For me, AF assist lights totally defeat the purpose of low-light, flashless
shooting. When shooting discreetly in a bar, for example, the last thing I want
is to alert everyone to my shooting by shining a red light at them. So whenever
I buy a new camera, one of the very first settings I change (if needed) is the
AF assist--I turn it OFF.
So, my previous comments about how the K5 works fine in dark places is based on
shooting without the twinkie light.
Cheers,
Nathan
Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.nathanfoto.com
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/
YNWA
On Sep 25, 2011, at 12:49 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> I'm not sure why the Pentax K-5 should have trouble autofocusing in dim
> light since it has a built-in AF assist light. However, the operation
> of that light is controlled by a custom setting but is normally on.
>
> Maybe those complaining have turned it off. Or possibly the people
> complaining were attempting to use the built-in assist beyond its range.
> No doubt the built-in AF assist light on the Pentax flash units has a
> longer range. These can also be set to disable the flash but still
> allow the AF assist beam. I couldn't find specs on the range of either
> Pentax AF assist light but Canon flash units typically have an AF assist
> range of 10 meters. I use the old AF film era Canon 540EZ flash unit
> primarily because it's capable and cheap but also because it has a 15
> meter AF assist range... the longest Canon has ever made.
>
> Dr. Flash (AF assist)
>
>
> On 9/25/2011 2:10 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
>> Peter
>>
>> That's great; I'm sure that you will enjoy using the E-30; I nearly
>> bought one several times, in place of my E-3.
>>
>> I don't think that you mentioned those reports in your previous
>> posts, but I don't find that my K-5 has much of a problem, depending
>> on what sort of low light you mean, of course — I don't use mine in
>> near-darkness, but I use it up to ISO3200 with no problem. I am so
>> confident of its capabilities that I use it on auto-ISO much of the
>> time.
>>
>> Which is something that I didn't normally use on my E-1 or E-3, when
>> I had them. But I switched because my shoulders are giving me
>> problems and the lightness and compactness of the K-5 is a bit of a
>> relief.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> On 24 Sep 2011, at 23:02, Peter Klein wrote:
>>
>>> I had originally planned on dumping the E-system in favor of a
>>> Pentax K-5 and a couple of primes. But the main reason for doing
>>> this would have been for low-light work. The trouble is, there are
>>> too many reports of the K-5 having autofocus problems in low
>>> tungsten light--precisely the conditions under which I would want
>>> to use it. We'll see if Pentax solves the autofocus issues in the
>>> next model.
>>
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>
>
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|