[Roob-N-Boots]

Hey guys, I'll be heading out to Comic-Con this Saturday thanks to a coworker who gave me a ticket. It will be my first time attending and I need help putting a kit together. Since my main priority is to take pics, I was thinking of taking both my griped K-5 and k-01 on a two camera harness. Here is what I was thinking about packing with me.

K-5 w/grip and F-50 1.7
K-01 w/ F-28 2.8 or FA35 2
F-135 2.8
DA10-17 fish eye?

or
K5 w/grip and DA*50-135
K-01 w/DA*16-50 (great pair, sharp images even at @ F2.8)
F50.7
DA10-17?

or
K5 w/grip F135 2.8
K-01 w/DA*16-50
F50 1.7
DA10-17?

Or another kit, I also have a AF540 flash but I don't know if I should take it. Thanks in advance guys!

[adpo]

from my experience at conventions, you'll want to go wide due to restrictions in working space from all the crowds. You also don't want to carry too much and you should be switching lenses as little as possible. The only time you'll want a tele is if you plan on shooting the panels. IMO, the best combination out of what you have would be:
K-5 with DA*16-50
K-01 with DA10-17
F135 and flash

With that being said, I'll be spending the weekend camera-less and in costume

[geomez]

Option B

[Docrwm]

Wider is better, as is light gathering but with the K-5's ISO performance wide is more important than fast. You'll have VERY little room with the crowds and hallways to zoom with your feet.

[SpecialK]

16-50 and 10-17. Done :-)

[Roob-N-Boots]

Thanks a lot guys! And to think I was going to take either the F28 or FA35 as my widest lens, I'll be taking ADPO's kit plus the F50 because it is small, light, fast and one of my favorite portrait lenses.

With that being said, I'll be spending the weekend camera-less and in costume

Who are you dressing up as if you don't mind me asking? If you see a dual Pentax wielding 6'2' shaved head hispanic, flag me down. I swear, I only look mean.

Again thank you guys for the recommendations, you guys are life savers or should I say photography saviors! :-) -Ruben

[carrrlangas]

k-5 with da*16-50
k-01 with da10-17
f135 and flash

+1

16-50 and 10-17. Done :-)

+1

[crewl1]

Hi Ruben-
I was at Anime Expo earlier this month at LA Convention and lighting was really poor. I recall San Diego convention center being similar.
I used a K-5 and DA21 with external flash hand held with wireless triggers for most of the day.
Near the end of the day I also used the Q with 01 prime (47mm eq)
The 21 worked best for the full person shots, the Q with 01 was only good for upper body portraits due to the available distance in the crowded halls.
I'd go wide (DA*16-50), and if you have external flash bring it, or else plan to run at wide open f stops and high ISOs
The 10-17 may be too fishy and not fast enough if you don't have flash, but it can make for some cool shots if you have the light.
At Anime Expo there were even guys walking around with umbrella flash setups.

[adpo]

Who are you dressing up as if you don't mind me asking? If you see a dual Pentax wielding 6'2' shaved head hispanic, flag me down. I swear, I only look mean.

I'll be either rule 63 Sailor Mercury, one of the students from Ouran Host Club or a sexy police officer for a sexy Village People group. Have fun shooting!

[EarlVonTapia]

I'll just throw this out there.

An oddball kit of the F 50 1.7 + the DA 10-17 Fishy could work well. As a bonus, it's pretty light. I've just been having fun with my own fisheye (for the Q) and I find it gives a refreshing perspective to the usual group shot or environment shot. The F 50 of course is for killer portraits.

Either way, have fun at the con! I've just recently gotten back into anime. I watched all of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime episodes, and all the Rebirth movies. If I was going, I would totally dress up in a plug suit.

I'll be either rule 63 Sailor Mercury . . .

0_0

[mickey]

Like specialk and adpo wrote.
Wide is good.
I went to Star Wars convention and took my K10 and Sigma 17-70 with K50/1.4, but never used the 50 because I felt the zoom was very useful and the Sigma had it covered.
I could have done with something wider on occasions, but don't have anything.
The 50-135 would be good for portraits.
A flash would be good to take too.

So, exactly what adpo wrote:
K-5 with DA*16-50
K-01 with DA10-17
F135 and flash

[Roob-N-Boots]

Hi Ruben-
I was at Anime Expo earlier this month at LA Convention and lighting was really poor. I recall San Diego convention center being similar.
I used a K-5 and DA21 with external flash hand held with wireless triggers for most of the day.
Near the end of the day I also used the Q with 01 prime (47mm eq)
The 21 worked best for the full person shots, the Q with 01 was only good for upper body portraits due to the available distance in the crowded halls.
I'd go wide (DA*16-50), and if you have external flash bring it, or else plan to run at wide open f stops and high ISOs
The 10-17 may be too fishy and not fast enough if you don't have flash, but it can make for some cool shots if you have the light.
At Anime Expo there were even guys walking around with umbrella flash setups.

Hi Larry,
Thanks for the tips, looks like i"ll be packing two cactus V5s in my bag. I planed on using the Wing-light Diffuser in more open areas, I'll probably bring an external battery pack for AF540 since recharge time is a real pain in the you know what. I much prefer my Younguo 560 II(use off camera) when it comes to recharge time but I need the auto functions this time. I know I'm taking more gear than I would normally carry but this will give me a chance to get to know my gear better when it comes to being an event setting, since a couple of coworkers want me to shoot there engagement shower in about a month. This will be my Comic-Con recon visit, I will adjust my kit accordingly for my next visit. Again thanks Larry, hope I can join you guys up for the next So-Cal meet.

[Roob-N-Boots]

I'll be either rule 63 Sailor Mercury, one of the students from Ouran Host Club or a sexy police officer for a sexy Village People group. Have fun shooting!

Cool! Thanks, I think I'll have a blast.

he F 50 of course is for killer portraits.

I know I love it, even wide open it is very sharp, at least my copy.

Either way, have fun at the con! I've just recently gotten back into anime. I watched all of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime episodes, and all the Rebirth movies. If I was going, I would totally dress up in a plug suit.

I will. Maybe next year I'll dress up, I didn't know I was going to go until a couple days ago so it did not give me time to prepare.

So, exactly what adpo wrote:
K-5 with DA*16-50
K-01 with DA10-17
F135 and flash

Yup,exactly what I'm taking plus the F50 since it is so small, light, fast AF and sharp even wide open that I know I'll regret it if i don't pack it.

[crewl1]

Hi Larry,
Thanks for the tips, looks like i"ll be packing two cactus V5s in my bag. I planed on using the Wing-light Diffuser in more open areas, I'll probably bring an external battery pack for AF540 since recharge time is a real pain in the you know what. I much prefer my Younguo 560 II(use off camera) when it comes to recharge time but I need the auto functions this time. I know I'm taking more gear than I would normally carry but this will give me a chance to get to know my gear better when it comes to a an event setting, since a couple of coworkers want me to shoot there engagement shower in about a month. This will be my Comic-Con recon visit, I will adjust my kit accordingly for my next visit. Again thanks Larry, hope I can join you guys up for the next So-Cal meet.

Good plan Ruben.

I used my 540 in manual mode and set it to partial power which I varied until I got the right mix.
I use the PT triggers so no PTTL support.
Running at 1/16 or 1/32 makes for quick ready times since it does not dump the whole load on each shot, you can take another shot right away.
I used a Stofen clone diffuser this time. I have not done too much flash work and should practice more.

My biggest annoyance was the flash not remember settings when it would go auto off so I had to keep resetting it to my preferences.

Have fun, I'm sure you will have plenty of photo opps

[mickey]

Be sure to post some photos when you can.