Severely underwhelming K-3ii

Sorry if this post is long winded, but I've taken well over 1000 pictures with my new K-3II, manufactured in August of last year, have the HD DA PLM WR 55-300 and the HD DA 16-85...both very well reviewed lenses. I researched for over a year to finally decide on this set-up before spending almost $2000 on the kit, including battery grip and flash. I don't have a single image that I could call sharp.

My $200 FujiFilm s4200 takes better pictures!

I'm really disappointed, because I see examples of my exact setup posted here, and my results are not even on the same continent, let alone in the same ballpark!

See examples here:

http://s1303.photobucket.com/user/ratikon/library/pentax?sort=3&page=1

I'll explain later why I had to add the link....

The pics of the Caribe Royale are on a tripod with autofocus...9 point IIRC. Timer @ secs.

The woman and her child were handheld, about ten feet away, AF, not reason why they shouldn't be sharp.

Staircase was AF set on tripod, SR off, timer set to two seconds.

The leaves were taken at the same focal length, one with my new $2000 camera, and the other with my $200 camera. Which is which?

The bull was taken from about a hundred feet away, AF, blazing sun...handheld propped against a fencepost for stability.

Building facade was taken with my Fuji, as was the vulture and the flower.

I've tried using both lenses at f-8, usually the sweet spot of the lens, and still no good.

I realize there is a learning curve to using the camera, but really? Not a single sharp image in over 1000 taken?

Secondly, I've spent WELL over an hour trying to figure out why I can't upload photos to my gallery. I have photos in there now, uploaded quite a while ago, but now can't seem to get it to work. I have Edit mode enabled, just in case. But I doubt that's the reason. I've tried changing the size of the files to not exceed 1600 on the long side, but all my photos i want to upload are WELL within the limitations set. All I get is an error msg. I also just let the file try to upload for ten minutes or more, thinking it may take a while to upload a small 14MB file. Still no luck. I've read and followed the instructions in the FAQ's, nada, nuthin, zilch, zero results. All the photos are on my harddrive.

What the blazes?

photobucket says the album is private, why dont you upload them to flickr?

barbakane wrote:

Sorry if this post is long winded, but I've taken well over 1000 pictures with my new K-3II, manufactured in August of last year, have the HD DA PLM WR 55-300 and the HD DA 16-85...both very well reviewed lenses. I researched for over a year to finally decide on this set-up before spending almost $2000 on the kit, including battery grip and flash. I don't have a single image that I could call sharp.

My $200 FujiFilm s4200 takes better pictures!

I'm really disappointed, because I see examples of my exact setup posted here, and my results are not even on the same continent, let alone in the same ballpark!

See examples here:

http://s1303.photobucket.com/user/ratikon/library/pentax?sort=3&page=1

I'll explain later why I had to add the link....

The pics of the Caribe Royale are on a tripod with autofocus...9 point IIRC. Timer @ secs.

The woman and her child were handheld, about ten feet away, AF, not reason why they shouldn't be sharp.

Staircase was AF set on tripod, SR off, timer set to two seconds.

The leaves were taken at the same focal length, one with my new $2000 camera, and the other with my $200 camera. Which is which?

The bull was taken from about a hundred feet away, AF, blazing sun...handheld propped against a fencepost for stability.

Building facade was taken with my Fuji, as was the vulture and the flower.

I've tried using both lenses at f-8, usually the sweet spot of the lens, and still no good.

I realize there is a learning curve to using the camera, but really? Not a single sharp image in over 1000 taken?

Secondly, I've spent WELL over an hour trying to figure out why I can't upload photos to my gallery. I have photos in there now, uploaded quite a while ago, but now can't seem to get it to work. I have Edit mode enabled, just in case. But I doubt that's the reason. I've tried changing the size of the files to not exceed 1600 on the long side, but all my photos i want to upload are WELL within the limitations set. All I get is an error msg. I also just let the file try to upload for ten minutes or more, thinking it may take a while to upload a small 14MB file. Still no luck. I've read and followed the instructions in the FAQ's, nada, nuthin, zilch, zero results. All the photos are on my harddrive.

What the blazes?

I can't see your photos because they are marked private, but I have the K3ii, 16-85, and 55-300 WR and for me they perform perfectly. I had been using the K3 but recently decided to buy the K3ii as backup so most of my recent photos were with the K3 but I don't notice any difference.

You can see my photos on https://lawrencehelm.smugmug.com/RiverPhotography/Mar-2017/  I believe that you will see that most shots are sharp.  I was shooting into the sun on some of them -- that is, the sun shining on the river water which resulted in highlighting i couldn't get rid of, but most are okay.  I haven't any photos which precisely match your complaint.  The March 2017 are with the K3ii and an old lens I am growing fond of, a 16-45mm.

I must confess that I did have a problem with the 55-300 PLM and sent it back.  The autofocus system didn't operate as advertised.  And as a consequence I decided to stick with the older 55-300 WR which I already had, a lens I have gotten good shots from in the past.   My experience with the 55-300 PLM I should hasten to say is not typical and most users are happy with it.  I expect that had I asked for another copy rather than my money back that the second copy would have been as good as everyone else finds that it is, but by that time I was tired of messing with it.

I have used the 16-85mm lens quite a lot and think it one of the best lenses I've every owned.  However, there have been times I have wanted something longer, and if I take the 16-85 and the 55-300, there is some overlap in the middle.  If on the other hand I happen to find (have?) a good copy of the 16-45, then there is no overlap with the 55-300.  Also, the 16-45 is lighter than the 16-85.

This doesn't address the problems you are having with your gear, but it does illustrate that the deficiencies you have with your camera and/or lenses do not apply to all those copies owned by the rest of us.  I have owned a lot of cameras and consider the K3 the best I've ever owned and only bought the K3ii as backup (because I hike and there is always the danger of a fall damaging a camera or lens), but that isn't to say that the K3ii isn't as good.  In fact my outings with the K3ii indicate that it is.

As to uploading photos to your gallery, my particular system, Smugmug, claims to be able to handle photos of any size, but I've discovered that if they are too large then the uploading takes too long.  I use Lightroom and process my photos in Raw.  I have designated that the final results are JPEGs of a size that will provide good quality but not be so large as to take too long uploading.

I've seen discussions of defective equipment here on this forum in the past.  When I've discovered such defects myself I've sent the gear back immediately.  I ran into something similar not so long ago with a K-S2.  I used it with the 55-300PLM (which turned out to be defective) but at first I didn't know whether it was the lens or the camera, especially because the 16-45mm lens I had just purchased used also had a defect.  It seemed too much of a coincidence that there could be too lenses defective at the same time and so I sent the K-S2 back within the time limit given me by the seller.  But when I played with the 55-300PLM and the 16-45 on the K3, it turned out  that indeed they were both defective.  I sent the 55-300PLM back and did not get another copy.  I sent the 16-45 back to KEH and then shopped around and got another copy, this one from Adorama and thus far it has performed very well as perhaps you can tell from the March 2017 shots.

Lawrence

Without seeing your photos, following are some common issues:

1. Lens not calibrated using focus fine adjustment.

2.  Shutter speed too slow, causing blur due to subject motion or hand shake.

3.  Camera picking wrong focus point.

DPPMetro wrote:

I am wagering numerous operator errors as the cause of unsharp pics.

Yes, perhaps including not using SR for most shots, or using it combined with tripod support which is a mistake. My K3ii is the very best cam I've ever had, and I've had a good few. I'm at a loss to know how I could possibly achieve so many unsharp shots with it as the OP!

I dont have the DA 16-85 nor the new PLM 55-300, I shoot with K3 and mostly DA 18-135, DA 55-300 (the screwdriven AF which is said to be so-so in AF), DA 17-70 and primes 15-21-35-40-50-70.

I have a tripod but I almost always shoot handheld. IMO that is what DSLR are designed for, whereas when using a tripod, the TTL OVF is almost useless, and the liveview implementation lags behind mirrorless ILC.

And I dont understand your sharpness issue.

K3 AF-S is very good and straightforward, but I admit there sure has been a learning curve with K3 AF-C.

IMO, AF-SEL9 or SEL25/SEL27 are very poor at tracking a moving target when the scene is busy. I tried them when I first got my K3 and I came to the conclusion it was not the easiest way to get the best action shots.

AF-C is quite good and reactive in the Z axis.

What works in almost every situation is back-button single point AF-C: first select via the 4-ways controller any of the 25 cross points so that it suits your framing, and then pann the camera to track the target.

A few samples from my DPR gallery, first with DA 18-135 fully open, at close distance and thus rather fast moving scenes (I set the camera to T-Av, so that it holds the maximum aperture for subject separation, and a high shutter speed, AE being adjusted via auto-ISO:

A few more with DA 55-300, an entry level lens with old fashioned screwdriven AF, from my african safari last september, all handheld of course:

DA 55-300, the elephants were about 1/4 mile away

DA 55-300, the birds were very close

DA 55-300, this little bird was rather far away

DA 55-300, the lions were rather close

More on my flickr gallery below.

Now, a sample of what my son Nicolas gets, using the same technique but mostly with large aperture limited lenses (he is more skilled than i am):

First in bright daylight at the same Carnaval parade in Menton, French riviera:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasbousquet/33197023016/in/datetaken/

Other samples at night at the Carnaval parade in Nice, French riviera:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasbousquet/32181408563/in/datetaken/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasbousquet/32152747994/in/album-72157678690814991/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasbousquet/32997120685/in/album-72157678690814991/

And two landscapes for sharpness evaluation:

first with DA35 macro limited at the Mont Saint Michel:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasbousquet/18747996871/in/album-72157654464836441/

and this one with UWA DA15 limited:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasbousquet/21818208573/in/album-72157659862067660/

I don't know what is going on with your gear and nobody knows until we see some photos.

I could aimagine a few things:

1) your camera is not calibrated very well. I tink we can send each Pentax camera once for free check at the official service (I know this offer from Germany). Maybe you should do it - maybe send the lenses, too. So they can adujst your gear and you have best you can get.

2) I could imagine wrong use of the AF system.

You know setting a camera to AF doesn't mean that you simply press the release button and get a sharp photo? You have to half press first to let the AF do its job - and next press full to make the photo. If you use IS you would have to wait until the hand in brackets in the viewer appears - this means the camera sensor is stabilized and ready for shooting.

3) Which expousre times did you select? The K3ii is a camera with very high pixel density on the sensor. The consequence is that a very little moement of the camera will shift much more pixel than if the pixel denisty is lower - and you will get more blured photos from it - but IS system can help - and also much shorter exposure times. The generel ruel is max exposure time is 1/focal length - but you should at least select the effective focal length of the APS-C  which means focal length of your lens x 1,5.

I am sure you will learn to know that you can get impressive photos from you K3ii. DonÄt blame the camera before you did not find the reasons for your problems. I am sure the people on this forum can help you to find them.

Best regards

Holger

This thread has the potential to become a most amusing discussion/assault

Pentax defenders prepare to rebel boarders

Pentax haters sharpen your knives call to arms.

I've got news for you...your camera does not take pictures...YOU DO!

Forums are where people that used to be photographers spend their time these days.

If you have not shot with a DSLR before consider more study to learn how to use.  Also, a point and shoot will post great looking photos easily for web use but may not look as good printed.

Compare MF pics with AF and possibly your lenses need focus calibration?

Dale

barbakane wrote:

Sorry if this post is long winded, but I've taken well over 1000 pictures with my new K-3II, manufactured in August of last year, have the HD DA PLM WR 55-300 and the HD DA 16-85...both very well reviewed lenses. I researched for over a year to finally decide on this set-up before spending almost $2000 on the kit, including battery grip and flash. I don't have a single image that I could call sharp.

My $200 FujiFilm s4200 takes better pictures!

I'm really disappointed, because I see examples of my exact setup posted here, and my results are not even on the same continent, let alone in the same ballpark!

See examples here:

http://s1303.photobucket.com/user/ratikon/library/pentax?sort=3&page=1

I'll explain later why I had to add the link....

The pics of the Caribe Royale are on a tripod with autofocus...9 point IIRC. Timer @ secs.

to me, the focus on this one seems to be at the stones at the right of the cascade on the left.

the dof caused by f4.5 makes the things on the back out of focus

high iso ( 3200 ) ruins quality too

The woman and her child were handheld, about ten feet away, AF, not reason why they shouldn't be sharp.

the reason, to me, is that the shooting speed is 1/10 handheld causes you have shake blur the SR compensates but it seems not enough for you to like it

Staircase was AF set on tripod, SR off, timer set to two seconds.

the focus seems to be at the back the upper part of the stairs, again dof causes what you call out of focus

The leaves were taken at the same focal length, one with my new $2000 camera, and the other with my $200 camera. Which is which?

the closer one is taken with the pentax, focus in the middle top leave, 190mm zoom and f6.3 causes a shallow area of things in focus, hence a shallow dof.

the other with the finepix that has a sensor of 1/2.3" (vs 23.5mm x 15.6mm of K3II) hence that causes a deeper dof and more things sharp.

check this

The bull was taken from about a hundred feet away, AF, blazing sun...handheld propped against a fencepost for stability.

focus is in the middle at its hunch which is sharp, 260mm and f5.6 again causes a shallow dof. see the leaves perfectly in focus too at the same focal plane.

Also this lens are sharper by stopping them one or two steps, cosider using f7 or f8 for 260mm shots to get deeper dof and sharper results.

Building facade was taken with my Fuji, as was the vulture and the flower.

I've tried using both lenses at f-8, usually the sweet spot of the lens, and still no good.

I realize there is a learning curve to using the camera, but really? Not a single sharp image in over 1000 taken?

Secondly, I've spent WELL over an hour trying to figure out why I can't upload photos to my gallery. I have photos in there now, uploaded quite a while ago, but now can't seem to get it to work. I have Edit mode enabled, just in case. But I doubt that's the reason. I've tried changing the size of the files to not exceed 1600 on the long side, but all my photos i want to upload are WELL within the limitations set. All I get is an error msg. I also just let the file try to upload for ten minutes or more, thinking it may take a while to upload a small 14MB file. Still no luck. I've read and followed the instructions in the FAQ's, nada, nuthin, zilch, zero results. All the photos are on my harddrive.

What the blazes?

conclusion, you need to learn basic things about photography. See online videos or enroll in a course maybe... if you dont want to then maybe a dslr is not for you, you will face this kind of things with any apsc camera. consider an fz1000 or the likes then.

To me is not the camera, nor the lens but you.

hope this helps

The OP is obviously having trouble and is frustrated using the camera and his lenses and is in need of assistance, it must be remembered that "not all are born Ansell Adams in this world".

"I would suggest that if the OP could find a knowledgeable friend or someone in a local camera club that could help him find the source of the problem/s and see whether it's an issue with the K3II or one or both of the lenses. In the case of a problem found the ensemble could be returned for calibration or the rectification of the problems. If it turns out to be user error the OP could be helped to correct his errors".

If one looks at the "likes" box, anyone offering a snide or deriding comment gets likes, while those more sympathetic souls offering help get none!

Not cool!

DAVID MANZE wrote:

The OP is obviously having trouble and is frustrated using the camera and his lenses and is in need of assistance, it must be remembered that "not all are born Ansell Adams in this world".

If one looks at the "likes" box, anyone offering a snide or deriding comment gets likes, while those more sympathetic souls offering help get none!

Not cool!

sorry i don' t get it...

do you think i' m not offering help?

i took the time to download all those photos and check one by one I added a comment to each of his complaints or most of them, then i said he shall look learning videos or take a course coz is what I did too as i'm a newbie too and not at a position to teach things to anyone. Of course the other thing could be calibration issues, didn't seem like that to me from what I can say from some sample shots.

what's the problem then?

Polacofede wrote:

barbakane wrote:

Sorry if this post is long winded, but I've taken well over 1000 pictures with my new K-3II, manufactured in August of last year, have the HD DA PLM WR 55-300 and the HD DA 16-85...both very well reviewed lenses. I researched for over a year to finally decide on this set-up before spending almost $2000 on the kit, including battery grip and flash. I don't have a single image that I could call sharp.

My $200 FujiFilm s4200 takes better pictures!

I'm really disappointed, because I see examples of my exact setup posted here, and my results are not even on the same continent, let alone in the same ballpark!

See examples here:

http://s1303.photobucket.com/user/ratikon/library/pentax?sort=3&page=1

I'll explain later why I had to add the link....

The pics of the Caribe Royale are on a tripod with autofocus...9 point IIRC. Timer @ secs.

to me, the focus on this one seems to be at the stones at the right of the cascade on the left.

the dof caused by f4.5 makes the things on the back out of focus

high iso ( 3200 ) ruins quality too

The woman and her child were handheld, about ten feet away, AF, not reason why they shouldn't be sharp.

the reason, to me, is that the shooting speed is 1/10 handheld causes you have shake blur the SR compensates but it seems not enough for you to like it

Staircase was AF set on tripod, SR off, timer set to two seconds.

the focus seems to be at the back the upper part of the stairs, again dof causes what you call out of focus

The leaves were taken at the same focal length, one with my new $2000 camera, and the other with my $200 camera. Which is which?

the closer one is taken with the pentax, focus in the middle top leave, 190mm zoom and f6.3 causes a shallow area of things in focus, hence a shallow dof.

the other with the finepix that has a sensor of 1/2.3" (vs 23.5mm x 15.6mm of K3II) hence that causes a deeper dof and more things sharp.

check this

The bull was taken from about a hundred feet away, AF, blazing sun...handheld propped against a fencepost for stability.

focus is in the middle at its hunch which is sharp, 260mm and f5.6 again causes a shallow dof. see the leaves perfectly in focus too at the same focal plane.

Also this lens are sharper by stopping them one or two steps, cosider using f7 or f8 for 260mm shots to get deeper dof and sharper results.

Building facade was taken with my Fuji, as was the vulture and the flower.

I've tried using both lenses at f-8, usually the sweet spot of the lens, and still no good.

I realize there is a learning curve to using the camera, but really? Not a single sharp image in over 1000 taken?

Secondly, I've spent WELL over an hour trying to figure out why I can't upload photos to my gallery. I have photos in there now, uploaded quite a while ago, but now can't seem to get it to work. I have Edit mode enabled, just in case. But I doubt that's the reason. I've tried changing the size of the files to not exceed 1600 on the long side, but all my photos i want to upload are WELL within the limitations set. All I get is an error msg. I also just let the file try to upload for ten minutes or more, thinking it may take a while to upload a small 14MB file. Still no luck. I've read and followed the instructions in the FAQ's, nada, nuthin, zilch, zero results. All the photos are on my harddrive.

What the blazes?

conclusion, you need to learn basic things about photography. See online videos or enroll in a course maybe... if you dont want to then maybe a dslr is not for you, you will face this kind of things with any apsc camera. consider an fz1000 or the likes then.

To me is not the camera, nor the lens but you.

hope this helps

Hmmm.  Thought provoking.  In thinking back, I can't recall what I knew before getting an Olympus 35RC Rangefinder in 1979.  Almost everything needed to be manually set.  You scrolled in the ASA number that matched the designation of the film, set your shutter speed (the fastest was 1/500).  The aperture did have an "A" automatic setting, but one could manually select from 2.8 to 22.  When you had everything set, you used a focus ring to line up two images you could see in your view-finder and took the shot.   My shots always (when I did everything properly) came out great.

Thus when I started using DSLRs I used the manual mode only and didn't have a problem getting good shots right from the beginning.   As I experimented automatic settings, I had more bad shots, but I could always go back to the manual mode and have, in effect, the same number of things to set that I did on my old 35RC.

I did use the auto setting on my Olympus E-PM2 when I wanted to go light.  I plan to use the TV setting on the K-S1 in the future when I want to go light, and while I am playing with that setting now on the K3 & K3ii I still feel most comfortable with the Manual Mode.

I guess my point here is that the OP if he chooses and does have the experience limitations you mention, can use a simple approach like I used and use the manual mode.  And one of the very nice things about Pentax is that If you are starting out in manual, look out at the light and circumstances and aren't sure what to set everything, you can press the green button and get your camera's opinion.

And yeah, being a hiker, I never use a tripod.  I didn't use shake reduction to begin with, preferring to set the shutter speed fast enough for what I was looking at.  But I do use the default shake reduction in the K3 & K3ii.  But if one day I decided to use a tripod I'd probably forget to turn off shake reduction and might need someone to remind me. 

Lawrence