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Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 28/01/2013 - 11:49
Frogfish wrote:
No, Kevin, I was very grateful for your post because I greatly admire your photographs and it told me I was on the right lines with my settings which is what I asked. Thank you,dcweather wrote:
Unfortunately I already do all of the above!
Dave
Ouch ! Nothing else that I can suggest then other than the obvious.Unfortunately I already do all of the above!
Dave
Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 28/01/2013 - 11:44
I think, judging by the responses I may have mislead some or perhaps they have mis-interpreted my question. Initially it was why are Pentax behind the game in this area. In the birding world it is generally accepted that Nikon are superior for BIF shots.I think it is fair to say Neil and myself are not beginners and our galleries show a reasonable level of accomplishment in bird and wildlife photography. Yes I can get BIF in focus and a couple of posts infer that my settings are good. I just get a low hit rate, as does Neil, when birds at say mid-distance appear and you have to point and pan and get it right in say 3-4 sec window. And I have seen many far less accomplished Nikon owners succeed where I have failed.
Typical settings (and of course they vary with situations) for me would be burst mode, centre spot focus point AF, not C, shutter priority release and rear button focus not shutter release.If it was pre-planned against the sky I would probably go to F* to get a bit more latitude in DOF and probably add about +1EV and try and keep shutter speed min of 1/500th. Of course in the real world of nature things don't always work out.
Typical settings (and of course they vary with situations) for me would be burst mode, centre spot focus point AF, not C, shutter priority release and rear button focus not shutter release.If it was pre-planned against the sky I would probably go to F* to get a bit more latitude in DOF and probably add about +1EV and try and keep shutter speed min of 1/500th. Of course in the real world of nature things don't always work out.
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 28/01/2013 - 01:12
Frogfish wrote:
If you remap your focusing to the AF-S button and leave the firing of the shutter to the shutter release button, plus change the setting to shutter priority instead of focus priority, then the shutter will fire independently of the focusing button (now AF-S) and you will get more shots because the camera is not waiting for focus confirmation - which is sometimes the case that even though for a fraction of a second you had the bird in focus the focus confirmation could ignore this because you lost focus again. This allied to burst mode should give you more keepers.
--------------------------------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
There is the potential, if you use your shutter release button for both focusing and releasing the shutter (it's default postion), for losing focus at the critical moment or failing to lock on because you have the 'do not fire unless in focus" (focus priority) setting enabled (again that's the default). 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
If you remap your focusing to the AF-S button and leave the firing of the shutter to the shutter release button, plus change the setting to shutter priority instead of focus priority, then the shutter will fire independently of the focusing button (now AF-S) and you will get more shots because the camera is not waiting for focus confirmation - which is sometimes the case that even though for a fraction of a second you had the bird in focus the focus confirmation could ignore this because you lost focus again. This allied to burst mode should give you more keepers.
Unfortunately I already do all of the above!
Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 28/01/2013 - 00:59
They are surprisingly good Alan (I'm talking about the quality not my prowess here!) but am yet to convince myself that it is better than or as good as my Sigma 150-500mm cropped to same on a K-30 More testing required.. Of course the Q + 300 is a smaller lighter package but less flexible.
Comment by dcweather posted on First Images with Adapter at 27/01/2013 - 18:50
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
Thanks, Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 27/01/2013 - 18:37
How did you find they were being used? I'd always assumed it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack given the millions of people who could use them?
Dave
Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on Image theft "Facebook" at 27/01/2013 - 17:58
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
Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on Why do Pentax lag with autofocus? at 26/01/2013 - 15:27
Good luck. Although this set up impresses I need to take some from a distance where with, say my 150-500, cropping would start to pixellate to get a reasonable size image. Then compare the quality of a cropped Q at that size to see which appears best.
Dave
Dave
Comment by dcweather posted on First Images with Adapter at 22/01/2013 - 22:47
A couple more shots with the Q and DA*300mm:
Comment by dcweather posted on First Images with Adapter at 22/01/2013 - 18:18
It can only be down to neglect of AF performance as a priority. It's one area where Pentax need to raise their game considerably to get more inroads into the pro-market where shots can't be missed and the job needs to get done. Sports, papparazi, gigs and so on.
As a hobbyist people shooter I would also like a much more response and accurate AF.
Pentax don't have long or fast sports/wildlife/bird lenses so, as the famous (or infamous) tests carried out by that French magazine showed, they seem to prioritise reliable focusing over speed of focusing.
In that test Pentax came out ahead of all other manufacturers in % of shots actually in focus (it was a high % but I can't remember or find that link - maybe someone else can), it was in the 90%+ I believe. Maybe this is the micro-focusing we often hear from Pentax lenses (I found the Sigma's HSM faster and without the micro-focusing) which also detracts from the locked-on focus speed.
they seem to prioritise reliable focusing over speed of focusing.
i.e for dynamic subjects ( anything where the moment is fleeting - sports, people, wildlife, etc ) then I would place speed of focussing the biggest factor in reliability. There's no advantage in having slow AF that's always accurate when you get home and have an SD card full of pics that that show the scene after that magical moment?
After all if you're into photography of landscapes or other static subjects then even manual focus is fine.
Don't get me wrong, I love a finely crafted landscape shot, but one of the things that most excites me about photography is going out and searching out fleeting moments in the world and trying to capture them.
Two things that that a big help to this are great ISO performance and great AF performance.
I still maintain Pentax need to raise their game in AF speed.
Dave