K-7 or Kr

[chongmic]

Some pictures taken from the local market yesterday. Taken with the A 50mm F2. I wish I have those Ltd glass with me. But I'm happy with what I have currently.

[chongmic]

Few more taken with the Tokina 70-210 SD 4-5.6

[calsan]

Hi Chongmic
There's no shadows - was it an overcast day or are the markets indoors?

[chongmic]

Hi Calsan,

You are right on both conditions. The market is mostly indoor, some area are open but shaded. That day was cloudy as well. Natural lighting was definitely not ideal, and I'm avoiding flash to have more natural colors.

Still in the learning curve to take shots out of difficult situations, in most cases I let the camera do its job to select the best exposure setting, I just decide on the aperture. I would say the Kr did not disappoint me.

Only I have a bit of problem doing manual focusing without a big viewfinder or split screen focus screen. I used catch in focus in some shots, but I still find most of the focus are quite soft. Was it me or the limitation of the lens or camera?

More comments are deeply appreciated to help be to take better pictures.

[calsan]

Manual focus lenses
The camera should beep and show a red LED at the focus point if you hold down the shutter button half way- check that you have these features turned on.  This works OK in most conditions.

Sharpness
More light = more sharp.  I think, anyway.
Therefore either move your subject into the sunlight or use a flash!

You will never get a sharp photo at high ISOs:
You can test this, by taking a photo first at ISO800 and then at ISO100 with the built in flash.  The second photo will look a bit awful, but it will be noticeably sharper.

I took the attached photo with 18-55 lens and AF360fFGZ flash fired wirelessly off to the side of the camera.
Using the flash allowed me to set the ISO low and use stopped down aperture instead of wide open, which is a bit soft on the 18-55.  Having the flash off to one side, bouncing it, or using a flash diffuser like a stofen will eliminate the horrible 'flash photo' appearance.

So there's no shame in using a flash, if it's done well.