U.S. Users Can Now Autofocus on Stars With Pentax K-1

Do you wish your camera could autofocus on stars—without reframing? Good news. The venerable Pentax K-1 DSLR now has Star AF available in the U.S. Autofocusing on pinpoint stars just got a whole lot easier—and you can forget endless pixel-peeping.

Wow, Pentax, Really?

Yes, really. Pentax. A woefully overlooked camera, the Pentax K-1 was introduced in February 2016. It came loaded with features, including some of the most robust weatherproofing you'll ever see, Astrotracer for tracking stars in-camera, a fantastic-looking LED, Night Vision LCD, outstanding image quality, and more. It’s why, even in today’s mirrorless world, the K-1 is still my go-to for night photography. It's a joy to use.

An Even Bigger Surprise

There was something I really didn't expect: new features still being rolled out nearly a decade later! Pentax has rolled out black-and-white modes, expanded Astrotracer (including one that doesn’t need GPS), and now—Star AF. And yet people still ask me if Pentax even exists!

And yes, they're still kicking. And still busy at work, it seems. They rolled out Star AF in the United States this summer.

Why Autofocus for Stars Is Such a Great Feature

When I teach my night photography workshops, I notice that my participants often have a challenging time with focusing on the stars. Manually twisting the lens and zooming in using Live View in the dark can be frustrating for some. Even for experienced night photographers, it can take a while to lock on focus.

With Star AF, the camera locks onto stars automatically. This frees us up to focus on the creative side instead of squinting at tiny pixels and twisting focus rings on our lenses. That’s worth it every time.

What Is Star AF?

Ricoh says, "Normally, you would pinpoint on a star that is the easiest to bring into focus, then compose the image. With the Star AF, however, you can compose the image first, then focus on stars using the camera’s autofocus system." It’s not instant—expect a few seconds—but it’s far faster and, yes, even more precise than manual focusing.

Other brands have dabbled here: Nikon’s high-end mirrorless cameras have Starlight View, which boosts Live View for easier low-light focusing, while OM System (Olympus) offers Starry Sky AF. The catch? You often need to recompose.

Not so with Pentax. With Star AF, you half-press the shutter, the AF area magnifies, the camera analyzes star points, and when the box turns green—you’re locked in. No refocusing until you change it. Nice. You can read more about how to use Pentax Star AF here.

How You Can Get Star AF

Pentax is charging for this firmware update, so Star AF is not included by simply updating your firmware. You'll have to purchase it as part of the Astrophoto Assist premium function for supported Pentax cameras:

• PENTAX K-1 (with latest firmware update)
• PENTAX K-1 Mark II (with latest firmware update)
• K-3 Mark III
• K-3 Mark III Monochrome only*

(*Please note that this is not available for the K-3/K-3II)

You can purchase the Astrophoto Assist from their website, where it is currently $79.95.

Don't Make the Same Mistakes I Do

Now, I'm going to tell you something that may help you if you don't read the instructions as carefully as I do. The instructions state, "During checkout, please enter the model name and serial number of the product you own that you wish to add the Astrophoto Assist feature to in the customer notes section."

Guess who skipped that step? Yeah. Me. I kept searching for a dedicated field and mistakenly checked out without adding it. Luckily, Ricoh responded to my email by issuing the license key the next day. But do yourself a favor and save the headache—read the instructions carefully.

Wrap-Up

Star AF is one of those features that not a lot of cameras have. Using autofocus for the stars means no peering at Live View and continually refocusing. If you shoot the night sky, Pentax Star AF is worth every penny.

Want More Information?

Of course you do! Check out this video from night photographer Tim Little, who is also an avid user of the Pentax K-1. He goes into great detail about purchasing, installing, and using Star AF.