I've rcvd a similar comment on another forum Mr. Smeg. I've only used Lightroom for these, definitely no PS trickery here.

I think the 'artificial' appearance stems from the fact that I had the flash mounted on the hot shoe and consequently there are very few shadows.

I wasn't particularly focusing (no pun intended) on image excellence during this exercise, just the focus accuracy of the combination, which BTW I am pleased with.

Hand holding a flash well away from the lens to create shadows is a non-starter but I do have a Hot Shoe Grip (modified for use with AF540FGZ + Hot Shoe Adapter F + Synch Cord F 5P) to create a psuedo hammerhead flash, maybe I'll try that at the next meeting along with the DA* 60-250mm lens.

Unfortunately I have no option except to use flash during the winter months because the track lighting is abysmal.

It's probably obvious from the images but I should add that these are taken with bare flash. I've tried some diffusers but they attenuate the light too much.

I gave the above combination it's first outing last night (10/2/2013) and I have to say I was well impressed at the focusing abilities of the K-5II. It is the low light focusing abilities I am trying to portray here.

Click on this link to see the full set of nearly 200 images. The first few of static cars were taken with a K-5 and DA* 16-60mm, the images on track are with the K-5II and Siggy lens + AF540FGZ flash, all PP'd in Lightroom with grad fill to dull the foreground flash effects.

Using the K-5II gave me many more keepers than I ever got with the K-5 which was hopeless when coupled with the DA* 60-250mm 1:4 lens. Next meeting is in 2 weeks when I will try the 60-250mm again.

You'll notice that some of the images have a bloom to them, or flare, caused by some of the flood lighting hitting the front element. I've reduced it as best I can but I'm hoping this will not occur with the 60-250mm. We'll see.

I was able to move around the track on this occasion as we had plenty of marshals on hand. Normally I have to carry out my flag waving duties as well. As a consequence I've been able to capture a reasonable mix of different perspectives.

A selection of the better images, enjoy:-



K52_0129.jpg by Peter E Smith (AKA Mannesty), on Flickr



K52_0170.jpg by Peter E Smith (AKA Mannesty), on Flickr



K52_0226.jpg by Peter E Smith (AKA Mannesty), on Flickr



K52_0268.jpg by Peter E Smith (AKA Mannesty), on Flickr



K52_0237.jpg by Peter E Smith (AKA Mannesty), on Flickr



K52_0166.jpg by Peter E Smith (AKA Mannesty), on Flickr

All very goon images Simon, except the last one. There seems to be a lot of ghosting, particularly around the two rightmost chimneys and as Tim has commented, the sky looks very odd.

AF Fine Adjustment is there to enable you to correct for minor focusing inaccuracies on a per lens basis (up to 20 lenses) if you need to. It does not compensate for softness.

In truth, these focusing inaccuracies are more noticeable when using fast lenses wide open, which is why the adjustment is made with images taken with the lens wide open.

It's entirely possible that you might not even notice that there's a problem with the slower lenses, in which case I'd recommend you leave them as is.

If you want to play though, it's very easy to remove any/all adjustments made and revert back to factory default settings.

So did you mean to write can't tell the difference, instead of can tell the difference?

I think this could only occur if something moves between using LV for focusing and actually taking the shot, otherwise yes, WYSIWYG.

My Sigma 70-200mm EX DG OS lens seems quite soft wide open, but it's not really a problem as long as you can see that the most in-focus part of the image is as close to the focus point as you can get it.

When you close the aperture down the image might be sharper but it may also be less easy to see where the front and back of the DOF start to go out of focus to facilitate the adjustment.

Horses for course though, if necessary, use a number of settings and choose what you can work with.

Yes, you do have it the wrong way round Jack.

To check focusing you use the largest aperture (aperture = size of the opening) which paradoxically equals the smallest f number.

The larger aperture produces a shallower depth of field (DOF) making the out of focus (OOF) parts of your target easier to determine whether you have FF or BF or none (if you are lucky).

By the way Vic, the terms are Front Focusing and Back Focusing, hence references to FF (when not related to sensor format) & BF, rather than RF as you have put in the title.

A = Addiction but can equally mean affliction

I use the longest focal length for checking/adjusting zoom lenses. Having adjusted, I then check middle and short ends.

I'm just doing my K5-II now and it's at these times I wish a hadn't had so many LBA episodes in the past.

For now, I'm only doing the ones I use most often.