[cuepics]

What do you use when taking pics of family gatherings inside the house?

[que es tu]

What do you use when taking pics of family gatherings inside the house?

SMC DA 21mm Ltd. If I want convenience of a zoom, I will use the SMC DA 18-135. But for a small lens that won’t stick out and get bumped, the 21mm limited is the best!

[FozzFoster]

I find anything longer than 24mm is extremely difficult for in-house group shots.
But for in-house single person/cat portraits a 50mm f/1.4 will be my suggestion.

[pschlute]

What do you use when taking pics of family gatherings inside the house?

As advised above, for group shots you want something wide, so 16-22 mm. The "kit" lenses that come with any Pentax aps-c camera are up to the task.

Your main issues when shooting inside are twofold...available light and the colour of that light.

1. Available light...... if your lighting inside (natural through the windows and room lights) is not enough to light your subjects sufficiently, you will have to use a slower shutter speed or higher ISO or both. You can end up with blurry images or noisy images. Using a faster lens is not necessarily the answer. Your focus needs to be super critical in this case and may in fact be impossible to get everything in focus.

2. Indoor household lighting is the wrong colour temperature for almost all situations. If you have to rely on it I suggest you shoot raw so you can adjust the white balance in post processing.

The answer to both these problems is to use flash to light your subjects. It is a steep learning curve but is well worthwhile. It puts you back in control of the lighting.

[ChristianRock]

I use the SMC DA*16-50mm f/2.8 because it's wide enough and it's f/2.8. I usually shoot it at f/3.2 which I find to be a sweet spot for the lens. I've also used my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Art quite a bit because it's nicely sharp even at f/1.4 and massively sharp by f/1.8. Not quite as wide so I will usually have the 16-50 around just in case, but the pictures I do take with it are usually superb.

I'd say the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 might be the ideal lens for this kind of situation because it's both very fast and a zoom. But I don't have that one...

[jersey]

Depends on camera. Older one: 20-40 or 21 (old or new) Limiteds. Newer one (KP or K-3 Mk III) - 15mm Limited and high limit auto ISO.

If portrait shooting is important - 50 1.4 and flash

[Wingincamera]

For me, with the KP I like the DA20-40. If portraits I use either the DA35 macro or DA55 1.4. An example was a community Christmas party using the 20-40. I set up Godox flashes where Santa would be for those pictures and used auto iso for the rest of the photos as I roamed around the room. I use the Flashpoint (Godox) R2 Pro II Wireless Trigger so I could turn the flashes on or off as needed.

[cuepics]

So I have the K3 and the 16-50 da* which I have used most times but was struggling to find a good prime. I have an old F50 1.7 which I have tried but not enough room to work with small groups. As far as flash is concerned I find it is not an easy task, people hate them and trying to get them set up just right for the room is difficult. Seems to me that Pentax has a hole in the DA line up with a fast prime bellow the 55. If I had the K1 there are better options I think.

[luftfluss]

So I have the K3 and the 16-50 da* which I have used most times but was struggling to find a good prime. I have an old F50 1.7 which I have tried but not enough room to work with small groups. As far as flash is concerned I find it is not an easy task, people hate them and trying to get them set up just right for the room is difficult. Seems to me that Pentax has a hole in the DA line up with a fast prime bellow the 55. If I had the K1 there are better options I think.

Given how good modern cameras are at high ISO, and with Pentax bodies having IBIS, for the situation you're describing it doesn't seem all that critical to have a wide, fast prime.

[ChristianRock]

So I have the K3 and the 16-50 da* which I have used most times but was struggling to find a good prime. I have an old F50 1.7 which I have tried but not enough room to work with small groups. As far as flash is concerned I find it is not an easy task, people hate them and trying to get them set up just right for the room is difficult. Seems to me that Pentax has a hole in the DA line up with a fast prime bellow the 55. If I had the K1 there are better options I think.

That is why I have the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Art... what's not to like: fast, sharp wide open (though it does have purple fringing with the wrong light wide open), beautiful colors and rendering, silent focusing. I've said it before, this lens helps the Pentax APS-C lineup make sense and if I could only keep one lens, I think this one would be it.

[JohnMc]

What do you use when taking pics of family gatherings inside the house?

Under 28mm equiv you'll start to un-flatter folks, some of whom may be sensitive to such things.

[Lowell Goudge]

Start with basics,

Image size = Subject size x focal length / distance

If you consider a person is perhaps 6 feet on average (1.8 meters tall) and for a group shot, you are shooting landscape, you want that 1.8 meters inside the 16 mm frame. The format would give you a width of 2.7 meters, assuming the person is standing. That would allow easily for 4-6 people wide in the shot.

What you get from my handy little formula if you rearrange it is a ratio of working distance and focal length to use.

The result would be 13 mm of focal length per meter of working distance

But as others have noted, perspective distortion with ultra wide angle lenses would perhaps not be very flattering

[clackers]

Group photos in a small space mean wide angle, with the dangers of wide angle! That's typically less than 35mm on APS-C.

IMHO, move everyone to some part of the house that is better for you photographically - it will have a large even area of window to let light in, or it will have white ceiling and corners that you can point your flash towards.

The shooting location may well not be where they are comfortable or presently are so they will have to get up and walk, but it will only be for a short time I'm sure because all families like fast shooting. They think in their heads that one or two frames is a couple of minutes, tops. To not disappoint them, you should choose beforehand and even take test shots before anyone's arrived.

Compose so they are in the middle, go back as far as you can to minimize geometric distortion, and watch for any objects at the edges that will stretch out and be a distraction in the final image. Remove them for the shot if necessary.

Poor light is your enemy. You will be tempted to open the aperture to compensate, but that has depth of field complications, as mentioned here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/58-troubleshooting-beginner-help/437665-...-portrait.html

Once you've nailed a group photo, everyone can disperse, you can review the photos yourself, then set about part two of your shoot: going around and eventually getting photos of small groups and individuals, so that for 'coverage', everyone appears in at least the main group photo and one other.

The oldest generation members of a family you'll have to cuddle, reassure and coax, they'll tend to be uncomfortable, anyone from the age of selfies will be fine even if you don't know them well as long as you're quick.

[leekil]

That is why I have the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Art... what's not to like: fast, sharp wide open (though it does have purple fringing with the wrong light wide open), beautiful colors and rendering, silent focusing. I've said it before, this lens helps the Pentax APS-C lineup make sense and if I could only keep one lens, I think this one would be it.

Why not the FA 31 limited?

[ChristianRock]

Why not the FA 31 limited?

Cost, of course. and to be honest I think the Sigma Art lens is on about the same level. Having never had the FA 31, I don't crave for it because I think the Sigma has it covered. It might be a bit like the discussion of DA 70 vs FA 77 (and honestly, having the DA 70, I think the Sigma 30 1.4 is actually a slightly better lens in terms of the quality of the pictures I get from it - in its focal length - than the DA 70 Limited).

You can get the Sigma used in the 200s, easily even in the low 200s nowadays. I think in this case you're getting more than what you pay for. The 31 isn't 3x as good as the Sigma Art.