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Help - K-5 Autofocus

m3photo

New member
Hi,
I'm 'new' to this digital camera stuff and I bought a Nikon D5000 'cos I liked the fold-out screen. Sold it soon after 'cos I couldn't get the autofocus to focus where I wanted to. I bought a Pentax K-5 'cos I liked ... well you know, Jono convinced me :D
Anyroad, 'ere I am again. Unless I focus manually (I've got a D700 with Nikkor Ais's for that), autofocus doesn't do what I think I'm telling it to - single focus point, half-shutter press, recompose and - you guessed it, the darn thing usually chooses whatever is nearest and another ruined photo on the Mac for me to trash. Rather than write the usual K-5 for sale ad, I'd really like to find out how to get in-focus pictures with the above technique which I do happily all day with the G1 by the way.
Come on ye boffins, cough up, wot's the secret? (OK, RTFM and all that, but I still get a low rate of hits, I need a human to explain it to me ...) :)
 

MichaelinA2

New member
A couple of "tricks" to consider...

Rather than focus on your subject, recompose, then take the shot, try focusing on the subject, take the shot, then crop to compose once you post-process the image. I know purists see this as heresy, but it sure works in a pinch and they only know, if you tell them.

Also, consider the patterns your background creates a critically important part of the image design, then shoot TAV at f/8 and no slower than 1/500 sec. It's easy to address K-5 noise issues due to high iso during post-p.

Again, (IMHO) it's not the photo you take, but the image you make that counts.
 

tsjanik

Well-known member
Hi,
.........Anyroad, 'ere I am again. Unless I focus manually (I've got a D700 with Nikkor Ais's for that), autofocus doesn't do what I think I'm telling it to - single focus point, half-shutter press, recompose and - you guessed it, the darn thing usually chooses whatever is nearest ..........QUOTE]

The technique you describe works perfectly for me. Perhaps you are too light on the shudder release, allowing the camera to refocus. The focus hexagon in the viewfinder should remain visible as you recompose.
 

m3photo

New member
Re: Technique

The technique you describe works perfectly for me. Perhaps you are too light on the shudder release, allowing the camera to refocus. The focus hexagon in the viewfinder should remain visible as you recompose.
OK, thanks. That's why it doesn't happen when I do test shots. And there's me thinking it was Murphy's fault all along ...

It always happens when it's a 'grab' shot:

I must remember to press the shutter release correctly.
I must remember to press the shutter release correctly.
I must remember to press the shutter release correctly.
I must remember to press the shutter release correctly.
I must ... :eek:
 
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