That last test was rough-and-ready but more meaningful. For more usual apertures the DOF would mean focus was close enough, but for precision focusing you'll need more light by the look of things.

Your manual focusing was terrible, so adjust the dioptre properly as detailed previously. If you can't tell the difference from one extreme to the other then you're probably trying to set it whilst looking at an approximately in focus image. Defocus completely and concentrate on getting the lines etched in the viewfinder sharp.

Much of this is down to on-site backup, with replacement bodies and lenses being continuously available. The show must go on under these circumstances. Nikon and Canon tend to offer extensive facilities.

Don't get the idea that these cameras are trouble-free, because they are not.

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned is practice. Manually focusing well needs lots of practice to gain the skill to judge the correct point of focus. It will be considerably slower than using AF and the amount of error can be surprisingly large.

I have a magazine article on this somewhere in an olf Photo Technique showing the amount of error with a 50mm lens when we focus several times. AF is incredibly accurate by comparison.

Manual focusing is very useful in macro work though.

Not sure what you mean by "auto zoom" - all Pentax lenses have automatic diaphragms....

Do you mean "Power Zoom"?

If anyone is finding it difficult to manual focus a lens then first of all make sure the viewfinder dioptre adjustment has been adjusted properly. Point at a blank wall or area of sky, alter dioptre until the lines etched on the focusing screen are sharp. Do not try to focus on something the camera is viewing.

Hello and welcome!

1. You have a range of focal lengths there that should keep you occupied for a while. You really need to spend some time using these to see what effects they have. Watch camera shake with the longer one, just keep the shutter speed high enough or use a tripod in lower light levels. Do lots of reading!

2. Higher ISO is low light will help to keep shutter speeds high enough to avoid camera shake.

3. I'll defer that one to our movie shooters.

4, Transfer to the PC is best achieved by using a simple card reader.

5. Tripod. Long exposures, maybe up to 30 seconds.

No need to adore me for ever more by the way!

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.

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.

Complex issues, but the fringing is a combination of lens and sensor effects. Changing lenses will change the severity of the fault, and sometimes it can be virtually eliminated.

I wouldn't worry too much about differences between CCD and CMOS sensors - in any event later CMOS cameras produce better results.

All the Pentax compacts come with a charger.

Reviews are fine up to a point, but always the persepctive depends upon many other factors than being able to compete with A DSLR. There are not many compacts that deliver DSLR quality, but for wen use there are lots that deliver perfectly good images. Some print well also.

I'm happy with all the Pentax compacts I have tried, including the RS1000, I-10, W90, Z750, X90, T30, and many more.....

It's not as easy to make fine images, but with care they are excellent.