Finally...

I finally managed to see a KX in the flesh and to hold one, play with it a while... in PCWorld, of all places!

What a lovely piece of kit it is and that live-view...wonderful, so useful for macro work. Typically well made, too. With K10s and K20s still going for silly prices second hand, c.£450 for a new twin lens set and a proper guarantee seems very tempting...

Enry level? I don't think so. It was displayed next to a Canon D500 and the equivalent Nikon. I know which I'd rather own and use.

I don't think there's any question. Pound for pound you get more for your money with Pentax bodies. The features they pack in are remarkable.

This may be true... but after 6,500 shots in 6 months and I'm getting seriously fed-up with mine. The number of images I've had that are ruined by over-exposed clipping is frustrating, and only yesterday I cursed and sworn my way round Bristol harbour as the 12-24 once again refused to lock focus (on infinity) 90% of the time with the overcast weather - it really wasn't that dark...

user error? inexperience? maybe - but I really shouldn't have to be using a lightmeter and manual focus outdoors... if I stick the 50-200 on, no problem at all, click click click. I really get the feeling they never really expected people to put the more expensive lenses on it...

don't get me wrong, I think what can be pulled out of the dark in Lightroom is fantastic, but I'm really hitting a brick wall with it time after time. Decision time after Photokina and everyone's new bodies...

If it seems to over-expose, why not dial in some exposure compensation? Try -0.5 stop to start with and see if that does the trick.

My 12-24mm focuses just fine in any reasonable light, but without seeing what sort of images are causing the problems it's very difficult to comment beyond that.

Perhaps you could post a problem scene, with some indication of what focusing point you used?

Any photographer knows a little trick called... manual focusing. It exists because people are smarter than machines. Likewise no camera can guess how you want a scene exposed as well as you can guess.

This is nothing to do with Pentax or the K-x, as far as I can tell.

What JohnRiley and rparmar say above. I've messed up many a shot. It wasn't the kit is was me.



I've also been successful at many a shot... and yes... It wasn't the kit it was me.

[quote:3496ace15f="flossie"]This may be true... but after 6,500 shots in 6 months and I'm getting seriously fed-up with mine. The number of images I've had that are ruined by over-exposed clipping is frustrating,

quote]

I'm really sorry to hear this, Flossie. I, of course, have no experience of the camera other than a quick "play" in the shop so cannot comment. It must be very disappointing for you. I wonder if it's a "one off" or whether other KXs are similarly blighted.

My K100 behaves very differently according to which lens I'm using but most of them are manual focus, only work with manual exposure and are very old.

Hope you get on better with the camera in the future.

Just a thought here flossie, is the camera software up to date?

My Tamaron 18-250 and K200 had all sorts of focus and exposure problems, one software update later and it's a marriage made in heaven.

Now it is funny you should mention that particular lens, as that is the only one (borrowed) with which I have had trouble getting a focus lock using AF-S. (Manual focus does work wonders of course! )

Interesting thing is - it was with a K10, not the Kx, which I also have.
Some -Ev works wonders with the Kx, BTW, as John has indicated. If it's glary though, I'd start with -1.0, and work from there using your over-exposure alert setting and histogram (both on your LCD).

In a harbour, you'd expect glare (from the overcast and as reflected) to be particularly bad...

In the 'Your Photos' forum, Snootchies recently posted an early-morning image, where he successfully shot directly into the sun, managing to capture a lovely scene that included the sun's reflections in a large body of water.

The camera he used? A Kx

Andrew,

In terms of the 'smarts' and capabilities built into the Kx, it's not an entry level camera. It's not surprising you saw it on a par with other 'non-entry-level' bodies. Mine has the 31 or the 50 1.4 on it as permanent fixtures - that might tell you something...

Looks good value now down to £389 with kit lens or £359 on ebay.
I wonder if a replacement is on the way?

Sorry, I was combining two issues last night (I blame the red wine ).

The Kx won't lock focus on the 12-24 except in very well-lit conditions.
The overexposure issues are more obvious with the other lenses (particularly the sigma 30)

These examples were taken with the 12-24 in AV, AF-A mode and 11-point Matrix (i.e. lazy walk-around mode...). Due to "logistic issues" I didn't have the normal CPL on that I use outdoors. (i.e. left it in London by mistake). I got to the point I just put it in MF and left it on Infinity, as with the 12-24 infinity starts pretty close anyway...

I can't recall (or see from the EXIF) if this was one of the "flick into MF to take the shot" images or not, but this was entirely typical of where I was having problems - trying to shoot across the water, wouldn't lock :




A shot with foreground stuff in it, like this, no problem at all, able to choose exactly the right moment to fire :




p.s.
these are unprocessed, not chosen for any particular merit. I have a load of indoor shots that the 12-24 has problems with as well, but on another computer.

Thanks for comments all (I'm still learning, and I'm happy to admit incompotence!)

I find if shooting outdoors without a CPL that -0.75 EV is often necessary (but often forget to dial it in). With a CPL in exactly the same place its perfect with 0 EV, so clearly glare upsets it a lot. (i did some playing in the park with the histogram etc to prove this).

I have the Instant Review function turned off to stop me constantly chimping (find it annoying), but when I do look at it I use the flashing highlight function. But either way, the moment often has been lost, its too late to reshoot.

It came with the latest (official) firmware (1.01). There may have been some stealth releases of course, but they aren't on Pentax UK's site...

p.s.
Outdoor shooting is for fun & learning - Indoor shooting in challenging conditions is what I really got it for, but not got the budget for a D700/5D at present!

Flossie are you sure it's a circular polariser and not a linear one?
Linear ones are know to cause small exposure errors.
When you say glare up set it you should think it should actually underexpose and not overexpose like it does now.

Yes, not linear.

I think I did the testing with (...goes to check...) a 49mm Marumi DHG Super CPL on the A 50/1.7.

(The only other filter I use is a 77mm Hoya Pro-1 CPL (on the 12-24). All UV filters etc that lenses come with get tossed to the back of the drawer instantly.

The overexposure is mostly apparent indoors - and I'm now using a Sekonic 758D when I can, and have never had any shots go wrong that way!