[Papa_Joe]

Hi Graham welcome to the Forum.

You have accquired a really good set of lenses.

For the first steps with your gear I would recommend to use the 18-250 as walk around lens. It is not the best of the bunch, but it will suit you most of the time. And after a while you will know which focal lens you need for which tasks and use the other ones appropriate.

Instead of one lens (18-250) you can also carry the 17-50 and 70-300 together with you. These two have better image quality (the 18-250 is not bad either). The 70-300 is excellent for sport and animal. The 17-50 is better suited for low light levels (as it has a wider aperture) which means indoor photography (family parties) and it is the one to work together with the flash of the K-5.

The gem in your gear ist 105 sigma. As I can see it is the macro. Which means you can even magnify tiny objects (if they stay when you get close). Screw it on for a walk in the garden or park on a sunny day. Hunt the bees and take pictures of flowers and leaves. Fun guranteed. And it is one of the sharpest lenses you can put onto a Pentax. Use it for everything where 105 mm ist a reasonable focal lens.

Please excuse any misspelling and wrong wording, as english is not my first language.
And have fun with your gear.

[Gewi6410]

That's a nice list of lenses. I don't think I would recommend buying anything right now. Get comfortable with those and keep shooting. This forum is a great resource.

I'm glad you said that. My heads going to explode going through the instruction manual and figuring out the settings👍🏻

---------- Post added 10-01-18 at 07:33 AM ----------

Hi Graham welcome to the Forum.

You have accquired a really good set of lenses.

For the first steps with your gear I would recommend to use the 18-250 as walk around lens. It is not the best of the bunch, but it will suit you most of the time. And after a while you will know which focal lens you need for which tasks and use the other ones appropriate.

Instead of one lens (18-250) you can also carry the 17-50 and 70-300 together with you. These two have better image quality (the 18-250 is not bad either). The 70-300 is excellent for sport and animal. The 17-50 is better suited for low light levels (as it has a wider aperture) which means indoor photography (family parties) and it is the one to work together with the flash of the K-5.

The gem in your gear ist 105 sigma. As I can see it is the macro. Which means you can even magnify tiny objects (if they stay when you get close). Screw it on for a walk in the garden or park on a sunny day. Hunt the bees and take pictures of flowers and leaves. Fun guranteed. And it is one of the sharpest lenses you can put onto a Pentax. Use it for everything where 105 mm ist a reasonable focal lens.

Please excuse any misspelling and wrong wording, as english is not my first language.
And have fun with your gear.

Thank you. Great advice.

[Ahab]

Download the owners manual at Ricoh website. Another is the K5 how to booklet on this site.

[Gewi6410]

The football (soccer) questions have been covered. I don't think landscape has been addressed yet.

Landscapes can be done with any of those lenses depending on the scene. I suggest starting with the 17-50; it's the widest lens and has a reputation for being sharp. Note that some landscape scenes might benefit from more focal length than 50mm; you'll figure that out with time.

Camera settings. I recommend Av mode for landscapes. Set the aperture to f/8 or f/11; most lenses are sharp in that range and you'll get decent "depth of field". Use auto ISO by pressing the small ISO button followed by green button. (you might optionally change to Manual mode as you learn more)

Tripod can help for landscapes. Use the 2-second timer when the camera is on a tripod. Why? It lets shake from your hand and the moving mirror die down. Turn off auto ISO and pick ISO 80 (which might require menu settings to enable) for the least "noise" and most "dynamic range".

I recommend this book to new photographers. It covers a bit of everything LIFE Guide to Digital Photography: Everything You Need to Shoot Like the Pros: Joe McNally, Editors of Life: 9781603201278: amazon.com: Books?tag=pentaxforums-20&

Thank you. Book ordered! Also I've wrote all the settings down that you suggested.

[kyteflyer]

So glad to see your list. Great lenses. I had that Tamrom 18-250 and sold it to my eternal dismay. For landscapes, you probably dont need better than the 17-50, it will see you right at all hours of the day. Have fun!

[DrMindbender]

One thing to keep in mind is that the K5's AF is temperamental in low light conditions. So it's best to use lenses that have a decent manual focusing ring if you want to capture night games.

[Gewi6410]

On the 17-50 lens for landscapes, what setting would I use? I'm keeping a notebook of setttings for different scenarios. Again, I can't thank you all enough.

Graham

[MarkJerling]

On the 17-50 lens for landscapes, what setting would I use? I'm keeping a notebook of setttings for different scenarios. Again, I can't thank you all enough.

Graham

For landscapes, you generally want lots of depth of field, so items in foreground and background in focus. So, smaller aperture (higher aperture number) and slower shutter speed for starters. I'd go 1/60 for the speed, shake reduction on, lowest ISO number you can manage without opening up the aperture too much. Camera can be in Shutter and Aperture priority, full manual, or Aperture priority, or program. All should give acceptable results. For handheld, keep shake reduction on, for tripod, shake reduction off.

[Gewi6410]

For landscapes, you generally want lots of depth of field, so items in foreground and background in focus. So, smaller aperture (higher aperture number) and slower shutter speed for starters. I'd go 1/60 for the speed, shake reduction on, lowest ISO number you can manage without opening up the aperture too much. Camera can be in Shutter and Aperture priority, full manual, or Aperture priority, or program. All should give acceptable results. For handheld, keep shake reduction on, for tripod, shake reduction off.

Perfect, you're a gentleman Mark. Any other lenses you would recommend?

---------- Post added 10-02-18 at 05:25 AM ----------

Is it worth buying a 28mm lens?

---------- Post added 10-02-18 at 05:26 AM ----------

Is it worth buying a 28mm lens?

[pres589]

It's not worth buying a 28mm lens right now. I love 28mm lenses and own five of them of all sorts. They're great! You need to learn how to use the camera and lenses you own and really get the most out of them before you get a different lens. That Tamron 17-50 is really in its sweet spot at 28mm. It's a great lens. Go shoot the daylights out of that lens on your K-5 and see what you think before getting a new lens. And really learn how the different modes actually work on the camera, too.

Serious suggestion from just another guy on a forum, so take it as such, but really I think learning the combination you have now is going to be so much better than just buying more lenses.

[Gewi6410]

It's not worth buying a 28mm lens right now. I love 28mm lenses and own five of them of all sorts. They're great! You need to learn how to use the camera and lenses you own and really get the most out of them before you get a different lens. That Tamron 17-50 is really in its sweet spot at 28mm. It's a great lens. Go shoot the daylights out of that lens on your K-5 and see what you think before getting a new lens. And really learn how the different modes actually work on the camera, too.

Serious suggestion from just another guy on a forum, so take it as such, but really I think learning the combination you have now is going to be so much better than just buying more lenses.

I think you're right. Maybe getting a bit carried away when I should be learning the basics. Theres a local college running a 15 week beginner course. Maybe that's my best option. Thanks 👍🏻👏

[jatrax]

I think you're right. Maybe getting a bit carried away when I should be learning the basics.

+100. It is quite common to get excited about this hobby and start thinking: "I need this or I need that". I know I certainly did and I have a whole shelf of lenses and stuff I rarely ever use because of it. @Pres589 gives good advice, learn to use what you have and only after you have mastered that do you need worry about new gear. You have an excellent setup with plenty of lenses and no need of anything else for some time.

I'm keeping a notebook of setttings for different scenarios.

While this is one way of learning I think it is better to learn photography instead of going by a list of settings. That method is fine for predetermined specific situations but what happens when something changes? If you understand photography, which IMHO is no harder than researching 'settings', you can tackle any situation with confidence.

A class at a school is a good start. But there are many, many online resources. I determined at one point that online information, books and video classes are proliferating faster than anyone can possibly keep up with. So choose wisely where to invest your time and money in learning. If you need hands on explanations then a class might work. If you can learn on your own the resources online are incredible.


One place many of us started is "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1...ntaxforums-20& It was written in the film era but nearly all of it is still valid and it has been updated in the 4th edition. it's like $20 and well worth it. Usually can be found used for next to nothing. Read it. Take some pictures. Read it again. Take some pictures. Then read it again. Once you understand the concepts he lays out you have no need of 'settings', you know what to use for any situation or creative choice.

[Gewi6410]

+100. It is quite common to get excited about this hobby and start thinking: "I need this or I need that". I know I certainly did and I have a whole shelf of lenses and stuff I rarely ever use because of it. @Pres589 gives good advice, learn to use what you have and only after you have mastered that do you need worry about new gear. You have an excellent setup with plenty of lenses and no need of anything else for some time.


While this is one way of learning I think it is better to learn photography instead of going by a list of settings. That method is fine for predetermined specific situations but what happens when something changes? If you understand photography, which IMHO is no harder than researching 'settings', you can tackle any situation with confidence.

A class at a school is a good start. But there are many, many online resources. I determined at one point that online information, books and video classes are proliferating faster than anyone can possibly keep up with. So choose wisely where to invest your time and money in learning. If you need hands on explanations then a class might work. If you can learn on your own the resources online are incredible.


One place many of us started is "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1...ntaxforums-20& It was written in the film era but nearly all of it is still valid and it has been updated in the 4th edition. it's like $20 and well worth it. Usually can be found used for next to nothing. Read it. Take some pictures. Read it again. Take some pictures. Then read it again. Once you understand the concepts he lays out you have no need of 'settings', you know what to use for any situation or creative choice.

Again, thank you. This is an amazing forum and resource. I really am blown away be the time people are taking to guide me. I'll do some online research and take a lot of photos to see what works for me and the different lenses.

[pres589]

I think a 'notebook of settings' is kind of extreme and it would be hard for me to follow. What you probably want is a notecard of settings. On one side the Sunny 16 rule to help guide you through getting a proper exposure for your situation. That would serve as a sanity check for what the camera is telling you. On the other side, a one-sentence definition for Av, Tv, and P modes (some others here might have different modes to suggest) as to what they do as well as what the Green Button does and what the LCD on the top plate is telling you. That LCD is super useful.

My 2 cents.

[MarkJerling]

Perfect, you're a gentleman Mark. Any other lenses you would recommend?

---------- Post added 10-02-18 at 05:25 AM ----------

Is it worth buying a 28mm lens?

---------- Post added 10-02-18 at 05:26 AM ----------

Is it worth buying a 28mm lens?

I like it! I see an LBA in your future!