The K-S1 and the 18-135 lens

flektogon wrote:

Pentax is a very smart camera, it can set the exposure much more precisely than me, even with my 55 year experience in the photography. One wheel or two, who cares, if I do not need them.

My default mode for stills is Hyper Program. I can shift from P-mode to Av, to Tv with the front and rear dials, and back to P with the Green Button. I use the dials regularly in low light. For example, I took a bazillion images in dimly lit Italian cathedrals last spring, using my K-3 and Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. Camera settings in P mode were extravagant with shutter speeds and kept the aperture wide open. I wanted to lower the ISO, and I wanted to stop the lens down for improved sharpness and more DOF. The camera has SR and I have steady hands, so I decreased the shutter speeds to well below what P mode was giving me.

For action, by default is TAv mode. For birds in flight, shutter speed is set to 1/1000s to freeze motion, with the optimum aperture setting for maximum sharpness (f5.6 on the DA*300, f8 with a TC}. As conditions change, I make adjustments from there. If I let the camera decide, it will not optimize aperture, shutter speed and ISO for what I'm trying to do.

Normally I let the camera control exposure, but there are times when I know it will fail, e.g. dark subject against a brightly lit sky, in which case I intervene with EV compensation. My default BIF setting is +.5EV, and I fine tune in post.

On the K-S1 I tried to use all (11) AF points, but the focus "failure" rate was too high. Currently I am using just 5 points, what I consider a compromise (11 vs. a single, central point). But again, I have absolutely no problems with the exposure.

The only time I use Auto AF is when I hand the camera over to someone to take a photo and I set it to Green Mode. I don't trust the camera to know what I want in focus. I use Center Point and Recompose for general photography. I use Expanded Area AF with the center point active for action shooting (Expanded Area AF is only available on cameras from the K-5 II onwards).

So, I wish you (all) happy new year a many, many (properly exposed and sharp) pictures .

Same to you Peter.