box does is confirm whether the AF is working properly--it doesn't affect the AF itself at all.
Although the green hexagon is fine, the red indicator gives you more information. If you shoot autofocus center, then the hexagon is all you really need. If you shoot 11-AF (in which the camera choose which ever point to focus on, the red indicator allows you to know which of the 11 areas the camera is focusing on. This is handy in my opinion.

The lack of the red indicators was one thing that made me question whether to get the K-x or not. In the end, the K-x other features and price won me over.
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