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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
06-13-2023, 03:47 AM
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Regarding Type 3 tracking, I’ve made a quick test comparing it to Type 1. Focusing on a flower in Sel-M, then moving the camera around, what I have found is Type 3 tends to want to stick more to the initial focus point. It will use all others if needed, but Type 1 seems to be much more willing to use all selected focus points. In this particular test scenario, I have found Type 1 behaving more appropriately, as the focus point was always staying on the flower. Type 3 was much more likely to stay on the center focus point, event if I made it drift off the flower.
But this is just a test, in other scenarios Type 3 must surely be better as others seems to have found.
Maybe I should have compared Type 2 to Type 3 as well, as both do not benefit from the AE sensor data, maybe this would be a more fair comparison.
As it is, I still struggle to see the benefit of Type 3 over Type 1. Maybe if you’re very steadily following your target under the initially selected AF point, then it is less likely to drift off the intended target? But I fear the lack of AE sensor data might be too big of a drawback to me. I will definitely try it in the field though, as Kobie’s experience looks very promising indeed.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
06-11-2023, 02:56 PM
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I also use Sel-EX M most of the time for birding. So using Type 3, Sel-EX M and Sel-EX L won’t do anything different than Sel-EX S if I understood what you wrote correctly ? That sounds a bit strange, so I suppose I missed something.
I agree with others that a detailed manual from the manufacturer about which settings affect one another would help quite a bit at this point!
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
04-29-2023, 02:58 PM
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I’m afraid not. Maybe if you enter live view on your camera first, zoom in, then go to Image Sync? But I doubt it.
Alternatively, you can enable focus peeking if your camera has this feature, it will be visible on Image Sync as well. It works with my K-3iii and is quite useable with my iPhone 6S 4.7" screen attached to a cold shoe smartphone holder.
I tap "Info" on the screen to make the aperture, shutter speed etc. controls disappear and have a full screen live view when I want to have a clearer view. I can pretty much nail the focus every time with this, even in macro.
It’s too bad the controls on the camera can’t be used when using live view on Image Sync though. The whole setup would be much more useable.
By the way, I don’t know if this is caused by the camera or my old iPhone, but sometimes Image Sync live view stutters or is lagging a bit. Not a huge issue and it’s miles better than trying to use the OVF or built-in screen laying in the ground, but still, I’m wondering if anything could be improved.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-23-2023, 01:40 AM
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An argument that doesn’t get mentioned often enough in my opinion in the lens vs body upgrade debate : a faster lens will allow more light to get both to the viewfinder, providing a clearer view for the user, and to the autofocus sensor, theoretically improving AF performance.
When you stop down, the AF operation is still happening with the lens wide open, which also helps, as the focus is acquired with a shallower depth of field than the depth that will show in the final picture.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
02-22-2023, 02:14 AM
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I can’t see the raw file on my side. But some of the crops look a bit blurred to me, like slightly out of focus. Difficult to say without seeing the whole picture though.
Have you checked your lens for proper AF calibration (if the K-50 allows for that, I’m not even sure)?
I have found over the years that a blurry picture makes high ISO noise unacceptable whereas the same picture with the same settings, if sharp (properly focused and with sufficient shutter speed) can be just fine.
Noise tends to blend in with fine details way better than with smooth surfaces, and better fine details allows for more noise recovery latitude without the image looking like complete mush.
That being said, ISO 3200 and up is starting to get a bit high for this kind of sensor, for sure. But I have a feeling that you could get better results with what you have nonetheless. As others have said, a lens with a wider aperture would have multiple benefits in your situations.
So I would start by looking at the autofocus calibration and/or make test shots by focusing manually.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
05-15-2022, 11:56 PM
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I was not referring to motion blur. The thing is SR (in-body image stabilization) doesn’t affect the AF sensor. So if you shake, regardless of SR being on or off, the AF sensor will see a shaky image and its performance will be impacted.
I noticed I had much better AF performance with my K-5 IIs when on a tripod because of this: the AF had much better data to work on.
In-lens image stabilization (or going with a mirrorless system with in-body IS, or both) would certainly help AF if you are shaking a lot. But as always, it can only be better if your technique is appropriate, regardless of the technology.
In any case, if you can afford it and don’t mind having to adjust to different camera systems, sure, a D500 or other sports oriented DSLR or any recent high end mirrorless camera will certainly be better regarding AF.
Just be aware of your own limitations and of how the AF system works in relation to the rest of the camera, it will avoid lots of frustrations.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
05-15-2022, 03:24 PM
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I would first try to solve the issue with the camera that you have.
I had a K-5 IIs that was far from perfect and overall quite frustrating when it came to AF on moving or small subjects, but when it actually focused on a target, the result was very sharp. I am a bit surprised that your more advanced K-1 II doesn’t produce better results than that.
I suspect 2 things:
- your lenses need AF fine adjustments
- you need to practice placing your focus point right on your target and minimize shaking, which can be more difficult than we imagine with long lenses.
Maybe try shooting some static subjects filling at least a quarter to a third of the frame, on a sturdy tripod to eliminate some variables. Be mindful of the depth of field. Focus accuracy should be very good. If it is not, you probably need to do some AF adjustments. If it is, you may need to practice your stability and ability to keep a focus point on target.
Buying a new camera may prove costly and frustrating if you are not 100% sure that your poor results are only because of the camera.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
05-08-2022, 07:06 AM
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4K video is roughly 8 Mp, not 4 (3840 x 2160)
But otherwise, agreed :)
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
04-10-2022, 02:15 AM
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Not to mention only few of the AF points (central vertical 3 ?) are sensitive down to f/2.8.
I am not sure if that means it will just not take advantage of the additional light from a larger aperture lens, or if it won’t be able to tell the slight focus differences within the DOF of what would be an f/2.8 lens.
Not sure as well if I was clear with that sentence…
But I believe the main issue here is that the batteries are probably too close together and the AF points are probably covering more than one battery. You can test the actual coverage of each AF point by putting only one battery in your test, and try focusing, then moving the battery a little bit away from the center of the AF point, try refocusing, rinse and repeat until the camera no longer focuses on the battery.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
03-10-2022, 02:52 AM
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Be cautious with reviews. The OM-1 seems to be a great camera, and I kind of regret buying a OM-D E-M1 Mark III recently for my partner.
But a few years ago, I gifted her an original E-M1 as an upgrade for her E-M5 mainly because AF was supposed to be so much better. Yeah, right… Turned out to be barely any better, and I honestly even preferred my K-5 IIs AF with the HD 55-300 for wildlife, that’s saying something. I had a much better keeper rate, even for birds in flight.
The MkIII is definitely better in this regard, but still not as much as I hoped it would be based on some reviews.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
03-07-2022, 03:51 PM
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To be honest, in my case, I could not test at 25x focal length either at 450mm… So I tested at around 4-4.5m, the longest practical distance I could manage in my apartment. Could have squeezed out one more meter or so, but the impracticality of the setup would have probably created more inaccuracies than anything else.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
03-06-2022, 10:47 PM
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That’s what I am thinking too.
I already contacted the only authorized repair center in France, but they didn’t sound too sure or aware of what should be done to solve this issue. Hopefully they were just cautious before having the camera on their hands.
I will contact Ricoh before sending the camera to see what they suggest.
It is still under warranty (yay to 2 year EU minimum legal warranty !)
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
03-06-2022, 09:55 AM
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Well, Kobie's findings sounded a bit too good to be true, and I have to say that after testing all my lenses again, the results are still the same for me, unfortunately :(. The only lens that doesn't back focus too significantly is, thankfully, the 150-450.
I tried resetting the fine adjustments with the green button, but it did what I was expecting it to do : every lens adjustment was back at 0, but unlike what happened to Kobie, all my lenses were consistently way off (severe back focus, like 20cm behind the subject when focusing at approximately 40x focal length distance).
I put a +10 adjustments for all my lenses, and they still back focus quite a bit, just the same as before the firmware update.
The 150-450 is very close to perfect with this adjustment (still very slightly back focused, but probably manageable in real life scenarios, especially if stopped down a bit), but that is also the only lens that I didn't test at 40x focal length because of space limitations.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
03-05-2022, 04:23 PM
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I am very intrigued by your first post in this thread Kobie.
Your adjustment was 0, pictures were out of focus. Then -10, still out of focus. After pressing the green button, adjustment back to 0, and now focus is ok?
So that would mean that pressing the green button doesn’t simply reset the adjustment to 0, but offsets the adjustment range or something?
If so, that is very interesting.
All my lenses are currently at +10 and some are still back focusing a little. So based on what you say, I could hope that pressing the green button would give me a bit more adjustment range.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
02-04-2022, 03:51 PM
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I noticed something that I was not expecting with AE link and AF-C tracking modes (auto, auto 21, expanded): the spot metering zone does not follow the AF-C point, it stays on the one that was first selected.
That reduces a bit the usefulness of this option to me for action shooting, which I was hoping to use it for.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-12-2022, 03:53 PM
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Hello,
I am Interested as well in files for the k-3 iii for AF adjustment.
If I understood correctly, you have to leave the camera in debug mode after performing the adjustment? What happens if you leave debug mode? Do you lose the adjustment?
At first I thought it was used to set a global adjustment value that was added to individual lens adjustments. Is it not the case anymore?
Also, are there any downsides in leaving the camera in debug mode? In software, debug modes usually can have some impact on performance because of additional logging of data for instance. Is it the case here?
Thanks
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-09-2021, 10:56 PM
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I may be wrong, but this feature has been here for quite some time (I would say at least the 2020 version). So maybe it was introduced at a time where you weren’t looking for this kind of feature, and it has become part of the background since then ;)
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-09-2021, 04:47 PM
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Not 100% sure about this as I never gave it a proper try, but I believe ON1 Photo Raw as an «*AI Match*» button in the development panel (under the Tone section) that applies settings to match the embedded jpg in raw files.
So you can set your image profile, shoot raw, and ON1 will try to make your raw file look like what you see on the back of your camera.
At least the tone characteristics should match, for any image profile.
See https://scottdavenportphoto.com/blog/the-difference-between-ai-match-and-ai-...-on1-photo-raw |
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
07-01-2021, 11:54 PM
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You don’t have to do anything. AF remains disabled as long as you press the button. As soon as you release the button, AF will work again. If you kept the shutter release half pressed, AF will resume right away.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
07-01-2021, 01:11 AM
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I used to use only BBF.
Now with the K-3 iii, I have an "action" user mode with half press = AF, and AF button = AF stop. Tracking is generally good enough so I don’t fear losing focus. So why would I want to not AF when half-pressing?
For me now it only makes sense when I want to frequently fine tune the focus manually, so I don’t want the AF to be triggered when I press the shutter button. Think macro on a tripod, this kind of things.
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Forum: General Photography
06-21-2021, 04:02 PM
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For a lens like the 150-450, you have to go bigger than that if you want to have a reliable and stable support.
It will work, but it depends on how you plan to use the lens. Don’t expect much more than being forced to use self-timer mode or a remote on windless days, or use fast enough shutter speeds that you don’t absolutely require a tripod anyway.
I have a Benro TMA27A and found it close to useless with the 150-450, even with a big ball head on it.
So I decided to invest (on sale) on a 4 sections series 4 Gitzo with a Feisol CB-50D ballhead. Probably overkill most of the time, and it is a bit heavier than I would like, but at least I won’t need more tripod for the foreseeable future !
Very sturdy indeed, and very dependable. No slippage or anything, and it dampens vibrations very well. It also goes very low to the ground and is not that long when collapsed, so it makes it useable for macro shooting.
I kind of lust after FLM ball heads though. The Feisol is good, but not outstanding and it may be the limiting factor. My partner has a small FLM ballhead, and it is very well built. It has some drift when locking the ball, but when you set the friction right, you don’t really have to lock the ball, or at least not all the way. I heard the biggest ones are very good regarding drift.
Also, a ballhead is not the best choice for a big telephoto. A gimbal seems to be the best way, but the long lens head from Acratech or a similar solution must be quite good too. I kind of love the idea of a leveling base + Acratech long lens head presented by Thomas Heaton above.
Personally, I have opted for a Sidekick gimbal. Works well and allows me to always have the ballhead option with me.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
06-21-2021, 02:20 AM
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1.02 here and no issue whatsoever with my 150-450
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Forum: Repairs and Warranty Service
06-21-2021, 02:05 AM
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You make me think that I have a pair of (relatively cheap) hiking boots that I have not used for years. Next time I will try them again.
If they are not adequate, I will definitely invest in a nice pair, and price won’t be too much of a concern. Buy nice or buy twice!
I also have received my generic JJC 49 mm push-on lens cap. Very similar (though not exactly the same) to the Pentax one I have for my 100mm WR macro. I will just have to grind a little bit of the lip for it to fit my damaged lens a bit better. As-is, it holds, but not by much.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
06-20-2021, 01:38 AM
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Yes you can, by using AF user modes, that can set AF mode, AF area and AF hold at the same time.
These AF user modes can be assigned to a sFn. I m kit sure if there is another way of accessing them quickly. Maybe you can assign them to a tile on the info screen?
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
06-19-2021, 01:34 AM
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User modes are also a huge help for switching between shooting scenarios quickly. You can have a dedicated user mode for action with AF-C and the AF mode of your choice by default, so when your cat walks towards you, you can quickly switch to it.
The sFn wheel is also very helpful.
The full auto AF mode is very good for me for birds in flight against a uniform background like the sky. It will pick up even the smallest and fastest birds.
When the subject is less clear, the auto 21 can be good, or the expand area options if I expect the subject to move a lot in the frame. You have to be more precise in your initial focus with those, but after that, it tracks pretty well.
You just have to be sure to have focused on your subject and not the background just behind for instance. If the subject is small that can be tricky and the Auto 21 might do a better job as it uses subject recognition.
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