Getting to know the Pentax K-3 Mark III. Part 2. The OVF Auto Focus Settings

[@raymondjobin7673]

I find these tutorials very helpful and a lot to understand fully. So much to learn about this camera, but getting through it slowly. Love using it and the results I have been able to get. Thanks and keep up the good work.

[@KobieMC]

Thank you so much!

[@raymondjobin4446]

This was very helpful and clarified a lot for me. Look forward to the follow-up videos you plan to produce on this. Thanks.

[@KobieMC]

You're quite welcome! 🙂

[@cdrkennon]

You put a lot of effort and thought into this - thank you. This is an excellent discussion of the focus capabilities and my how they have changed! I would love to see a comparison between the K1 II and K3 III in terms of auto focus for different subjects (portrait, wildlife, sports, etc.).

[@KobieMC]

Thank you! And that comparison is planned. 🙂

[@tedtbc4261]

Keep up the good work... I've had my K-3 III about three weeks and LOVE the pictures I'm getting. Still trying to figure out the custom settings however. I have learned new things from several of your videos. Thanks!

[@pamelahooper7851]

Thanks. Very informative. I have been struggling to get to grips with the focusing choices, and this helps. Looking forward to your next video.

[@jaq1967]

Very informative Kobie. Captivated. Looking forward to the next episodes. :)

[@KobieMC]

Thank you!

[@williabruggeman]

Great video. I 'm looking forward to the next video ; wich af for flying birds , wich af for sport etc; . I had to learn a lot of my new K3 iii (my last pentax was a D200 and my first the MX) William (Gent, Belgium)

[@mementomori5410]

Hi Kobie. I've tested this feature with firmware 1.70 no issues with eye recognition :) Greetings from Poland!

[@brucetaylor1588]

Nice job, one of your best videos yet

[@KobieMC]

Thank you!

[@bwhite661]

I am so thankful for your videos and your participation on Pentax Forums. THere are so many different AF settings to try to figure out. One question - I noticed that my display focus display grid (not sure what you call it) in the view finder is only a 5x5 grid (white squares only). You have two additional colums of points on either side of the 5x5. Do you know why mine only shows the 5x5? Hopefully my question makes sense. I'm looking a 5:38 of your video.

[@bwhite661]

You just answered my question at 10:38 LOL!

[@deanroslynmengel5575]

Excellent Kobie - well done. I think it wasn't locking onto the eyes because they were only half eyes ie not fully round. A couple of things you could have mentioned; 1 AFS Locks the focal plane with shutter half press and holds it for recompositing - I know you know this but others might not. 2 Water ever is in the red cross mode at the first shutter press ie expanded area AF , becomes the subject that the camera keeps in focus and searches for in AFC shooting. That's why it is important to nail your first shot for say BIFS ; If your first shot is sky you won't pick up the bird again even if you come back on it where as if you are in central zone auto select and AFC you will pick it up again. Expanded area is fastest but you have to nail that first shot. Just something I have found.

[@renerazon4008]

Another superb tutorial, thanks for all the info.

[@KobieMC]

No problem and thank you for the compliment!

[@leehaze1]

Great vid as always!

[@teresabrubaker]

Will you please explain AF hold, not just how to set it up, but what it is and how it affects shooting photos. Professionally, I mostly do sports action, so I need to find out what this does on the new K-3, Mark III, please.

[@KobieMC]

Absolutely! kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4rafmZ4ebinZs0

[@Oskar-g9j]

👍

[@ralfmuehl8340]

Hi Kobie, (again) thanks a lot for your videos ! Here is something I wanted to share with you and the community, even though it is not related to AF: I realised that the K3-III produces JPGs with white halos around leaves in front of a light background. I use to shoot DNG and then develop in DxO PhotoLab, but until DxO adds compatibility with the K3-III, I'll have to live with the in-body JPGs (I don't like the DCU interface, and Affinity Photo is nice but lacks batch processing for Raws developing. Lightroom is a no-go for me, since I hate subscription models for software.). So today I played a bit with the settings to understand what influences these halos. After switching on and off noise reduction, highlight and shadow correction etc. (all to no avail), I found out that it is the sharpening that creates these halos. The sharpening is defined in the Custom Image settings, and even at +/- 0 you get these halos. The comprise I found that works for me is the Custom image mode 'bright', with contrast reduced to +/-0 and Fine Sharpening at -2. Hope that helps... :-)

[@KobieMC]

Excellent find!

[@bengtsandberg9759]

New updated settings for sport and wildlife from Antonio. The first is more for AF-S capturing, this for AFC and tracking. Best regards Bengt Select the followings within the Menu - AF with Viewfinder 1st Frame Action in AF-C -> Release Priority Action in AF.C Cont. -> Auto Hold AF Status -> Low or Medium Action when AF fails -> Drive Lens

[@KobieMC]

You rock!

[@scrptwic]

Kobie In order to get decent autofocus speed on my *istDL I have to use spot autofocus and I leave it in continuous autofocus. It gives me dark pictures which I fix in post processing

[@giovani78]

First of all thank you for the videos, got my k-3 iii yesterday and that helped a ton 🙏🏼☺️ Now, I have this wierd issue with my k-3 autofocus. Im trying to fine tune the autofocus on my old smc pentax-f 1.7 50mm lens because its always off when shooting with the viewfinder. It was like this on my old k-3 also. But to my surprise the lens works absolutely awesome when shooting with in live view. The autofocus is spot on and everything is tac sharp even at 1.7 opening. Have you had the same issue with any of your lenses? Best regards.

[@KobieMC]

In live view the focus is done right from the image sensor so it'll always be accurate. In OVF it uses a separate AF sensor under the mirror which can require adjustment for some lenses. Almost all my lenses have needed to be fine tuned in the K-3 III.

[@johncantrell614]

Hi. Just got a new Pentax k-3lll, and I am having a problem with it. I am sure nothing is wrong with the camera, but I am missing something someplace, and the booklet is not much of a help. I have used the original k-3 for a few years now, and have a Pentax af-540fgz flash unit I use with it. I put that on my new camera, and set up a shot with the camera on manual. I hit the shutter, and the flash doesn’t fire. It will not fire on any mode, program or manual, I get the message that the flash is not available in the current mode. I go to the flash setting in the camera menu, and hit it to make a selection on it, and I get the same message again, that flash is not available in the current mode. What am I missing here? I know the flash is fine, because it works great on my original k-3. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[@KobieMC]

Are you in electronic shutter mode? Flash is disabled while using electronic shutter.

[@johncantrell614]

@@KobieMC you nailed it! Thank you so much. I wonder if that same thing will happen with the original k-3, never tried it. One final question, if you do not mind. At the moment I have the flash on high speed sync, but the camera is not letting me go past 1/200 of a second. The camera is in manual mode. Is there something special I have to do for that? Thanks.

[@KobieMC]

@@johncantrell614 The Flash needs to be in TTL mode for the camera to work in HSS.

[@johncantrell614]

@@KobieMC I found the problem later. I forgot about that settings lock button, I am still sometimes hitting it when I pick the camera up. 😂 I must have the last time. Oh well, still got a little studying to go on it. I am sure there is a learning curve on it. I am so used to the mark 1, my fingers have to be retrained. Thank you for your help, it is very much appreciated! 🙂

[@KobieMC]

@@johncantrell614 Ah, yes the lock button. That would definately cause settings change issues.

[@johncantrell614]

Just curious, I will be getting my mark lll soon. What is the latest firmware number if you know, and if you load the most recent update, will you also be uploading all of the updates that the camera does not have when you select the most current one, or must you do each one your camera does not have individually? Thanks! 🙂

[@KobieMC]

Welcome to the K-3 Mark III club! The latest firmware is 1.31 and yes, you only need to do the latest update as all previous updates are inside the latest one. No need to do each one on its own. Just the most current. www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/k-3-3.html

[@johncantrell614]

@@KobieMC thank you so much for the information. I am like a kid on Christmas, it is supposed to show up in a few days . Have had my trusty original k-3 for a few years now, and it still is a great camera that will be my backup. Decided to take the plunge and get the new one, so I can grow into it. Judging by your great videos, I think I will be pleasantly surprised with the upgrades! Thanks again! 🙂

[@KobieMC]

If you have any questions, don't feel bad about emailing me. I'll help as much as I can. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the new camera 👍🏽

[@standhd]

Make sure you feed Freeda!😛

[@KobieMC]

Lol I look after her

[@rmgwheelsspokeslab.7767]

Dear Kobie, there´s something almost nobody pays the attention I believe it has: EXPOSURE METERING. You know how hectic we are about AF, megapixels, noise, tilting screens and lots and lots of specs, but there´s a forgotten point which is Exposure Metering. I´m Nikon shooter but I love Pentax cameras too. My D90 overexposed. Loooot of use for many years gave me the ability to almost automaticaly predict how and where it will overexpose in order to compensate it. Then I purchased the D500 and for sure it has a far better metering, but it also has an overexposing tendency. I´ve bought a D7100 and it´s showing a big tendency to overexpose. before purchasing the D500 I tried a K3-II and it had a tendency to UNDERexpose, but I must say it´s much better in order not to lose detail on the image. This K3-III has a metering sensor with an amazingly big number of pixels. I wonder how it works. What´s an image with a wrong light metering??? A whole s***t, right? Have you made a video covering this or would you mind making it when possible, please? Thanks! (If it´s helpful I would also add a part reviewing the postediting ability to recover shadows and highlights too)

[@KobieMC]

Excellent idea!!! That will be coming up!