Opinions on focus comparison please

Hi Guys

I posted on this thread about having some concerns on my K5's autofocus and said I would post some pics so this is the thread for that.

I was out yesterday and took the same scene with 2 cameras.

Both using standard 18-55 kit lens, both ISO 100, both 6 seconds exposure at f10 fired with cable release tripod mounted.

Took 1st shot and then swapped straight over

One shot with the Pentax K5 the other with Canon rebel whatever the equiv is to the 500D

Now neither is perfect in original size shot but I do think one is a little clearer than the other.

i would appreciate any feedback, opinions, advice please.
I'll post links to the original size:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84462488@N00/6596842069/sizes/o/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84462488@N00/6596839663/sizes/o/in/photostream/

here's the image in medium size:



I used a focus point around the ear area.

will be grateful for honest unbiased !!!! feedback.

thanks in advance all

Mike

Unfortunately it's a very inconclusive test and I'm not sure the subject is a good one.

The two cameras (both on JPEG or RAW?) give different exposures and the quality of the two is certainly different. Is this due to the lenses, the JPEG settings, the degree of sharpening needed in Photoshop? We don't know.

The idea of a focus test is to establish that the camera is focusing on a point, not in front or behind it. This needs a subject where we have definable sharpness from near to far away and focus on a point in the middle. A diagonal row of dominoes would do it, or posts, or a ruler at 45 degrees to the camera. Or a test target.

As it stands, your image is at a small aperture, so depth of field should cover huge focusing errors. Try a diagonal target at the widest aperture and see where the point of focus is.

to answer a couple of those questions I always shoot RAW and processing was identical.

You don't need a second camera to do a focus test. Just use the one you are testing and the 45 degree subject will reveal where it is focusing.

brilliant - thanks very much for that. To be honest thinking about it I'm pretty sure I did NOT turn off SR (Doh !!!!)

I'll try a few more and also do the comparison you suggest of live view v normal.

Was quite disappointed with the results from both cameras to be honest - doesn't seem to me like a scene that should cause issues for a DSLR The Canon shot is a little clearer but still hardly spot on

Thanks again folks

thanks Sir

You said both were processed in exactly the same way, I would be surprised if RAW files from different models let alone different brands would require exactly the same process settings.

For a fair comparison test you would need to use a same model third party lens on each camera, even then you may have a discrepancy in each lens.

Having said that I have to admit that your test shows the Canon kit lens is producing superior shots to the Pentax, maybe you have a duff copy of the Pentax lens?

see I didn't know that shows how little I know about digital photography

I've just set up presets in lightroom as recommended in a book by Scott Kelby (meant to be a bit of a lightroom guru) and always just use those.

have to admit to being pretty clueless when it comes to processing - maybe I should go back to jpeg

I just like the idea of being able to change the WB after the event - very useful indeed . also there is more scope for tweaking with raw files