[Dtusk]

Hi. I am new here and currently a Canon user but after reading about the high iso capabilities of the K5 I am considering the switch. Reason being is that right now I use a 50D, which I like a lot. It has served me well over the past several years. However, starting in the fall, my son will be entering high school and all of his football games will be played under the lights. This past season the team played two games under the lights and the 50D just did not cut it. I am allowed to stand on the sideline and the 200mm F2.8L is a great lens but I guess I am getting to the age that I am going to need IS or a camera with better results at high ISO. I am sure that the higher end Canon equipment can do the job, but I just can't afford the jump. So with the recent price reduction of the K5 and after reading that it has great high iso results and built in IS it is a serious consideration for me. Question is has anyone made the switch from a 50D or similar to the K5 and used it in the type of conditions I explained? If so what type of results did you get outdoors under the lights doing high school sports? His football games will only be a small portion of my photography, but an important one. Any input would be appreciated. I am new here so I hope I posted in the proper place. Thank you.

[manacho2005]

Welcome Dtusk! I'm sure you would make good use of the K5's high ISO abilities. If you want to see some good examples of sports shots, I would recommend checking out this forum.> https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/115277-k-5-sports-photography.html
-Also, if your son will be playing in the fall, the K5's successor may be revealed before then; if the K30 is as good as it's advertised, the new flagship model may blow some minds...

[Bob from Aus]

I have plenty of friends with canons. A lot of the talk will be about autofocus. I like the autofocus more on canons, although in theory the K5 is much much better than the 50D. I hunger for more auto focus points, but I will probably have more trouble with a lot more points anyway.

I own three K5s and am constantly amazed at the results. I don't want any other camera.

My suggestion is to make sure that pentax can offer you the lenses you need. You may find the pentax 60-250 zoom will do the job brilliantly or you want the 200 f2.8. The thing with pentax lenses is you won't have the range of choices you have with canon. For me I prefer the smaller lighter lenses. Most of the time I prefer listening to the screw focus and knowing it is at work.

You will find us a loyal but very critical bunch and we tend to over cook any problems we perceive with pentax even though all the other makes have similar issues.

best of luck, love my pentax K5s

[rawr]

I guess while the lens options may not be as adundant as Canon or Nikon, the options are probably reasonably OK for a sports shooter, roughly working one's way up in $ terms from:

- Pentax DA 55-300;
- Tamron 70-200 2.8;
- Pentax DA* 200;
- Sigma 70-200 2.8 OS;
- Pentax DA* 300;
- Pentax DA* 60-250.

It's also worth saying that not only does the K-5 let you run with good quality high ISO, it also lets you push the shadows and/or recover from stuff like underexposure very cleanly, with no banding etc. In challenging lighting, that can be very, very useful sometimes in letting you rescue important shots in post processing.

[vanyagor]

I am going to need IS or a camera with better results at high ISO

No doubt the K-5 is both of these. Though switching from something you already like a lot to something completely new is never easy. One has to learn to love the new thing. No one can predict if this will work for you. Personally I would try to avoid switching systems and find some way around the issue.

P.S.: I do love my K-5.

[berand71]

Hi.
I never used 50D before, but used 600d and 5dII many times in the past.
Even if I'm a proud owner of a K-5, I must say that Canon AF is better, in particular about "speed" and number of AF points (as said by other in this same thread).

I use K-5 often with Tamron 70-200 2.8 (really not a speedy lens...) indoor (also theatre and church with really low light). The results are good, great if you use RAW: even underexposing -0,7/-1.3 for avoiding burning of direct artificial lights on face.

Only I find that the IS of the K-5 work better with "shorter" focal lenghts: I happened to see that Canon 70-200 2.8 IS on 5dII reach better result sometimes when used at the max extension (compared with K-5 APSC sensor focal lenght).
Naturally If price is not a problem ...

I must say that I feel a little more confident with Canon FF IS lenses on focal lenght longer than 135/150mm, but take with no doubt my K-5 on shorter ones.
Hope this helps ;-)

[Dtusk]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I do understand that switching systems is something to consider carefully. I will have to check out the sports section on this forum. Hopefully I can find some pics taken in low light there. Thanks again for the info.

[ndhonghai]

Please don't. For sport you should refer:
- Canon 7D
- Nikon D300s
Since they have better AF.

[RonHendriks1966]

Well the problem is that switching systems changes everything. If I where you I would first try a monopod for this. On the other hand I did considder switching to Canon last year, but didn't do that because 1D Mark IV is so expensive and 7D doesn't deliver on this hi-iso use.

This one is taken with iso5000

[Dtusk]

wow! ron yo took that at iso 5000 and it is fantastic. What lens did you use?

[GnipGnop]

I second the monopod.

[boriscleto]

wow! ron yo took that at iso 5000 and it is fantastic. What lens did you use?

The EXIF shows he was using the DA* 300/4.

[RonHendriks1966]

wow! ron yo took that at iso 5000 and it is fantastic. What lens did you use?

As mentioned the DA*300mm set at f4 supported with a monopod. So I guess your canonstuff is already for sale But to be honest, these images are not always easy to make.

[RonHendriks1966]

Please don't. For sport you should refer:
- Canon 7D
- Nikon D300s
Since they have better AF.

You are absolutely right.

I made this picture of Justin Henin with K-7 and an old non-AI Nikkor lens 300mm/f4.5 with adapter attached to my K-7 making it a 375mm/f5.6 manual focus lens and lightmetering with the green button.

Life is so much easy with a pro sportscamera, but there is more possible then you think.

[jpzk]

Please don't. For sport you should refer:
- Canon 7D
- Nikon D300s
Since they have better AF.

I have no problem taking "fast action" shots with either my K7 or K5 with a fast lens such as the Tamron 70-200/2.8, for instance.
Granted there might be better AF systems out there but the K5 is capable of rather serious shooting if you know how to handle it!

I assume you have tested the K5 vs. these other cameras?

JP