Sorry about that - hit the wrong button.

Yes, I miss the split prism - I had both an ME Super and an LX, and both had it. OK, so it could distract a little from the shot, but it was more helpful than not.

Tests with the chart have proved rather inconclusive. Best results seem to come at around f5.6 to f11. Hard to gauge quite why or how. I'l play with it for a bit longer before I decide that it's undependable, or not worth the hassle.

Thank you, all, for your suggestions - and I'll happily take note of anything that anyone else has to suggest.

I have found certainly a lot easier to get good consistent focusing once a changed the standard focus screen to a Katz eye screen on the K10D. This gives a much more familiar screen like the LX and if I remember correctly the ME Super, a split circle and micro prism ring. This for me gives much more critical focus, especially when combined with viewfinder magnifier O-ME53 (magnification of 1.2).

Dear John,

This is all helpful stuff, and I'll certainly try it.

There are a few things, though, that might be worth pointing out:

I regularly used this lens with my old ME-Super and never had this problem;

I tend to use multiple exposures when taking portraits - a better chance of getting good shots in general, and less chance of camera shake (certainly on the second or third shots);

I appreciate the problems with depth of field. The issue has been that this problem came up in the aftermath of an photoshoot where I was making a particular point of using higher F numbers, precisely in order to improve the depth of field. The light was good and bright - too bright for one model; we had to go indoors, where, ironically, I got a much better series of shots, though under much less good light conditions;

I always focus on the eyes. It has rather felt as though the more accurately I am focused, the less good the end result.

I shall now get out my trusty tripod and see what happens.

A few minutes later:

I suspect that your comment on DOF is probably correct - though I still have doubts.

I've tried a few shots on the tripod, using f2, and the results are not entirely consistent. What is disconcerting is that, with the tripod to hold the camera steady, and the autofocus telling me that all is well, I would expect consistently well focused results. This is not what is happening.

I took a look, incidentally, at the focus chart you pointed me at. Can you explain how it works? It might still be worth doing some tests.

(And thank you!)

William

Umm - tell me more. I am, incidentally, very new to digital cameras. You never guessed that, did you?

In addition to testing the focusing, will a firmware update help me?

Thanks to both of you for responding.

Not sure, however, that I've really got to the bottom of this.

I have tried photographing several objects, getting the focus just right at the exact centre of the lens. Both I, and the autofocus were in perfect agreement. And, on the photo, the focus was just "out".

The dioptre, by the way, is set perfectly for my eyes - so that's not the issue - I don't think.

Setting the aperture ring to f2 plays complete havoc with the focusing. I suppose that that is to be expected; it is obviously going to be more critical. If, however, having set the focus to what my eye and the autofocus agree is correct, I then just nudge the focus a tiny bit too close, then the focus is correct.

Does this indeed suggest a fault on the camera, or is it an incompatibility between the lens and the camera? I have a 35-105 zoom, with autofocus and an “A” setting for the aperture. Whilst the overall quality of my zoom is less good – and it’s a lot less bright; f4, as opposed to f2 for the portrait - it certainly doesn't seem to have the same sort of focus problems.

I would dearly love to solve this problem. The portrait is a wonderful lens. It cost me about £85 20 years ago; replacing it with something as good is clearly going to cost me an awful lot more than that.

Any thoughts?

I wonder if anyone can advise me on this.

I have a K100D and an old SMC Pentax-M 85mm portrait lens.

It is a beautiful lens. When I really hit the focus, then the clarity is superb.

The difficulty I am having is getting the focus right.

My eye is telling me that I'm focusing correctly. So is the focus check on the camera. (Obviously the Autofocus as such won't work with this lens.)

Half the time, however, despite being quite certain that I have focused correctly, the focus will turn out to be wrong - usually an inch or so closer than I expected.

Now, maybe my eyes just aren't what they were, and it's all to do with lack of recent practice etc. On the other hand, is anyone out there aware of a specific problem which might relate to this combination of lens and camera?

Thanking you all in advance,


William

Who would have guessed that batteries could be that fascinating?

Enough answers here to keep me going till hell freezes over - or at least until all the battery manufacturers go bust.

On the present showing, it seems likely that they'll be some of the last to go to the wall.

Thank you each and every one of you.

I hope you won't feel offended if I don't take the trouble to convey my thanks again. I get the feeling you're all enjoying it so much anyway that you won't really need them.

All the best, and I must go and take some photos now.

William

Loads of really helpful advice.

Thank you all of you.

William

Thank you to both of you; this is really helpful.

Any thoughts on CRV3s? Despite the initial costs, if they really do last as well as the manufacturers claim, then they might well be worth it.

William

I've searched through various threads, and remain as confused as I did before I started.

I'm having major difficulties finding batteries that work in my new K100D.

AA alkalines work fine, but have a pitifully short life, which is no more or less than I expected.

I bought some Supacell lithium AACR6 - no joy. A few seconds of half power on the battery gauge, before it blinked at me, and the camera wouldn't play any longer.

Re-chargeables? No joy, but then I noticed that the ones I bought are all 1.2v, which I suspect is insufficient. The trouble is that there are so many different re-chargeables out there that I'm really not sure how to find my way amongst them.

Duracell CRV3: these finally worked, and continue to work fine.

My question over these is, given that Duracells are somewhat expensive, can I expect any CRV3 to work? There are some cheaper ones around, and, at £7 a throw, the Duracells risk becoming very expensive indeed.

Does anyone know for certain what is going to work? Please no guesswork; I'm doing enough of that on my account. I'd really like to hear from someone with a K100D who has had the same problem and resolved it.

Thanking you all in advance.


William