Focus peaking query.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMAlMQev7Kw I just saw this on youtube and was wondering if this applied to Pentax cameras (K50 in particular), and if so is manual focus assist available on the K50? Thanks... Sorry about the URL but I don't know how to link to the video any other way. lol.

Focus peaking does feature on some Pentax cameras, The K50 is one of them. It needs to be enabled under the live view options within the menu. The implementation is slightly different, the Pentax version highlights the in focus area as white.

I probably didn't explain myself adequately. I know the K50 has focus peaking but what I need to know is whether (like in the video)you can zoom in using "manual focus assist" to make sure that the focus is right. (just like in the video). thanks...

Yes, you can zoom in with Pentax cameras that have focus peaking. Press the 'Info' button and the magnification increases.

Regards
David

Yes, as above, press the middle button of the directional group and it will zoom right in. You can then move this zoomed portion around from memory too. Put the lens into manual foucs (if it doesn't have quickshift) and tweak to your hearts content. It will time out back to normal live view after a while, or pressing the same middle button will return you back also.

This method of focus checking is very good, and is ideal if you are using a tripod. If not using a tripod then your body can still move after setting the focus, which may be an issue if you have set a very narrow depth of field aperture.

For completeness it should be mentioned that the above behaviour is very very similar to the live view image review option. So once you have taken a photo, you can do the exact same above to review it for sharpness/focus check etc too. All the controls are the same from memory and you can control how far it initially zooms in via menu setting options also.