'SR' on or 'SR' off?

Hi all,

After my slightly disappointing first time out with my new K5 II last weekend ( see link below for my comments)

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/k5-ii---first-shots---birmingham-wheels-3...

I went back to Birmingham Wheels Raceway last night ( 17th Nov ) and decided to shoot the whole meeting with 'SR' turned off and what a difference it made, the OOF shots were minimal this time round.

When I use my normal K5 at the same track under the same conditions I always have the 'SR' turned on and I get some cracking shots.

Why should there be a difference between the K5 and K5 II in the use of 'SR'?

3 examples from last night ( SR turned off ), under tungsten floodlights.

Apart from a crop, straight off the camera.

K5 II + 300mm DA*

1st and 2nd photos - F4, 1/100, ISO6400
3rd photo - F4, 1/125, ISO6400

Slighty off topic ~ I bought the latest edition of an oval racing mag last night and I've got 2 photos published in it, both taken at ISO6400 with my normal K5.

Hi,

I can't speak for the MKII but my KX, KR and now K5 all say turn off SR when panning in the handbook.

When you are moving the camera on purpose (panning) you should turn SR off because it tries to compensate the movement and it can't do it.
Normally when you half press the shutter it takes a moment for the SR system to dial in and start working, if you take a shot a little to early for the SR system you will get images that are not sharp.

I turn the SR system off when I am panning and when the camera is on a tripod.

BTW: I love the quality of the ISO6400 shots

The SR was improved in the K30 so possibly it has been in the
K5 II as well. It was poor in the K-5

I don't know where that comes from. There's a clear 3 stop or more advanatge with SR in the K-5, maybe more. I have taken some shots with incredibly slow speeds where necessary, with really sharp results.

Nothing poor about it.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

My K5 II is the only camera I have to turn the SR off to get sharp photos.

On my GX10, K20D and K5 the SR is always on and the photos are pin sharp, especially when using my 300mm DA*.

The only time it gets switched off is when I'm using a sigma lens with built in OS.

It's now the end of the BriSCA Stock Car season so when it restarts next year I'll do some SR tests between my K5 and K5 II with the 300mm DA*

Below is a photo I took with my K5 with SR turned on, and it's still sharp.

Regards,

Chris.

F8 - 1/125 - ISO 640

Perhaps further tests by Steve will answer the question.

It's already been posted several times on here. The K-5
wasn't even as good as the K-01 in these tests..
link

"the K-01 is actually an improvement. In equivalent tests, the K-5 worsened images by 7%."

-

Thanks Algi. The inference of these tests is fine, but as always we need to look very closely at the methodology, which can often be sloppy. These are attempts at scientific tests, unfortunately not done by scientists.

In practical terms, we can see for ourselves that SR will enable us to use much slower shutter speeds than we could previously. It is not a panacea. At higher shutter speeds and with moving subjects clearly we might be better off not using SR. It certainly won't stop subject movement.

However, caution regarding the tests linked to. I noticed the phrase "rapid lateral movements" as the test method. I'm not sure that rapid lateral movements are normal camera shake....

Well there are tests done by scientists as well and the
highly respected German magazine Colorfoto which generally
show that the Pentax SR isn't at the top of the list.

It's also possible that at the speeds Steve would have been
using it wasn't actually doing anything.

http://falklumo.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/shake%20reduction

"Olympus shows that this isn't a principle limitation of sensor-shift by delivering best stabilization for longer focal lengths (as far as I am aware of tests). So, there is hope that a future installment of the Pentax SR system is more useful for long focal lengths."

-

What you have linked to Algi, is a report suggesting that the K-5 shutter blur at medium speeds has been reduced to insiginficant levels with the K-5. This refers to blurring due to shutter vibration that was reported around 1/125s IIRC.

No it was a search of Falk Lumo's blog for all articles
tagged with SR. I think there were four.

Regardless of which site I look at I can't see any saying
that the K-5 is anywhere near the top of the list with
regard to SR or AF speed. I hope they have both been
improved in the K-5 II.

-

There shouldn't be s difference I guess, but from experience I have to turn of SR on my 'normal' K-5s when panning or taking quick grab shots.