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Just for the record I always use the back button for focusing and release priority. Incidentally I am beginning to wonder if my DA*300 lens has a bit of a focusing problem itself. If I focus on say a fence 10 metres away and then a church in the distance it just can't see the church. Nothing much happens till I manually focus it nearer infinity then it finds it. It seems to be better at other times so maybe an intermittent fault somewhere. Sigma 150-500 HSM seems much quicker.
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 01/02/2013 - 17:20
awaldram wrote:
Come on get a grip a k30 Vs a d300 !!!
How about put that d300 against a 1ds you can then berate why Nikon AF is so poor.
The fact is the k30 is a entry level camera and behaves like one, surprise surprise lord help us !!
I've handled a number of entry level cameras form all manufacturer there all sluggish if you used to something better.
-------------------------------------------------------------dcweather wrote:
Just been out in the lovely sunshine and again found my K-30 lacking in autofocus speed. I've seen an improvement over K-r but not massive.Two ducks we were watching took off so there wasn't a massive re-focus need by my DA* 300mm. Swung round and panned but just couldn't hit the focus. My friend with his aged Nikon D300 and also a 300mm prime got them both no problem. This happens time and time again and I have spoken to other Pentax birders who say the same. The question is, then, why can't Pentax match this old technology with their otherwise competition beating cameras?
Dave
I can't be bothered to read the replies as the first few seem to be tut tut so true!!Just been out in the lovely sunshine and again found my K-30 lacking in autofocus speed. I've seen an improvement over K-r but not massive.Two ducks we were watching took off so there wasn't a massive re-focus need by my DA* 300mm. Swung round and panned but just couldn't hit the focus. My friend with his aged Nikon D300 and also a 300mm prime got them both no problem. This happens time and time again and I have spoken to other Pentax birders who say the same. The question is, then, why can't Pentax match this old technology with their otherwise competition beating cameras?
Dave
Come on get a grip a k30 Vs a d300 !!!
How about put that d300 against a 1ds you can then berate why Nikon AF is so poor.
The fact is the k30 is a entry level camera and behaves like one, surprise surprise lord help us !!
I've handled a number of entry level cameras form all manufacturer there all sluggish if you used to something better.
In that case the K-r must be children's toy level one. Is the K5 an entry level camera then? Because the AF is supposed to be slightly better in the newer K-30. I think you miss the point really. Most things progress and being several years newer than e.g a D300 you would see no reason why K30/K5 would not be getting closer to their AF performance considering the massive improvements in other areas. e.g, high iso performance, live view ,resolution, to name just a few. The K5 and K30 are also not as fast AF compared with their "entry level" Canikon equivalents. So, as in my original question, is there some difficulty with the chosen Pentax system AF hardware/software that makes improvement difficult
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 01/02/2013 - 11:00
FX Home Photokey which was good, 123- Image Magic, not so good.
Comment by dcweather posted on Chroma-key software at 31/01/2013 - 23:51
davidstorm wrote:
Another vote for Redsnapper. Mine has now had a year or more of very heavy usage, in all manner of conditions, most of them pretty harsh. It is very sturdy and easy to adjust. I think it will last a good few years without much trouble and I would buy another one if needed. The only downside is that it's not as light as some others, but the payback for this is increased stability and robustness.
Regards
David
I've had a Redsnapper for about 6 months and agree with David. It is heavy but I doubt anything better would be lighter. I find the head it came with OK but this is the first decent one I have owned so no comparison.Another vote for Redsnapper. Mine has now had a year or more of very heavy usage, in all manner of conditions, most of them pretty harsh. It is very sturdy and easy to adjust. I think it will last a good few years without much trouble and I would buy another one if needed. The only downside is that it's not as light as some others, but the payback for this is increased stability and robustness.
Regards
David
Comment by dcweather posted on I think I need a tripod at 31/01/2013 - 20:19
davidstorm wrote:
Another vote for Redsnapper. Mine has now had a year or more of very heavy usage, in all manner of conditions, most of them pretty harsh. It is very sturdy and easy to adjust. I think it will last a good few years without much trouble and I would buy another one if needed. The only downside is that it's not as light as some others, but the payback for this is increased stability and robustness.
Regards
David
Another vote for Redsnapper. Mine has now had a year or more of very heavy usage, in all manner of conditions, most of them pretty harsh. It is very sturdy and easy to adjust. I think it will last a good few years without much trouble and I would buy another one if needed. The only downside is that it's not as light as some others, but the payback for this is increased stability and robustness.
Regards
David
Comment by dcweather posted on I think I need a tripod at 31/01/2013 - 20:18
Anyone know of a free/reasonably priced, reasonably effective green screen type chroma-key software package. I've tried a couple of demos that were pretty good but very expensive.
Dave
Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on Chroma-key software at 31/01/2013 - 19:49
Agree with Bill, generally. If you don't want to spend a lot get the third party ATI cards made by Sapphire or Asus. e.g The 1 gig 6450 Silent is good because it has no fan and uses very little power, for about £35 on amazon.
Dave
Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on Graphics Card at 31/01/2013 - 19:30
I'll repost mine from the other thread in case they've been missed. Same set up as Neil. Neil - why don't you post the K5 shot cropped to the same size as the Q one. That will be illuminating.
The Blackbird and Wagtail were about 60 feet away. The Fieldfare 40 feet. All had my usual degree of pp and resized down. Must say they didn't need much sharpening.
Dave
The Blackbird and Wagtail were about 60 feet away. The Fieldfare 40 feet. All had my usual degree of pp and resized down. Must say they didn't need much sharpening.
Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on Long Range Birding setup at 29/01/2013 - 23:07
Jonathan-Mac wrote:
AF. At least I understand Pentax have improved this greatly in the last few years.
I would say my K-30 is better than my K-r but not that much, certainly not an order of magnitude although it is in live view should you ever need it..AF. At least I understand Pentax have improved this greatly in the last few years.
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 29/01/2013 - 22:55
Blythman wrote:
A couple of examples which disappointed me the most because of the birds involved
1.....I was with both a Canon shooter and a Nikon shooter in late summer photographing a cuckoo. I got some great shots and was within 6 yards of it in the open. However it took off from a post and flew to another about 12-15 yards away. Both the other guys got fantastic in flight shots. I got a blur.
2.....Summer before I had my best views of a kingfisher. It even landed on the window ledge of the hide within 4 feet of me for a couple of seconds. Just before then it had been on a perch about 5 yards away, when it lifted, moved forward to about 3 yards. It hovered there for a second or two before diving for a fish. I've got a full frame abstract blue and orange picture.
After the cuckoo I thought very hard about selling up and was actively looking for a 7D and a Sigma 120-300 f2.8.
After much thought I decided to stick with Pentax because I want to photograph more than just wildlife and the K5 in my opinion is a better all round camera than the 7D. One example of that is my mate who takes fantastic wildlife images with his Canon 600mm f4 and 1.5 converter reckons the 7D is crap above ISO 800.
---------------------------------------------------dcweather wrote:
As the OP who has now having seen the result from Nikon 300D shot compared to my failed one could one of the experts suggest an improved technique or settings for me. I was, incidentally going from being focused on the ducks to them following take off so there wasn't a massive change in focal distance. My camera would still have been on AF centre spot. WOuld I be better off with lots of focal points and the 'C' setting. This was with DA*300 and K-30 by the way.
Thanks, Dave
Dave, in all likelihood you did nothing wrong.As the OP who has now having seen the result from Nikon 300D shot compared to my failed one could one of the experts suggest an improved technique or settings for me. I was, incidentally going from being focused on the ducks to them following take off so there wasn't a massive change in focal distance. My camera would still have been on AF centre spot. WOuld I be better off with lots of focal points and the 'C' setting. This was with DA*300 and K-30 by the way.
Thanks, Dave
A couple of examples which disappointed me the most because of the birds involved
1.....I was with both a Canon shooter and a Nikon shooter in late summer photographing a cuckoo. I got some great shots and was within 6 yards of it in the open. However it took off from a post and flew to another about 12-15 yards away. Both the other guys got fantastic in flight shots. I got a blur.
2.....Summer before I had my best views of a kingfisher. It even landed on the window ledge of the hide within 4 feet of me for a couple of seconds. Just before then it had been on a perch about 5 yards away, when it lifted, moved forward to about 3 yards. It hovered there for a second or two before diving for a fish. I've got a full frame abstract blue and orange picture.
After the cuckoo I thought very hard about selling up and was actively looking for a 7D and a Sigma 120-300 f2.8.
After much thought I decided to stick with Pentax because I want to photograph more than just wildlife and the K5 in my opinion is a better all round camera than the 7D. One example of that is my mate who takes fantastic wildlife images with his Canon 600mm f4 and 1.5 converter reckons the 7D is crap above ISO 800.
Thanks Alan, sounds like we are in about the same place then, really
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 28/01/2013 - 11:53
