Kx & 18-55 DAL

Bought myself the Pentax Kx + 18-55 DAL kit lens yesterday ,been out and about with the kit ,up to now have been very disappointed to be honest ,focus seems to be miles out .

I used to have the K100D ,the images i used to get with that blows the Kx to pieces . Not sure how to post photos on here yet or i would've shown you some examples taken with K100D and the Ks's . Now my question is .. is it the kit or me ? Maybe i haven't set it up right there does seem to be a lot of custom settings and i am getting on abit lol so maybe i have some figuring out to do yet or i'm hoping i do .

Hi, The KX and its kit lens are excellent and its replacement last year the KR is even better. All of us with galleries on here will bear that out. I've owned both.

Everything you learnt with your K100D should stand you in good stead.

Program mode to start with should give you good results. You might be more comfortable using the spot focussing and make sure you have a wide ISO range set to start.

You don't say if the purchase was new or used with or without a warranty. If it does have one challenge the retailer who sold it to you to prove its not faulty.

I hope you resolve your problems as you have a great little camera there potentially. I have a pro friend of forty years standing who is very impressed with the cleverness and value for money of the KX and KR compared to his lumbering pro kit .

Camera and lens was bought from clifton cameras ,I read a few reviews and threads on here ,hence the reasons I went with the Kx ,I'm sure it's operator error ,I'll go with the program setting and take note what the cameras doing. Is there a setting for the focus points to show up in view finder .

Thanks for your input

Regards
Sean

Hi Sean,

If you got a bargain on the old KX then great as its brilliant little camera. I traded mine in May because I had dust in the pentamirror that would have cost me £50 plus to have cleaned and fancied the new model. I've not regretted it.

No you would have had top go with the newer KR to get focus indicators in viewfinder, that's why I'm suggesting you switch to centre spot focus for now so you know where you are. There is a focus lock light but not a mid screen focus pouint specific one one on the KX.

Good luck experimenting.

Don't know why left that out ,especially seeing as it was on older models .

I don't find it an issue. No need to have it on anything other than the centre point for day to day photography. The only time Mine isn't set to that is for Birds in Flight

Space, there simply wasn't room for it or they had to make the camera bigger.

I have been very pleased with the focus accuracy of the DAL 18-55 on my K-x. Like others, I always have the AF set to centre spot. It's easier to do this than to try and remember any other selected point. Are you using the default setting: letting the camera evaluate over 5 AF points? If you do that, you just don't know exactly where your focus point will be.
I ran karma mechanic's Lens Fine Tune Adjustment check a few days ago and the AF of my 18-55 was spot on, except for a small error at the wide-angle end (say 18 to 25).
Martin

I'm putting it down to user input lol just spent the last hr checking ,two things

1.... too low shutter speed

2.... lack of practise

Did some test shots on tripod all is good,very impressed to be honest . If I can suss out how to upload photos I'll show some examples .

Thanks again for input

Its a very fine camera. Built to retail at a budget price.. But can and will produce excellent images.

When I produce photos that are not as sharp as I would like, it is usually down to camera shake when not using a tripod.

However, when I first started using the Kx and the 18-55, I too wondered why so many shots seemed to be not quite in focus. I re-checked the diopter adjustment and moved it one stop. I think it's made a difference. Because I still don't trust my eyesight, I also use the annoying beep ....

To adjust the dioptre properly you need to point the camera at a blank wall or sky and make sure the etched lines on the focusing screen are sharp. Then you eye is focusing naturally on the screen when it's relaxed and you will be able to manually focus much easier.