[Janimo]

I'll be going to Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta this coming weekend and taking my Pentax K50. It's a big convention for fans of the television show The Walking Dead. The event will take place in the Georgia World Congress Center. I've never been there, that is, to the GWCC.. I want to take pics of folks walking around in costume,close ups of the the various celebrities attending (when permitted, which I'm sure will be "for pay," which is fine with me) and of the celebrities speaking at the forums. I'm hoping to be pretty close to the panelists, hopefully the second or third row. I'm not sure which lens/lenses to take...The pics will be strictly for myself, and not for any "moneymaking" or anything like that.
The lenses I have are the Sigma DC 17-50mm 2.8 EX HSM, Pentax DA 50mm 1.8, Pentax 18-55 AL WR, Pentax DA 55-300 ED WR,, SMC Pentax DA 40mm 2.8 and the Pentax DA 15mm ED AL. I won't be using a flash.Let me add that I'm absolutely HORRIBLE about reading directions. I just point, focus and take the pic...I'll be downloading them to Picasa, which came with my computer....and the only "manipulation" I do is to maybe crop or enlarge.

Any suggestions as to which lens or lenses y'all might take would be enormously appreciated. I waited too long to even consider renting a lens...

[elementdtlop]

must be nice to have money to willy nilly. take only the 55-300mm and leave a cpl on the whole time and shoot hdr.

[mattb123]

I'd take the 17-50, 50, and 55-300 since you don't really know haw far you will be or what the light will be like. Speaking of light I'd also bring a flash (but don't use it for people on stage) but that is just me.

[jrpower10]

I'd take the 17-50, 50, and 55-300

This looks right to me too.

[UncleVanya]

I'm going to assume you shoot up to 3200 ISO at least.

First I think the 17-50 f2.8 is all you need. Second, the DA 50 is slightly faster so I would take as insurance against poorer light than expected.

The 55-300 idea is ok if you were going to take more control of the camera, but in the type of light you will likely have I can't imagine using it.

The DA 40 is lovely, but not as fast as the 50, no faster than the zoom, etc. Normally I'd say you might use it for shots where you need to be less intimidating, but in these venues people are largely hamming it up and happy to pose, lens size is irrelevant. If you planned to use flash for intimate portraits I might still recommend this over the 50, but I'm sticking to the 50 based on your plan to avoid flash.

The DA 15 is a great option for crowd shots outside and venue shots, so it might make the list as lens three.

---------- Post added 10-27-15 at 05:46 PM ----------

If you had the DA* 50-135 f2.8 that would be a telephoto that I could recommend, albeit with an alternate hood.

[HudsonShooter]

i would go with the 15, 17-50 and 50mm I don't know where you would need a long zoom the 55-300 is also heavy for a long day.

[mattb123]

I was thinking the 55-300 would be good for if he isn't close to the panels. It's slow, but with high enough ISO it might be good enough where the other lenses would be too short.

[CarlJF]

I'd take the 17-50, 50, and 55-300 since you don't really know haw far you will be or what the light will be like. Speaking of light I'd also bring a flash (but don't use it for people on stage) but that is just me.

+1

There isn't much you can't handle with these.

[Imp]

I was thinking the 55-300 would be good for if he isn't close to the panels. It's slow, but with high enough ISO it might be good enough where the other lenses would be too short.

It's not terribly slow, up to 100mm it is f/4, which is a stop slower than the Tamron at f/2.8
And really, the Tamron is a 17-45mm, its not a true fifty from what i've tested from it and what is reads on my k-30. And it also isn't a true f/2.8, more like a f/3.2 so... Bring the 55-300, if only for the reach up to 100mm, if you need it. 45mm max might be a bit short, but then again, you could take your DA 50

[Janimo]

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

[elementdtlop]

i still say the 55-300 with nd filter and aperture totally stopped down as far as it goes get those long exposures dreamy waterfall-esque celebrity pictures.

[VoiceOfReason]

I do loads of cons. The 17-50 will be the most useful. Ask and people will love to pose. You might get away with the 55-300 in a bright panel room, but....

Leave the rest at home. Trust me on this. Take the 17-50, and toss the 55-300 in too, though you may not pull it out at all.

[Blacknight659]

Personally, I would take the 17-50 2.8 and the 50 1.8 and call it a day. Thiw will be a low weight kit and let you enjoy your day. IF you really think you need the reach, bring the 55-300, but I would use it as I describe below.

I used a 55-300wr in a concert setting once with great results but you have to do a few things if light is bad/low.

1. Set your camera to M
2. I believe the 55-300 stops down to 5.6 at the long end so set the aperature to that and leave it. This is so if you zoom in or out the exposure shouldn't change that much.
3. Set your shutter speed to just fast enough to stop the action maybe just a little faster for insurance. Start by using 250th of a second and move up if needed.
4. Set you ISO to the lowest option avaialbe AND be willing to be a stop, maybe 2 stops underexposed. Use the meeter in your camera and make sure you an't going below 2 stops when taking the photo.

Conclusion: Your plan, is to shoot underexposed at the lowest possible iso, with the fastest possible shutter to get a sharp image, and correct exposure later in post.

This is how I use that lens anyways. GOOD LUCK!