I have grumbled some about the one thing I really don't like about the otherwise wonderful K10D - after ten years experience using the really excellent and soft Canon shutter release with its very clear, soft, easy-to-use half-press system.
I find the half-press on the K10D quite hard to use - much too little feel, too hair-trigger; I find myself jarring the camera when using it with very slow shutter speeds; the SR is unable to cover this adequately.
So - in case anybody else has the same problem - here is the solution which (I am happy to say) works fine for me, and is easy to do.
Just focus with your thumb on the AF button. HOLD THE AF BUTTON DOWN. Now the camera will NOT try to refocus when the shutter release is used to fire the shutter. As a result you do not need to worry about feeling the half press but just press gently down steadily until the camera actually fires.
Note that when shooting in real life I am invariably trying to catch expressions without flash and usually in poor light - 1/15 second at f4.5 with the 50-200 is not unusual. I invariably use multiple exposures with an average shot being 3 to 5 images - partly because (a) expressions change rapidly (b) at 1/15 second I am going to lose a lot of shots to subject motion anyway.
I am delighted to find the K10D runs (at 1/15 sec f4.5 at 200 mm with the 50-200) between 4 and 7 pixels out of focus according to Focus Magic. Even 7 pixels out cleans up with Focus Magic to give an excellent wall print with about half-crop to a 13x19 end print.
I am delighted to say this is the same (or slightly better) performance as I was getting with Canon Stabilized zooms; so the K10D is now (for me) the equal of the Canon in this (again - to me ) CRITICAL area.
In all other areas the K10D is (again - for me) FAR superior to the Canon system so I am now entirely happy with the change-over.
If you happen to be a Canon potential convert to the K10D - the reasons I find it so superior are these: First, the real glass prism. Second, because of the old-fashioned motor-in-camera focusing the lens/camera total weight is MUCH lighter and therefor easier to hand-hold steady (even with the lightest Canon body, the 400 ti, an f2.8 L zoom 70-200 combo weighs a TON more than the similar Pentax with the heavier K10D body).
Next there is NO Canon equivalent of a STABILIZED f 1.8 high quality prime such as the LTDs. Next - again because the focus motor and stabilization are in-camera, good lenses are MUCH MUCH cheaper than Canon. Next there are a raft of excellent features peculiar ONLY to the K10D which I enjoy. (Of course I know some of these items like a real Pentaprism ARE available with the Canon - at a VERY much higher price - but many - like stabilized primes and easy mirror lift - are NOT available from Canon at ANY price).
So I am very very pleased there WAS an easy solution to the problem.
Incidentally it is VERY important that the focus REMAINS locked while you hold down the AF button; this means the camera does not waste time - and have that split-second to "shake" while trying to refocus with each exposure. I have also locked the exposure to the focus point, so it will neither refocus nor reset exposure under these conditions (both of which are undesirable for what I am doing).
Good for Pentax.
PS for those who are fixated on Phils criticism of soft JPGs - my own workflow calls for minimal incamera processing with postprocessing of all images I use. Using PhotoKit sharpener with its almost infinite flexibility I have no problem with sharpening jpgs - and for those shots where I am content to sacrifice disk space to quality - and dont anticipate needing more than 4 or 5 burst images - I can use RAW. But I have so far had no problem whatever with jpgs...
bill wilson
I find the half-press on the K10D quite hard to use - much too little feel, too hair-trigger; I find myself jarring the camera when using it with very slow shutter speeds; the SR is unable to cover this adequately.
So - in case anybody else has the same problem - here is the solution which (I am happy to say) works fine for me, and is easy to do.
Just focus with your thumb on the AF button. HOLD THE AF BUTTON DOWN. Now the camera will NOT try to refocus when the shutter release is used to fire the shutter. As a result you do not need to worry about feeling the half press but just press gently down steadily until the camera actually fires.
Note that when shooting in real life I am invariably trying to catch expressions without flash and usually in poor light - 1/15 second at f4.5 with the 50-200 is not unusual. I invariably use multiple exposures with an average shot being 3 to 5 images - partly because (a) expressions change rapidly (b) at 1/15 second I am going to lose a lot of shots to subject motion anyway.
I am delighted to find the K10D runs (at 1/15 sec f4.5 at 200 mm with the 50-200) between 4 and 7 pixels out of focus according to Focus Magic. Even 7 pixels out cleans up with Focus Magic to give an excellent wall print with about half-crop to a 13x19 end print.
I am delighted to say this is the same (or slightly better) performance as I was getting with Canon Stabilized zooms; so the K10D is now (for me) the equal of the Canon in this (again - to me ) CRITICAL area.
In all other areas the K10D is (again - for me) FAR superior to the Canon system so I am now entirely happy with the change-over.
If you happen to be a Canon potential convert to the K10D - the reasons I find it so superior are these: First, the real glass prism. Second, because of the old-fashioned motor-in-camera focusing the lens/camera total weight is MUCH lighter and therefor easier to hand-hold steady (even with the lightest Canon body, the 400 ti, an f2.8 L zoom 70-200 combo weighs a TON more than the similar Pentax with the heavier K10D body).
Next there is NO Canon equivalent of a STABILIZED f 1.8 high quality prime such as the LTDs. Next - again because the focus motor and stabilization are in-camera, good lenses are MUCH MUCH cheaper than Canon. Next there are a raft of excellent features peculiar ONLY to the K10D which I enjoy. (Of course I know some of these items like a real Pentaprism ARE available with the Canon - at a VERY much higher price - but many - like stabilized primes and easy mirror lift - are NOT available from Canon at ANY price).
So I am very very pleased there WAS an easy solution to the problem.
Incidentally it is VERY important that the focus REMAINS locked while you hold down the AF button; this means the camera does not waste time - and have that split-second to "shake" while trying to refocus with each exposure. I have also locked the exposure to the focus point, so it will neither refocus nor reset exposure under these conditions (both of which are undesirable for what I am doing).
Good for Pentax.
PS for those who are fixated on Phils criticism of soft JPGs - my own workflow calls for minimal incamera processing with postprocessing of all images I use. Using PhotoKit sharpener with its almost infinite flexibility I have no problem with sharpening jpgs - and for those shots where I am content to sacrifice disk space to quality - and dont anticipate needing more than 4 or 5 burst images - I can use RAW. But I have so far had no problem whatever with jpgs...
bill wilson
