K-x autofocus indicator issue

[junglebear]

I'm seriously considering getting the K-x as my first DSLR this christmas, but I'm a little confused about this AF point issue, or lack thereof.
So as I understand, in the viewfinder it's not possible to see the 11 AF points dotted about the screen? And what about if I dial in one autofocus point to, say, the top left of the frame, would it appear or would I have to guess where the focus point is?
Or have I misunderstood completely?

It's between the K-x and Canon 450d for me, I'm wondering if this issue is a deal-breaker or if I could live with it, because I love the look of everything else on the K-x (and the price)

Any explanation would be appreciated!

[inkista]

Hopefully someone with actual experience on a K-x will chime in, but basically, I don't think it's a showstopping deal, just a minor annoyance if you happen to have mistakenly set an AF point other than the one you think you're using.

In a camera with visible AF points, you have these dots on the viewfinder, that indicate (roughly) where the AF points are. When you select them, you'll actually see the points light up for the selection, and when AF lock occurs during shooting, the specific point that is used will light up before you take the picture. This is most useful when you're using the full matrix and the camera is automatically choosing which point you're using.

If, however, you mostly only use the center point (which most of us do, because it's the most accurate/sensitive point), and then use a half-press to lock focus, and then reframe/recompose before taking the shot, then the AF point lighting up may be less than vital to you.

There's also always a second indicator in the viewfinder, outside of the image frame, that will light up to confirm that AF lock has been achieved--you still have that in the K-x, without the light-up points on the screen. Selecting a specific AF point is probably done through the LCD on the back.

I'd say that unless you're shooting a lot of fast-moving action that's going tor require continually shifting which AF point you want to use, that you can probably get by just fine with the K-x using the center point, half-press reframe technique.

[junglebear]

That's pretty much how I imagined it would be, thanks for clearing that up though

As you said, I pretty much never use anything other than the centre point, so I can't see it being much of a problem tbh.

One thing I've since notiecd though, there's no 50mm f1.8 or similar in the lens line-up? I know you can get the old one, but that's manual focus only isn't it? (And the 1.4 is definitely out of my budget atm)

[Niresangwa]

SMC Pentax-FA 50mm F1.7 Lens Reviews - Pentax Lens Review Database

...all you have to do is find one in your price range.

[Mr Guy]

Seemed weird to me, enough so to put me off the camera.

Unfortunately, Pentax more tends to follow the philosophy of having a smaller lens selection, but trying to make all those lenses as good as possible. They don't tend to have a cheap version and expensive version. The cheap versions are used manual glass, and the new versions tend to follow right in the middle between Nikon and Canon's inexpensive lines and their pro lines, at least for prime lenses.

Sigma and Tamron fill the gap very nicely if you want an inexpensive lower quality lens. They aren't BAD lenses, it's just that Pentax primes are very, very, very good. You can essentially get something that challenges Nikkor or L-series lens at a mid grade lens price, but if you don't want that, you're almost stuck with third party or manual glass.