Pentax Digital SLR’s have many good features, but their support for the essentials of sports photography is their weakest point, until now. Pentax photographers will have to practice new techniques as the new K-5 is now one of the best Digital SLR cameras for sports.
All the major shortcomings of the older DSLRs have been dramatically improved in the K-5 to the point where Pentax’s new pro standard DSLR, the K-5, is a realistic alternative to the offerings from Canon and Nikon.
Field testing the Pentax K-5 at a local basketball venue provided opportunity to explore its capabilities under difficult lighting conditions to check for noise at higher ISO settings. The moving subjects challenged the performance of the K-5‘s autofocus system and its frame rate capabilities in continuous shooting mode.
The main shooting sessions were in a poorly lit gym over two nights of a social basketball league. The lens used is one of Pentax’s best, the DA* 50-135 f2.8 SDM zoom.
Autofocus
In basketball the centre of attention moves rapidly. In low light with wide lens apertures and the zoom lens set to telephoto focal lengths the result is a shallow depth of field requiring accurate focusing.
Pentax photographers stepping up to a K-5 for sports photography find the enhanced capabilities opening up new possibilities and techniques that were not always practical in older models, particularly autofocus.
For the Basketball sessions the focus point was locked onto the centre of the frame on the assumption that the players of interest is in the center of the frame. This concentrated the test on the speed of the focusing system. The ability of the Pentax K-5’s SAFOX IX+ autofocus system to track the moving subject out of the background and lock onto the moving subject itself is a test for another time.
Certainly the K-5, aided by the fast SDM focus motor built into the DA* 50-135 lens, satisfactorily tracked the moving players and rapid changes of court location as the players passed the ball around the court.
AF Button or Half Press Shutter release.
In normal autofocus operation the system is activated by holding shutter release button half way down. Keeping the right pressure on the shutter release for longer periods of time can be a bit awkward in Continuous Focus mode. Holding the AF button in, operates the autofocus system independently of the shutter button, and is ideal for sports photography in Continuous Focus mode. The AF button is on the back of the Pentax K-5 conveniently located for operation with the right hand thumb with the hand in a normal shooting position.
Continuous Focus mode does raise a technique issue because unlike normal mode, the shutter releases even if the system is not properly focussed. Photographers need to operate the AF button and track the subject keeping it in focus before they press the shutter button.
ISO and Noise
While technique may overcome focussing issues, ISO sensitivity and the amount of noise produced are technical issues fixed in the camera’s design and manufacturing processes.
In sports photography fast shutter speeds are common for capturing motion. When the lens is set at maximum aperture and faster shutter speeds are demanded by the situation there is no choice but to increase the ISO sensitivity. The example digital photos were all shot using an ISO of 5000 or 6400, depending on the shutter speed required.
Noise Reduction
All digital photos benefit from a degree of noise reduction, and Bibble 5 Pro has a Noise Ninja plugin as standard. The basketball sessions had slightly more aggressive noise reduction applied than normal daylight shots. Included are two versions of “Attempted Block” one with and the other without any noise reduction at all. The ISO was set at 6400 for this digital photo showing the K-5 produces useable images at this relatively high ISO setting. Of course this is only a mid range ISO setting on a Pentax K-5, as 12,800 is the maximum ISO in the normal range.
Frame Rate
The Pentax K-5 has a two speed settings for continuous shooting. However, it is possible to take single photos, even when in Continuous Hi mode, by releasing the shutter button after taking the photo. Keep the shutter button pressed and the K-5 keeps taking photos.
For many basketball situations good sports photographers use their knowledge of the game to anticipates the possible action and they only need one shot. All the example shots were shot as single images. It is an advantage to have the option if something unexpected happens.
No DSLR has a frame rate fast enough to capture all possible moments in a sequence of events, particularly precisely capture critical moments. At 7 Frames Per Second the K-5 is good, but even a top pro camera, such as Nikon’s D3S, has an absolute maximum of only 11 FPS. Contrast this with a photo finish camera for greyhound racing that is set for 1600 FPS to ensure there is at least one frame where the dog’s nose is precisely on the finish line.
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