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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-20-2007, 09:52 AM
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:o No, its on... the main issue for me is that the camera is new to me, and I mainly use manual focus. I was really distracted at this event, my son is on the court playing a game against an NBA idol of his (and mine). This is a situation that I know will likely never happen again.
I have to say, that my son performed MUCH better under the pressure than I did! :)
in retrospect, the camera was in manual select focus point mode (or whatever its called) which I had only recently played with a little bit. I forgot that I had been playing with it, and was expecting the camera to be in AUTO. Which is a stupid mistake on my part, because I switched it to center point only the first time I went through the menus in the first half an hour I turned it on. :) I never used the side focus points of my ZX-5n either. So here I was expecting the camera to do something I had no reason to expect. And it wasnt even the right something different.
My learning from this is
1) be glad that I did get some keepers.
2) decide on an AF strategy (my purpose for this thread)
3) practice. Or, as Brandon's promotional poster says...
WORK HARD. WORK HARDER. |
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-19-2007, 08:07 AM
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I tried #1 for a very little while, I found the OK button on the K100D awkward. AF.C worked much better for me. AT least I was more comfortable. Cant say if the shots are better.
I think your #3 advice is good. I am going to leave it in Selective and practice. I think my mistake was just wrongly thinking the camera was in auto select focus point mode... only it wasnt. I wonder where the focus point was? I would have assumed center... but several of the shots have the subject centered and out of focus....probably I just didnt wait for the AF.C to do its job...
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-18-2007, 09:27 PM
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To Mike Cash:
No sin in cropping, I did crop that first one. As long as its not blown up its viewable. Its just taht some shots like the second one, cant be cropped. If I had centered the framing on either player, I wouldnt have the shot I wanted.
Of course, since I am still bungling the AF, I still dont have that one! :)
more practice for me! As JoN said, at least it wasnt film I was burning! now I can just charge the batteries and go practice
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-18-2007, 09:22 AM
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Hmmm, I was about to say no.. that I was using Auto.... but I decided to check before answering... the camera WAS in selective AF. I guess I had been trying out selective and didnt reset to AUTO or center only... :mad:
I thought it was in AUTO while I was shooting... I guess thats why I'm asking how people here use AF. I would like to find a method that works for me so I can get comfortable with it, and stop fiddling with the settings all the time.
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
03-18-2007, 08:10 AM
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Ok, I have never got along with my pentax auto-focus... either from my ZX-5n or now my K100D. It seems to work ok when I play with it or practice, but in real life situations, when I am concentrating on the subject matter, I find the subjects out of focus and the back wall in focus.
Its not the speed, its the decision making...
The problem I am having is that my subject matter is getting faster. My sons basketball games are difficult to track with pre-focus as the action doesnt come in expected spots.
The auto-select focus spot guesses wrong too often, and center spot/recompose doesnt work for me for action shots I am not fast enough recomposing.
So how do you parents use the AF? How do wedding photogs use it? Do I just need MUCH more practice selecting my AF point? What if I hand the camera to my spouse? How do you get the camera to behave decently like a point and shoot?
heres some examples of a once in a lifetime event for my son. I got a few keepers, but the missed shots are haunting me... I felt like I was fighting the autofocus while I was trying to take in the event and frame shots... anything in focus needed cropping as the framing was terrible. anything composed, was focussed somewhere else.
heres a link to the keepers, I attached some trouble makers below...Picasa Web Albums - Carl - 2007_03_17 Et... |
