davidd's A Doll A Day 2019

[Alliecat]

Whoa. At f2 I'm not surprised it's not sharp. That aperture on my 50mm has next to no DOF. So you've probably solved one problem. Ditto the 1/30. Tripod and smaller aperture should solve a big part of the problem. Of course if the extension tube is costing you stops, you'll definitely have another reason to use the tripod.
I sometimes start a shoot & am just lazy about hauling out the tripod. I start, think I'm going to get away with it, then say, "OK, if you're gonna do it, do it right", & go get it. Always worth the effort.
I get frustrated when the K-x picks ISO's or other things on its own (I usually use aperture mode for dolls) & the "manual" option isn't really manual. When I do use it, I have to go into other modes to set an ISO or an aperture or a shutter speed, then back to manual & hope it "stuck" across modes. I didn't read all of my book either. I started, with good intentions, but then I just went & used it.
Oooh, I don't think the K-x will let you adjust the AF. I'm not actually sure. Sometimes people on that forum make suggestions that don't apply to your camera. If you do it, will be interesting to hear how.
Again with the focus, I get choosing single-point focus (not sure mine will do that either; it'll meter off a point (supposedly; never works well), but dunno about focus)... but, I wonder if tiny eyes on a small figure are still a bit too small for the camera to use. If eyesight is an issue for manual focus, I understand. It can be hard to tell if you've got your "point" in focus on a tiny screen. Some days I have better luck than others.
Will also be interesting to hear how the focus test goes if you do it.

Oh, and another option for shorter minimum focus distance without giving up f-stops is closeup lenses. You've maybe seen these? Just little screw-on things like a filter:

Looks like you can get much better ones than my $11 pawn-shop set! Which looks just like these. You'll give up DOF so you have to use a really small aperture, so definitely a tripod, but it won't cost you light. I absolutely loooooove them for abstract flower images, although I find the digital camera doesn't do as well with them -- it's harder to pick that focus point.

Geez I miss my K1000