[rish_077]

Hello Pentaxians. Finally decided to join in the Pentax community. As a little introduction of my history with Pentax:

Started with Pentax a few years ago with ZX-60 and 28-90 kit lens. Nice little Film Camera had some enjoyable days with it. A few years into film world and decided to take a plunge with DSLR and bought ist Ds. Back then was a good stater camera with 18-55 kit lens. From that moved to K200D and finally now own a K-5 body. I wish I had kept the K200D but alas tight budget and wanted to move to K-5. Basically have only one body now. I can tell Pentax has come a long ways from film world into digital and definitely have been surpassing quality with every new body they introduced. Really looking forward for the Full Frame now as all other manufacturers have their Full Frames in market for a few years now.

I am an enthusiast and mostly take photos of kid's activities. So will say more indoor than outdoor. Used to do landscapes but priorities shift after kids. I loved when I upgraded from K200D to K-5 because of its ability to take sharp non-grainy photos at performances in low indoor light.

Still learning K-5 and its full potential. I can say, I end up learning something new, everytime I use my camera and it does amazes me how little I know about photography world even after about 15 years since I ever held my first Pentax.

I have been in a little dilemma and wanted to get some advice from experts like you all on this forum.

Whenever I am going for these performances I always have to make a decision whether I should take video or photos as I have only one body with me. I have finally come up with some small amount of money saved up to buy a second body now and have been very difficult for me to make a decision whether I should buy another K-5 or something different. I am planning to use one body for video and another for pictures.

Has any of you in same situation as I am? If so, what body will you recommend for a person who is on a budget? I wish I can buy K-3 or K-3II but money is definitely a constraint here.

Any suggestions?

[Nakedgun]

Welcome!

I don't shoot video with my K-5, so I can't help you, there, but I'm sure someone here can.

Enjoy your stay.

[TER-OR]

What kind of video? If you need to use your longer or specialized lenses, then video is important on your DSLR. It's not Pentax's strongest selling point though the new ones are better. If it's casual or close use, then there are more compact options out there.

K5 can deliver great results once you've become good at managing your settings, plus it's quite rugged.

[bertwert]

Welcome to the forum!

[rish_077]

What kind of video? If you need to use your longer or specialized lenses, then video is important on your DSLR. It's not Pentax's strongest selling point though the new ones are better. If it's casual or close use, then there are more compact options out there.

K5 can deliver great results once you've become good at managing your settings, plus it's quite rugged.

Hi Terry,

What kind of video? If you need to use your longer or specialized lenses, then video is important on your DSLR. It's not Pentax's strongest selling point though the new ones are better. If it's casual or close use, then there are more compact options out there.

Thanks for your input. I am into taking videos for indoor performances like kid's ballet etc. Overall kid's related activities in general. Not too many close ups.

Talking about lenses, recently I acquired Tamron 70-200 (after a lot of convincing to wife finally got the permission to get one) and tried it out at a performance. Made me realize I should have gone for it sooner (got wife to accept that as well). There is really no substitute for fast lenses. I have Sigma 75-300 which i picked up on local craigslist a while ago for cheap and that used to be my goto lens in such scenarios before I received Tamron. Sigma is good but not as good as Tamron 70-200.

K5 can deliver great results once you've become good at managing your settings, plus it's quite rugged.

You mentioned something about settings. Is there a guide available for setting K-5 to perform at its best? Also any ideas on how to select a specific mode for getting best results will be helpful.

[TER-OR]

You mentioned something about settings. Is there a guide available for setting K-5 to perform at its best? Also any ideas on how to select a specific mode for getting best results will be helpful.

Generally I use TAv mode. One wheel for aperture, one for shutter speed. I generally set aperture based on what I'm doing and conditions, then adjust the shutter speed to keep ISO in a comfortable range. Managing that is the brain, since it's all trade-offs. Keep the shutter speed high for action, maximize aperture for depth-of-field, get ISO as low as possible for the least noise, now combine those for your task. You can use P mode for this, but generally I find TAv more convenient.

For instance, since I do a lot of field macro work chasing insects around. Aperture is primary, since I want as deep an image as possible and can tolerate a little added noise. Aperture of 13 is pretty common for me, then adjust shutter speed fast to avoid motion blur. On a bright sunny day shutter speed can be 1/500 and ISO will vary between 400 and 1600. If it's not windy at all, I'll let the shutter speed fall to 1/250 and get ISO in the 200 range. I will also use only the center focus point, and center-weighted light metering because I'm centering my subject and don't want the camera deciding to focus on something else. I will switch between autofocus and manual focus depending on conditions. It SOUNDS like a lot to manage, but you will quickly figure out the controls are literally at your fingertips.

The flagship range doesn't have scene modes like the introductory-range cameras. You're expected to use the settings to do this yourself. These cameras do have User Modes, though. Those can save settings for common conditions, and are very handy. There are some recommended settings for various cameras here in their specific threads. Generally I prefer neutral colors, and adjust that in post-processing. There are also some threads you'll find about how to shoot well in low-light, or in snow, and other challenging conditions.

If you shoot in RAW format and use a program like Lightroom to "develop" your images you will have a LOT of flexibility to adjust exposure, color levels, shadows etc. It really is amazing how much information modern sensors capture.

[debakarma]

Welcome to the forum.
I have 2 bodies (K3 & K5iis), but for shooting video for my kids, I use my old Panasonic LX3. Its pocketable, and still gives decent video Have been considering the LX7 as an upgrade. The Pentax is heavier, bulkier and you certainly need a tripod to get good video quality. I am sure other members will point out a better video choice which falls within you smaller budget/bulk considerations.

[aacjr]

Welcome aboard. I can't give you to much advice on shooting video as I only use my K5 to shoot stills.

[rish_077]

I am considering between K-50 and K-S1 for video purpose primarily and for pictures as back-up to my K-5. Has anyone used both K-50 and K-S1 for video or photos? An insight from direct user will be really helpful.

[Kerrowdown]

wanted to get some advice from experts like you all on this forum

Welcome, well that safely rules me out them.