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01-07-2018, 09:20 AM   #1
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Differant camera from Pentax!!!!

I have battled the focus issue with my Pentax gear and was looking into purchasing another camera to give it a try. Anyone have experience with the Canon 80D or Nikon D7500?

01-07-2018, 09:30 AM   #2
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What focus issue?

Do you want to trade accuracy for speed?
01-07-2018, 09:37 AM   #3
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I want accuracy!
01-07-2018, 09:39 AM   #4
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Pentax is as good as the others (sometimes better) when it comes to accuracy, but speed from Canon (especially) and Nikon is quite a bit better for moving objects. Faster lens focusing is partially to thank for this, but the cameras themselves also carry out calculations much faster.


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01-07-2018, 09:45 AM   #5
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What use cases are you experiencing AF accuracy problems with? I honestly have none with any of my Pentax and Samsung Pentax clones in general shooting. I have AF fine adjustment set very accurately for every AF lens I use, which took some time but has been well worth it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try another brand - I shoot Sony too, and love their gear. But it would be good to know what situations you're having trouble with and the settings / techniques you're applying, as you can still have AF inaccuracy with other brands too.
01-07-2018, 09:45 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Adam Quote
Pentax is as good as the others (sometimes better) when it comes to accuracy, but speed from Canon (especially) and Nikon is quite a bit better for moving objects. Faster lens focusing is partially to thank for this, but the cameras themselves also carry out calculations much faster.
Perhaps it's worth saying that a corollary of that is that focus accuracy is better for moving objects with Nikon and Canon because accuracy of focus relates to speed of focus in these circumstances. It's also worth pointing out that as far as the lens component of focusing goes, a longer focusing throw means greater focusing accuracy but slower AF speed, so it's one of those areas where design choices have to be made.
01-07-2018, 09:57 AM   #7
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I have also fine adjusted my lenses to my cameras. i have taken pictures of animals at the zoo and of my grand daughter posing my nephews playing in the back yard. The cameras tell me that my image is focused but when i look at them on my computer they are not always sharp!

01-07-2018, 10:03 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by kjphilippona Quote
i have taken pictures of animals at the zoo and of my grand daughter posing my nephews playing in the back yard. The cameras tell me that my image is focused but when i look at them on my computer they are not always sharp!
Unless the camera is locked down on a tripod and the subject is totally static with SR off and a 2sec timer and electronic shutter deployed, there are quite a few factors other than the camera that could account for lack of focusing accuracy
01-07-2018, 10:06 AM - 1 Like   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by kjphilippona Quote
I want accuracy!
I focus in live view for that.

You can adjust the PDAF,
but only for one particular distance.
For example, my DA 70 on my K 50
is accurate with PDAF for longer distances,
but not for shorter ones.

I'm quite happy using Pentax for sports and moving objects,
just prefocusing for where I want the shot,
then wait for the action to move there (the sniper technique!).
These are habits learned back in the day
when manual focus was the only option.
01-07-2018, 10:16 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by lytrytyr Quote
I focus in live view for that.

You can adjust the PDAF,
but only for one particular distance.
For example, my DA 70 on my K 50
is accurate with PDAF for longer distances,
but not for shorter ones.

I'm quite happy using Pentax for sports and moving objects,
just prefocusing for where I want the shot,
then wait for the action to move there (the sniper technique!).
These are habits learned back in the day
when manual focus was the only option.
That's funny, with that 2 or 3 second delay before seeing my image using LV, i was afraid i would move and the picture was blurred, i never use it hand held.
01-07-2018, 10:22 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by kjphilippona Quote
I want accuracy!
Buy a Fuji.
01-07-2018, 10:23 AM - 1 Like   #12
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I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as others here about technology but I would clearly be in the technique camp.

Depending on what I am shooting I often turn AF off completely even during action shots. There are a lot of variables about how to make this work but learning it and the principles behind it will help regardless of the brand of gear you use.

Auto focus is great but in many ways it leads to weak skills.

I will try to find an article I saw a long time ago about a team of professional canon shooters who were trying to get pictures of a professional football game during a big snow storm.

If you pay attention to the details there it will help you substantially in the long and short term both.

Technology is great but for some things people become too reliant on certain things. At some point in order to progress they have to take the training wheels off.

Edit: Found the link I mentioned above. (see excerpts below)

"Cameras today rely so heavily on autofocus for sports that snow renders them functionally useless. Imagine trying to photograph someone standing behind a waterfall. Even if you can see them clearly, no matter what you do your camera focuses only the water. The same went for every thick snowflake between me and the players on the field, and when you consider there were thousands falling every second the challenge was daunting."

...

"About midway through the first quarter, with the snow falling so hard it was beginning to accumulate inside my lens hood, I decided to switch my 400mm lens to manual focus, and literally try my hand at focusing on my own."

...

"As I mentioned before, cameras today are heavily built on their autofocus abilities. Ask any photographer about the drawbacks of a particular sports-built body and their first critique is bound to be a complaint about the autofocus system. Lenses aren’t built to be relied on for manual focus anymore either. In the golden era of film photography when legends like Neil Leifer and Walter Looss were documenting football games from the sidelines they knew the feel of exactly how far to roll the focus dial to get the shot. They weren’t spoiled by AI Servo Tracking AutoFocus technology like we are today."

...

"I have to say, the photos I came back with are some of the best I’ve ever made at a football game, and when the snow let up in the second half, I had a new appreciation for the autofocus button I could finally flip back to “on” mode."
....

https://petapixel.com/2013/12/11/lions-eagles-snow-fun-ive-ever-shooting-nfl-game/

Last edited by alamo5000; 01-08-2018 at 11:51 AM.
01-07-2018, 10:32 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by kjphilippona Quote
I have also fine adjusted my lenses to my cameras. i have taken pictures of animals at the zoo and of my grand daughter posing my nephews playing in the back yard. The cameras tell me that my image is focused but when i look at them on my computer they are not always sharp!
Frustrating, I'm sure. With respect, though, Pentax cameras are superb for this kind of use... It's far more likely that there's some element of your technique that's not quite right, and that would be transferable to any camera.

A few questions:

- Are you certain that AF fine focus is set up accurately for each lens you've used, and how did you achieve / verify this?
- What focus area are you using (spot, etc.)
- Are you using AF.S or AF.C?
- What lens(es) are you using, and have you checked to ensure they're not suffering from focus shifting when stopped down?
- What was the shutter speed and lens focal length on the unsharp photos?
- What was the ISO setting of the unsharp photos?
- Are you shooting RAW or JPEG?
- Do you have shake reduction enabled or disabled?
- What are you aiming at when you focus on the subject - is it a suitable AF target?
- When photographing your nephews playing, are you using a high enough shutter speed to capture motion without blur?
- Do you get accurate results if using Live View?

Again, by all means look at other brands, but in the use cases you've described, there's no reason why your Pentax camera and lens shouldn't be highly accurate. I get repeatable, accurate AF on these kind of subjects even with my oldest Samsung GX-1L Pentax clone...
01-07-2018, 10:57 AM - 1 Like   #14
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The grass is always greener ... For sports I often use manual focus and CIF. Works for me.
01-07-2018, 11:08 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
Frustrating, I'm sure. With respect, though, Pentax cameras are superb for this kind of use... It's far more likely that there's some element of your technique that's not quite right, and that would be transferable to any camera.

A few questions:

- Are you certain that AF fine focus is set up accurately for each lens you've used, and how did you achieve / verify this?
- What focus area are you using (spot, etc.)
- Are you using AF.S or AF.C?
- What lens(es) are you using, and have you checked to ensure they're not suffering from focus shifting when stopped down?
- What was the shutter speed and lens focal length on the unsharp photos?
- What was the ISO setting of the unsharp photos?
- Are you shooting RAW or JPEG?
- Do you have shake reduction enabled or disabled?
- What are you aiming at when you focus on the subject - is it a suitable AF target?
- When photographing your nephews playing, are you using a high enough shutter speed to capture motion without blur?
- Do you get accurate results if using Live View?

Again, by all means look at other brands, but in the use cases you've described, there's no reason why your Pentax camera and lens shouldn't be highly accurate. I get repeatable, acculturate AF on these kind of subjects even with my oldest Samsung GX-1L Pentax clone...
No problem i'm always open to helpful directions or suggestions!
I used the SpyderLENSCAL, both setup on tripods.
I only use spot
AFS
D FA24-70 and D FA*70-200 on K-1 No
200mm 1/180s
iso400
RAW
enabled
face (eye)
?
to slow never use LV
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