South Texas up in the mix.

Young_buck · 10-27-2016, 07:23 PM

Good evening everyone!

Im working on a project that will entail taking pictures of people in low light conditions, recording live music performances, and even music interviews. I got a Pentax k50 for a reasonable price, and may have just scored a nice DA 14mm f2.8 lens and a K5-II for 55 bucks. I need another lens for my k50 now but ill look in the for sale pages soon.

In my research I see that Pentax may not be the best for video recording, perhaps it would make sense to sell the K5-II and upgrade to a more capable Pentax? (video wise).

Main goal is to practice practice practice night shooting and hone the video skills. My partners all have canons, 80D is the king of the hill.......for now.

**Nakedgun** · 10-27-2016, 08:57 PM

Welcome!

I shoot no video so I can't help with that question, but others here can, no doubt.

**UncleVanya** · 10-27-2016, 10:06 PM

Sadly no Pentax is all that good at video. A good friend of mine after 20 years with Pentax just sold his gear and moved to Canon as his music video shooting had outgrown Pentax. I don't know if he would be willing to discuss his reasons but if you PM me your email information I will pass it to him. Your needs may not be the same.

**Kerrowdown** · 10-27-2016, 10:49 PM

Welcome aboard, I'm just a stills photographer, but with later Pentax cameras and fast lenses I'm able to get what I need.

**BigMackCam** · 10-29-2016, 01:55 AM

Hello and welcome to the forums - glad you could join us.

As has already been mentioned, there are better choices than Pentax for video. For stills photography, I don't think you can get better - different, but not better. Video, though, is a weak point. It's definitely possible to produce good video with Pentax cameras, and we have some professional video folks here on the forums who may be able to advise - but you need more skill and have to work at it harder than if you were to use something like Canon, Sony or Panasonic.

Young_buck · 10-30-2016, 07:42 PM

Thanks for the advice!

For night shooting, which camera should I keep, the k-50 or K5-II

**UncleVanya** · 10-30-2016, 09:12 PM

Originally posted by Young_buck

Thanks for the advice!

For night shooting, which camera should I keep, the k-50 or K5-II

K5ii seems like the logical choice but I have only used the k50 and k3 so I can't give direct feedback. Both use the same sensor but the k5ii has 14 but raw which could be helpful.

Kevwaly · 10-30-2016, 09:51 PM

Originally posted by Young_buck

Thanks for the advice!

For night shooting, which camera should I keep, the k-50 or K5-II

Keep the K5II for lower light shooting. Also better in several other areas.

Young_buck · 10-31-2016, 06:52 AM

Wow, well....the K5 II comes in the mail today, I bought some batteries from Amazon for it, (Prime FTW) the owner wasn't sure if it worked.....he just threw it in with the lens purchase I made. It was his dead uncles...yeesh. hopefully it works, and isn't haunted...like in every pic I take, his ghostly face comes out haha.

Kevwaly · 10-31-2016, 11:20 PM

Originally posted by Young_buck

Wow, well....the K5 II comes in the mail today, I bought some batteries from Amazon for it, (Prime FTW) the owner wasn't sure if it worked.....he just threw it in with the lens purchase I made. It was his dead uncles...yeesh. hopefully it works, and isn't haunted...like in every pic I take, his ghostly face comes out haha.

In setting up your K5II, I HIGHLY recommend setting up to focus using the method described in the thread titled-
Perfect Focus Everytime
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/38-photographic-technique/236970-perfect-...everytime.html
It works so intuitively in the K5 series.
This unfortunately won't help as you're shooting video, because you will have to focus manually for that. But for stills it works magic.

Young_buck · 11-02-2016, 07:31 AM

It was Dia De Los Muertos.....and against advice I took the K50 out for NIGHT shots, trial by fire.....It was awful, I missed so many opportunities, so many blurry shots. Extremely demoralizing.

Used Auto and SCN modes....in SCN mode, I used night snap, and night portrait. The lens I'm using is SMC Pentax-DA 14mm F2.8.

Im getting a little into it, so I should probably take this to the appropriate forum.

Ill also look into the K5 Tutorial....in my anger last night I took the only lens and memory card I have put it on the K5 II and quickly snapped some nicer pics in near darkness than I did low light with the K50, in Tv mode.

Kevwaly · 11-02-2016, 10:33 PM

Originally posted by Young_buck

It was Dia De Los Muertos.....and against advice I took the K50 out for NIGHT shots, trial by fire.....It was awful, I missed so many opportunities, so many blurry shots. Extremely demoralizing.

Used Auto and SCN modes....in SCN mode, I used night snap, and night portrait. The lens I'm using is SMC Pentax-DA 14mm F2.8.

Im getting a little into it, so I should probably take this to the appropriate forum.

Ill also look into the K5 Tutorial....in my anger last night I took the only lens and memory card I have put it on the K5 II and quickly snapped some nicer pics in near darkness than I did low light with the K50, in Tv mode.

I'm not sure how far along in experience you are, perhaps this will help: In darker conditions, perhaps motion blur is the issue. Higher ISO (but not too high, - noise!), then stabilize the camera as best you can and slow the shutter down. Keep the lens at aperture 2.8.

10-27-2016, 07:23 PM	#1
Young_buck New Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: South Tex Posts: 5	South Texas up in the mix. Good evening everyone! Im working on a project that will entail taking pictures of people in low light conditions, recording live music performances, and even music interviews. I got a Pentax k50 for a reasonable price, and may have just scored a nice DA 14mm f2.8 lens and a K5-II for 55 bucks. I need another lens for my k50 now but ill look in the for sale pages soon. In my research I see that Pentax may not be the best for video recording, perhaps it would make sense to sell the K5-II and upgrade to a more capable Pentax? (video wise). Main goal is to practice practice practice night shooting and hone the video skills. My partners all have canons, 80D is the king of the hill.......for now.

11-02-2016, 07:31 AM	#11
Young_buck New Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: South Tex Posts: 5 Original Poster	It was Dia De Los Muertos.....and against advice I took the K50 out for NIGHT shots, trial by fire.....It was awful, I missed so many opportunities, so many blurry shots. Extremely demoralizing. Used Auto and SCN modes....in SCN mode, I used night snap, and night portrait. The lens I'm using is SMC Pentax-DA 14mm F2.8. Im getting a little into it, so I should probably take this to the appropriate forum. Ill also look into the K5 Tutorial....in my anger last night I took the only lens and memory card I have put it on the K5 II and quickly snapped some nicer pics in near darkness than I did low light with the K50, in Tv mode. Last edited by Young_buck; 11-02-2016 at 10:01 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Mix me up!	PixelBucket	Monthly Photo Contests	4	10-15-2016 09:32 AM
Nature Let's mix things up a bit.	Tonytee	Post Your Photos!	5	01-09-2016 07:16 AM
Sincere thanks from South Texas!	wralyn	Welcomes and Introductions	7	11-04-2015 07:42 PM
People The Only Fall Color In South Texas	sherrvonne	Post Your Photos!	0	10-30-2015 09:03 AM

10-27-2016, 08:57 PM	#2
Nakedgun Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Southwest Posts: 1,365	Welcome! I shoot no video so I can't help with that question, but others here can, no doubt.

10-27-2016, 10:06 PM	#3
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,445	Sadly no Pentax is all that good at video. A good friend of mine after 20 years with Pentax just sold his gear and moved to Canon as his music video shooting had outgrown Pentax. I don't know if he would be willing to discuss his reasons but if you PM me your email information I will pass it to him. Your needs may not be the same.

10-27-2016, 10:49 PM	#4
Kerrowdown PEG Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Highlands of Scotland... "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand" - William Blake Photos: Gallery Posts: 57,833	Welcome aboard, I'm just a stills photographer, but with later Pentax cameras and fast lenses I'm able to get what I need.

10-29-2016, 01:55 AM	#5
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,680	Hello and welcome to the forums - glad you could join us. As has already been mentioned, there are better choices than Pentax for video. For stills photography, I don't think you can get better - different, but not better. Video, though, is a weak point. It's definitely possible to produce good video with Pentax cameras, and we have some professional video folks here on the forums who may be able to advise - but you need more skill and have to work at it harder than if you were to use something like Canon, Sony or Panasonic.

10-30-2016, 07:42 PM	#6
Young_buck New Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: South Tex Posts: 5 Original Poster	Thanks for the advice! For night shooting, which camera should I keep, the k-50 or K5-II

10-30-2016, 09:12 PM	#7
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,445	Originally posted by Young_buck Thanks for the advice! For night shooting, which camera should I keep, the k-50 or K5-II K5ii seems like the logical choice but I have only used the k50 and k3 so I can't give direct feedback. Both use the same sensor but the k5ii has 14 but raw which could be helpful.

10-30-2016, 09:51 PM	#8
Kevwaly Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Photos: Gallery Posts: 188	Originally posted by Young_buck Thanks for the advice! For night shooting, which camera should I keep, the k-50 or K5-II Keep the K5II for lower light shooting. Also better in several other areas.

10-31-2016, 06:52 AM	#9
Young_buck New Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: South Tex Posts: 5 Original Poster	Wow, well....the K5 II comes in the mail today, I bought some batteries from Amazon for it, (Prime FTW) the owner wasn't sure if it worked.....he just threw it in with the lens purchase I made. It was his dead uncles...yeesh. hopefully it works, and isn't haunted...like in every pic I take, his ghostly face comes out haha.

10-31-2016, 11:20 PM	#10
Kevwaly Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Photos: Gallery Posts: 188	Originally posted by Young_buck Wow, well....the K5 II comes in the mail today, I bought some batteries from Amazon for it, (Prime FTW) the owner wasn't sure if it worked.....he just threw it in with the lens purchase I made. It was his dead uncles...yeesh. hopefully it works, and isn't haunted...like in every pic I take, his ghostly face comes out haha. In setting up your K5II, I HIGHLY recommend setting up to focus using the method described in the thread titled- Perfect Focus Everytime https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/38-photographic-technique/236970-perfect-...everytime.html It works so intuitively in the K5 series. This unfortunately won't help as you're shooting video, because you will have to focus manually for that. But for stills it works magic.

11-02-2016, 10:33 PM	#12
Kevwaly Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Photos: Gallery Posts: 188	Originally posted by Young_buck It was Dia De Los Muertos.....and against advice I took the K50 out for NIGHT shots, trial by fire.....It was awful, I missed so many opportunities, so many blurry shots. Extremely demoralizing. Used Auto and SCN modes....in SCN mode, I used night snap, and night portrait. The lens I'm using is SMC Pentax-DA 14mm F2.8. Im getting a little into it, so I should probably take this to the appropriate forum. Ill also look into the K5 Tutorial....in my anger last night I took the only lens and memory card I have put it on the K5 II and quickly snapped some nicer pics in near darkness than I did low light with the K50, in Tv mode. I'm not sure how far along in experience you are, perhaps this will help: In darker conditions, perhaps motion blur is the issue. Higher ISO (but not too high, - noise!), then stabilize the camera as best you can and slow the shutter down. Keep the lens at aperture 2.8.