[shiner]

Welcome! I've either had or still have a large portion of the Pentax DSLR range (except so far the K-1). I love the KP, it's an awesome camera in many ways! I also would recommend the 55-300 PLM as a must have general purpose value tele-zoom- it's an awesome lens and a great value. I used to haul my DA*300 to airshows, but at this point I pretty much rely on the PLM, short of maybe very low light situations.

[normhead]

Your best option would be the DFA*70-200.
Tamron and Sigma 70-200s can be had for less money, especially second hand.

I really dislike shooting a lens less than ƒ2.8 indoors with moving targets. You need as much light helping the AF system as possible Even if you shoot at ƒ4 or ƒ5.6.

I do use the DA 55-300 for birding. It's great for subjects in full sun, but warblers hopping around in the shade of bushes or a forest canopy, I've never actually locked focus on, even once in 3 or 4 opportunities. Moving and low light means degraded AF, regardless of the high ISO performance of the camera, although Pentax is better than most a low light focus performance.

One of my grand daughters is big into gymnastics. I find getting good images in practice in the gym to be near impossible. The light in those gyms is terrible. You really need every advantage you can get. There just are no acceptable cheap options, at least in my experience. ƒ4 can even be a problem, ƒ5.6 or 6.3 you won't even try and use if you have faster glass.

[mikesbike]

For indoor sports, as Norm says, you generally need a lens of f/2.8 aperture. Which one largely depends on your shooting distance. If you can shoot from a reasonably close distance, the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC might serve you well. For longer distances, the DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 might be long enough. The 55-300mm PLM lens is not adequate in aperture, unless you keep to the shorter end of its range. I own the older non-PLM version, which operates on the old screw-driven technology, and its aperture is a little better, and it can keep to f/4-4.5 all the way up to 200mm. With the KP, you can go with a higher ISO setting than with virtually any camera other than the K-70, so that f/4-4.5 becomes close in serving the same use as f/2.8 on those other cameras. This lens does not have as fast AF as thePLM version, but if you are not going constantly from fairly near to a far away distance, it does pretty well.

[SSGGeezer]

A DA* 50 -135 that has good SDM is kind of slow but I have seen great images of motorsports taken with it, and it can convert to screw drive which will probably be faster since the KP has a more powerful drive motor. The 55-300 PLM is pretty nice but for indoor sports I would go with something faster, like even the FA 77 Limited! I even had acceptable Bird in Flight images of a couple eagles fighting over a fish.
here is the link to the forum image From Eagles to Dragons - PentaxForums.com

[beachgardener]

G'day mate and welcome to the forum

[victormeldrew]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

[wl02356427]

Hi, finally I'm not alone. Actually, I'm a new Kp user from Kr. I have been used Kr almost 8 years. When I took the first shot on KP, the picture was really shaper, clearer, and more colorful than Kr. The Kp's focusing is fast and accurate than Kr also. Anyway, enjoy your photography journey.

By the way, if you like to shoot in sport, K3 Mark II may be the choice for it. It has a little bit old, but the buffer I think is the larger than other PENTAX camera. You may wait for the new version K3 ( if it's possible) or buying from second hand. However, if you don't care about shooting in JPEG, then you could shoot in JPEG in 14MP, that would be a good choice for Kp (8fps).

[C_Jones]

Welcome to Pentax Forums. I have done a lot of successful wildlife/bird/sports shooting with Pentax equipment. The AF can do the job. The user just needs to know how to properly assess the shooting situation and use the camera appropriately.

Happy shooting!

[GinaC]

Welcome, Samantha!

[Jim Dandy]

Welcome! I look forward to what you choose for sports and how it works out - more information to help me decide!

[azath]

Many options for an indoor sports lens !

My opinion, in preference order :
1) DA* 50-135 f/2.8 : you can't go wrong ! AF is not the best of course... but if you value handling/compactness and price over absolute best AF and IQ, this is it. A wonderful lens anyway.
2) D FA* 70-200 f/2.8 : this is the beast, three times bigger & three times the price of the previous option, yet you get optimum IQ and AF performance. Not sure how it pairs with the KP though, handling might not be that good.

3) FA 77 limited f/1.8 : an amazing lens, if it magnifies sufficiently for your use. Not sure if the screwdrive AF tracking is up to the SDM AF tracking on the 50-135 though. Maybe have a look at the D FA 100 f/2.8 and the DA 70 f2.4 limited also.

4) DA* 200 f/2.8 : if you think option #1 doesn't give you the reach.
5) HD DA 55-300 f/4.5-6.3 PLM : a wonderful lens for the price, fast AF yet tracking does not top SDM lenses. I think the slow aperture might not suit your use case.


Anyway, while Pentax does not provide top of the game AF systems, you get used to it and find solutions to make it work for you (I'm an outdoor sports photographer and have used DA* 60-250, DA* 50-135 and HD 55-300 PLM for that purpose).

[filmamigo]

Welcome! As mentioned, lenses are the most important part of shooting action.

[VoiceOfReason]

Hi and welcome!

[rickxx]

welcome to the forum!