Diagnosing Not So Sharp Images - Pentax K-5 (Could Just Be Me)

Kintarō Hattori

Hey Folks,

Bit of background info. I used to post here very reguarly over a decade ago. I initially started off with a Pentax K100D Super and then after some time bought myself a Pentax K-7. I had that for a while and then decided to buy a house in 2011, so the camera and most of the lenses I had were sold off to help pay for exciting things like blinds and carpets.

After a number of years with no camera I finally bought a used Pentax K-5 but didn't get to use it much as my daughter was born in 2017 and I'm a hands on Dad. So she's that bit older now and I've been wanting to get back into photography but I'm feeling a little let down with my camera. I don't know if the issue is it, or my lack of experience over the last 10+ years. I look back on some of the images I've taken with the K100D Super and the K-7 and they are razor sharp and bright. I seem to struggle in anything but very bright light to get a clean image and when I look at how sharp the FA 50mm F1.4 was on the old camera's and what I seem to get now, it's disheartening. It's the same with other lenses too. I've a Quantaray 70-300mm that's well liked but again, I don't seem to get decent images with it.

Any advice on how I can go about working out whether it's the camera or me? I've been thinking about picking up an older DSLR to see what the results on that might be like.

Hoping for some feedback. Many thanks.

(I'll throw up some images later this evening as I don't actually have any stored online)

Gregor Samsa

Throw up a few images when you get them onto your computer. Just in case you don't know, with new boards, you don't have to have them stored online, you can just attach pictures directly to your post. There's lots of things that can cause "not so sharp" images, so it's hard to know whether you're dealing with focus issues, sharpness issues or blur issues without seeing some examples.

Kintarō Hattori

Actually sitting down last night and going through the photos, I think a fair amount of it is just user error. Looking at some photos taken with the 50mm, a fair few were at F1.8-2.2. I know that's pretty wide open but I had plenty of perfectly usable shots on the older cameras but that doesn't seem workable here. Looking at some shots I have been happy with, they are higher stopped, around F4. So I may change tack on that and go from using manual mode to aperture priority.

Looking at shots taken on the telephoto, a lot were at the full 300mm and wide open. So I shoudn't be too surprised there. That said however, when I had the Sigma 70-300mm DG APO Macro, I found that very usable at 300mm. I seem to struggle to get light into the K5.

I'd have expected this to be sharper as it's F4 and ISO400.

This is the telephoto at 300mm and F5.6 so it's no surprise it's a little soft. That may not come through as much in the reduced resolution here.

An older 100mm prime lens which has great reviews but again was quite soft.

Older 28mm prime lens which again has great reviews but seems soft to me.

When all is said and done though, the 50mm can do this, so really I guess it points to me, rather than the camera.

dinneenp

Can you throw up more details- e.g. shutter speed?