[jdplante71]

I do a lot of track and cross country photography and typically use my 55-300 PLM outside with great results. Indoor track is definitely more tricky with the lousy lighting in most situations. I end up using a 50mm f/1.8 prime many times, especially since I usually have access to the track and am not stuck in the stands. I was thinking that the new DA* 16-50 PLM might be a good investment for this sort of thing. Does anyone have experience with this lens for indoor action shots and if so what are your thoughts?

Thanks for your help.

[gatorguy]

I do a lot of track and cross country photography and typically use my 55-300 PLM outside with great results. Indoor track is definitely more tricky with the lousy lighting in most situations. I end up using a 50mm f/1.8 prime many times, especially since I usually have access to the track and am not stuck in the stands. I was thinking that the new DA* 16-50 PLM might be a good investment for this sort of thing. Does anyone have experience with this lens for indoor action shots and if so what are your thoughts?

Thanks for your help.

I've used it very successfully for a few live music events indoors and/or in poor light and it's performed well. Focus is the fastest of any of my Pentax lenses. Immediate for all practical intent. I don't know that the lens is actually speedy enough for a fast-moving athletic event tho. Since in track and field the movement of the subject is fairly predictable my intuition says it would work fine. Tennis or ping pong might be more challenging.

[Paul the Sunman]

What apertures do you end up using with your fast 50? Would the f/2.8 of the zoom be a limiting factor?

I don't have the 16-50, but its PLM seems to be the snappiest around. Which camera would you use it with?

[rogerstg]

I do a lot of track and cross country photography and typically use my 55-300 PLM outside with great results. Indoor track is definitely more tricky with the lousy lighting in most situations. I end up using a 50mm f/1.8 prime many times, especially since I usually have access to the track and am not stuck in the stands. I was thinking that the new DA* 16-50 PLM might be a good investment for this sort of thing. Does anyone have experience with this lens for indoor action shots and if so what are your thoughts?

Thanks for your help.

But will it be long enough? Depending on your camera model, I find the older 50-135 f2.8 to be a solid performer on my KP whenever shooting an indoor venue where I need a faster zoom. Focus is very quick on that body.

[jdplante71]

I'd be using it with the K3-III. I don't think the f/2.8 would be much of a limiting factor. The main goal is obviously to deal with the light issues, but also to improve my "in-focus" success rate. I had a much better hit rate when I switched to the 55-300 PLM for outside sports photography.

[mikesbike]

If the 16-50mm range is within your requirements, and you need a fast, constant-aperture zoom lens for framing moving subjects, that one on the new K-3 III will be tops for the need you describe. Your 50mm prime lens would provide even more aperture, but then you have no zooming ability to reframe moving subjects. The K-3 III's superb higher ISO performance combined with its high frame rate for burst shots, and the PLM ultra-fast AF should be a winning combination. I wish the very fine DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 lens were upgraded with a new AF system. That would make a lot of sense, in light of recent developments.

[Macario]

I have the old 16-50 converted to screwdrive AF. And I use that one a lot indoors for action photography (dance battles).

And since I have the K-3III the hit rate is much higher compared to the hitrate with my old K-3. And they say the PLM version is even faster. So yes, you would benefit from it I think.
I pair it with a Tamron 28-75 and a Tamron 70-200. To have a loner range covered. But when I am close to the action, it is the 16-50 that is on my camera (outdoors I use the old 16-45, to safe some weight)

[TwoUptons]

This made me think of my time as a photographer for my university newspaper about 30 years ago.
If I'd had a K3iii with a 16-50 f2.8 PLM instead of a Super Program with TMAX 3200 and a 50mm 1.4 manual focus, wow...
My indoor sports photos would have been so much better... once someone invented the SD card reader

So yes, I think it would help
Though I'm also thinking basketball... that's a hard one unless you have a lot of light...

-Eric

[UncleVanya]

I do a lot of track and cross country photography and typically use my 55-300 PLM outside with great results. Indoor track is definitely more tricky with the lousy lighting in most situations. I end up using a 50mm f/1.8 prime many times, especially since I usually have access to the track and am not stuck in the stands. I was thinking that the new DA* 16-50 PLM might be a good investment for this sort of thing. Does anyone have experience with this lens for indoor action shots and if so what are your thoughts?

Thanks for your help.

I’d ask yourself, “Am I too tight or too loose when framing with the fixed 50mm prime more?” To me knowing that helps you decide what lens is appropriate. If you find you are too close and too tight much of the time then 16-50 makes sense. If you find you are most often a little too wide then 16-50 isn’t a great choice. If you are as often wishing wider as you are longer then a 24-70 or 28-75 2.8 lens would be my choice.

The 50-135 on my KP is sufficiently fast for how I shoot, but I’ve not tried indoor track and I’m unsure of how it would do. These are however cheap these days and you could probably buy a y used ones and try it and off it didn’t work out sell it.

A 24-70 or 28-75 seems a good range for indoor sports and f2.8 is available. Several focusing options exist and they aren’t slow focusing lenses in general.

[bdery]

I was thinking that the new DA* 16-50 PLM might be a good investment for this sort of thing.

If the FOV suits your needs, this lens focuses impressively fast, especially coupled with a K-3 III.