Problem with istDL focussing

[airconvent]

hi fellas,
thanks for the clarifications but I'm still a little confused what it is. is it a direct replacement for some part inside the camera, on the flip mirror or an attachment to the viewfinder ?
does it really help that much?
cheers

 

[southernoise]

Eh, wat model are u using? I got a Katz waiting to be sold, just have not figured out the right price to sell it yet. You should know the price new with shipping. If you want to take the bait, PM me.

I love baits and I love lobangs... :bsmilie: but since I've already ordered the LL60, its only right for me to collect it when its here.

Wait. Anyone who's interested in the LL60 wants to take over the LL60 order at Shriro from me? Split prism is more important to me cos there are many situations that I'd need to manual focus.

 

[southernoise]

The LL60 isn't bad. Actaully I prefer it over the Katz Eye. It's so much easier to compose a pic now with that one in my Ds And I don't need to do rotating/cropping in PS that often as before. The only advantage of Katz Eye is its MF capability but I use AF most time, and can't live with just only one center focusing point

fengwei,

does your DS hunts in lowlight when using the FA lens? I love autofocus but the DL seems to hunt more with the FA lens compared to the DA lens.

cheers,

 

[southernoise]

hi fellas,
thanks for the clarifications but I'm still a little confused what it is. is it a direct replacement for some part inside the camera, on the flip mirror or an attachment to the viewfinder ?
does it really help that much?
cheers

Its a replacement part inside your camera.

Its helpful if you need the rules of thirds gridlines to help you compose. Fengwei posted his comments here http://forums.clubsnap.org/showpost.php?p=2228319&postcount=18

 

[fengwei]

fengwei,

does your DS hunts in lowlight when using the FA lens? I love autofocus but the DL seems to hunt more with the FA lens compared to the DA lens.

cheers,

Well, sometimes my Ds hunts abit in lowlight too, I'd use MF over AF then. But mostly I prefer shooting under good light (and I don't like to use flash for kids), and I can wait for a good day, my models (kids) will always be there no matter it's a good day or bad one :bsmilie:

Cheers!

 

[southernoise]

haha... you're the lucky one!

 

[southernoise]

Shriro just called and my LL60 is in. Collecting on Monday. ANY TAKERS?

 

[tt688]

Hi, I think you need a ture split focusing screen. we have promotion now.
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=203108

 

[airconvent]

it has been like 2 weeks since I bought my DL and so far, after about 200+ shots, I must say I have been disappointed....not in the pentax but dslr cameras in general.
contrary to popular belief, I was not able to get many good shots. in fact, 90% of the shots I took were really bad, mostly out of focus.
even my Panasonic FZ7 would have done better in most of the photos I have tried on the pentax. this is in spite of setting the pentax to auto mode as suggested.

problems I encountered included:

1. over exposed shots for the simplest situations
2. blurred images
3. camera refusing to focus and take pictures if scene is too dim.
4. hunting focus

I now know that even auto for the dslr camera means I needed to do some adjustments somewhere and its not as easy as point and shoot like my FZ7.
i do hope any of the experts here can help to point out how to get started in getting better shots even for auto mode...

thanks!

 

[CYRN]

it has been like 2 weeks since I bought my DL and so far, after about 200+ shots, I must say I have been disappointed....not in the pentax but dslr cameras in general.
contrary to popular belief, I was not able to get many good shots. in fact, 90% of the shots I took were really bad, mostly out of focus.
even my Panasonic FZ7 would have done better in most of the photos I have tried on the pentax. this is in spite of setting the pentax to auto mode as suggested.

problems I encountered included:

1. over exposed shots for the simplest situations
2. blurred images
3. camera refusing to focus and take pictures if scene is too dim.
4. hunting focus

I now know that even auto for the dslr camera means I needed to do some adjustments somewhere and its not as easy as point and shoot like my FZ7.
i do hope any of the experts here can help to point out how to get started in getting better shots even for auto mode...

thanks!

1. DSLRs have more complex metering... you know which one you are using? And what kind of scene you are shooting? Then again are you using the cam's flash or external flash?

See here

2. This is the trade-off when you want better bokeh. The larger sensor makes focusing more "critical" (lesser tolerance for error). Furthermore, you have to change your hand-holding technique as you no longer have stabilised lens.

3. and 4. Not really leh, I still can focus get focus lock when I tried that time. What kind of scene are you shooting.

NPNT (No pic no talk)...

 

[Parchiao]

If 90% of your shots are out of focus, either you have some hardware problem or you have a problem. :bsmilie:

1. Can't help without more info. Maybe you can share with us what shooting modes, exposure compensation, metering modes, with flash (then what flash compensation setup) etc etc. Also, tell us more about your over exposure situation.

2. Blurred images, as in motion blur, is due to insufficient light for the camera to capture the image in a short enough time. Another reason could be due to out of focus images. Which are you referring to here?

3 & 4. Think vertical contrast. Maybe someone should help me out if it is vertical or horizontal on the DL. I can shoot in pure darkness, save a small light source like those luminous sticks that can provide enough contrast between a bright and a dark area for the camera to focus on.

 

[airconvent]

Hi all
ok...I was trying to say too much with too little words.
so I'll take it more slowly and one topic at a time.

I started off using manual mode but all the shots came out bad as you can read earlier. So I changed to auto for the rest of the shots.
I was at night safari where flashes are not allowed so you know the environment for my latest attempt.

Shots taken at my kids were out of focus.
I noticed the shutter opened for quite long.closer to 1 sec..which could account for the blurring since there is no stabilisation. I thought the auto mode would have selected the best speed, aperture for a good image but its not the case in the dark. images were taken at iso400 or iso800 so I tested by forcibly setting the iso to 3200 max. the shots were noisier, less blurred but not sharp.

also, many occasions, i point at the person and the camera unable to focus, so I was unable to take the shot.
this also happened for the show that was on. I tried one at the host about 10 m away as she was illuminated by a dim light. the camera refused to take the shot at all. I also get hunting focus sometimes.

in comparison, my Fuji V10 was able to take dim light shots better...I think it has something to do with the algorithm on what setting to select.

btw, i did not use external flash...

for flash shots that were allowed at the restaurants, I did take one of my kid outside the gift shop. he was about 1.5m from the camera but such shots came out way over exposed. I noticed that I needed for the subject to be at least 2m away for the shots not to be over exposed.
I thought the auto mode will select the best flash power for the image?

do share with us your photography secrets, gurus!

 

[CYRN]

Hi all
ok...I was trying to say too much with too little words.
so I'll take it more slowly and one topic at a time.

A picture speaks a thousand words

really hard to tell if no sample pics.

 

[CYRN]

Shots taken at my kids were out of focus.
I noticed the shutter opened for quite long.closer to 1 sec..which could account for the blurring since there is no stabilisation. I thought the auto mode would have selected the best speed, aperture for a good image but its not the case in the dark. images were taken at iso400 or iso800 so I tested by forcibly setting the iso to 3200 max. the shots were noisier, less blurred but not sharp.

These shots are not out-of-focus but more of camera/hand shake and subject movements.

*edit* BTW, understand how your cam works... it will try it's best to achieve a properly exposed pic, with no regards to how stable your can is.

Example of subject movement with long shutter speed.

also, many occasions, i point at the person and the camera unable to focus, so I was unable to take the shot.
this also happened for the show that was on. I tried one at the host about 10 m away as she was illuminated by a dim light. the camera refused to take the shot at all. I also get hunting focus sometimes.

in comparison, my Fuji V10 was able to take dim light shots better...I think it has something to do with the algorithm on what setting to select.

How dim is the light? Remember Neptune... I got no prob getting constant and continuous focus on the dancers even when the place is dimmed down leh. :dunno:

btw, i did not use external flash...

for flash shots that were allowed at the restaurants, I did take one of my kid outside the gift shop. he was about 1.5m from the camera but such shots came out way over exposed. I noticed that I needed for the subject to be at least 2m away for the shots not to be over exposed.
I thought the auto mode will select the best flash power for the image?

For flash, there a MAX effective distance and there's also MIN distance... too close the flash cannot cut off in time thus your photo will be over. Check your manual for min flash distance of your cam.

 

[airconvent]

Thanks CYRN.
I was trying out the camera at home this evening and after some experiements, realised that the camera performed the best when in "Programme Mode" and not in "Normal" or "picture mode". Odd. I shall experiment with this setting the next chance I have...

what mode do you guys normally use?

 

[CYRN]

Thanks CYRN.
I was trying out the camera at home this evening and after some experiements, realised that the camera performed the best when in "Programme Mode" and not in "Normal" or "picture mode". Odd. I shall experiment with this setting the next chance I have...

what mode do you guys normally use?

M - mode :sticktong

 

[timo]

hi fellas,
thanks for the clarifications but I'm still a little confused what it is. is it a direct replacement for some part inside the camera, on the flip mirror or an attachment to the viewfinder ?
does it really help that much?
cheers

When you take the lens off you will see it inside the camera. I got a Katz Eye screen, with the split circle focus aid, which works really well and makes routine manual focusing much much easier. I found installing it myself on the DS quite easy - took about 5 minutes, but you do need a dust-free environment. Even with taking some care I have ended up with some gunk on the screen itself (which is visible all the time through the VF) and a few specks have transferred themselves onto the sensor.

For me it was worth the money, as it has made a whole lot of cheap M lenses I got on ebay much more enjoyable to use, and even AF need to be focused manually on occasion (like in low light, or when they focus on your friend's left ear rather than the eyes or whatever ...)

Tim

 

[southernoise]

I'd normally use Av mode.

 

[airconvent]

ok...here is an update on my earlier experiences.

took some photos at the espanade in day light. unlike the night shots, most actually turned out ok.

I was using P mode and Av mode most of the time and some Tv modes. Can't really see the differences between them but of course, i was not analysing them that thoroughly.
But here's something strange. I took 2 similar shots at my subject. the first one came out great but the second one was over exposed. both were at F/5.6 and ISO200. not sure why.
it happened for a few shots too. btw, to save space, I had my camera set at 4MP instead of rhe full 6MP. Does this affect the quality of the shots on screen?

cheers