[rzarector]

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You won't find a better lens for the money..... actually, you won't find a betterr lens for twice the money.











Slide show

It was a sad day when I realized my wife had pretty much adopted it. Leaving me to eventually buy a Sigma 70 macro, that while a very nice lens, was more money for almost the same thing.

K-5 Tamron 90+ 1.7 TC


And 1:1 pixel peeper, your K-5IIs would be even sharper.

How does it work for non macro? I notice you have a few shots there but I don't really shoot a lot of macro. none really.

[Wired]

oh yes, the Tammy 90mm f2.8 is a bloody awesome lens, especially for the price. I wish I never sold mine. However I never used it much as I didn't like the focal length as much on my APSC. but I wouldn't think the Tammy would be incredibly useful for live music. It's too long a prime to use in the pit in my opinion.

That said, even in non-macro the Tammy is sharp edge to edge like all macro lenses even wide open. The big issue I had with it is the focus hunting.... it would constantly rack in and out trying to figure things out, even when doing non-macro work. the focus throw is huge too. It's a cool lens no doubt and if you can't afford the DFA 100mm Pentax Macro it's a no brainer. But I wouldn't buy it to delay the purchase of a telephoto zoom, especially for your purposes. In fact I would buy a tele f2.8 zoom over this lens any day of the week if I was shooting music.

I agree, f2.8 lenses or better is the only way to go for live music shooting.

If your doing live music, this guy's videos and instructions are invaluable... he's also kinda funny: Tips for Taking Photos | Photography Tip | How To for Photographers there was a RAWtalk episode he did (2 parter) on live music photos and I found tons of helpful info in it. He also has a video where mounted a Contour camera on his hotshoe while he was shooting a band in the pit. It was actually pretty cool.

[Racer X 69]

Great shots as always Norm. I especially like this one. Very nice.

[normhead]

How does it work for non macro? I notice you have a few shots there but I don't really shoot a lot of macro. none really.

When you get a macro lens for non-macro work, you need to use the limiter so it doesn't search the whole range of the lens for a focus point. So a little more complicated than it needs to be, apart from that it's fine.

A couple of landscapes...






We did a comparison of our lenses that do 90mm once and it was the winner over the DA*60-250 at 90mm, based on equal resolution, but slightly better micro-contrast...

And it's not bad for large animals, the guy I bought mine from used it for bears, although, I tend to like 400mm for bears myself.

Great shots as always Norm. I especially like this one. Very nice.

Thanks Racer

The big issue I had with it is the focus hunting.... it would constantly rack in and out trying to figure things out, even when doing non-macro work.

On the K-3 it's a dream, that issue is completely gone, the speed of AF on the K-3 is remarkable, on a K-5IIs, I don't know what it would be like.

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Last edited by normhead; 02-06-2014 at 12:14 PM.

[TER-OR]

From what I've read that 70-200 is a nice piece of kit.

I think you have a good plan set out now.

[normhead]

From what I've read that 70-200 is a nice piece of kit.

I think you have a good plan set out now.

I'd just hate to be using a long heavy zoom on a K-01. I'll use a K-01 with a long lens if it's on a tripod with the lens on the tripod, not the camera, if it's going to be hand held, forget it.

If going the 70-200 2.8 route, how about the Tamron 70-200 at $650

With a K-50


But, I'll warn you, those big zooms are bitch to carry. Before I bought my DA*60-250, someone told me carrying big zooms will ruin your life and make you miserable. There's been many a time I wished I would have listened to him. And there's been other times I was glad I ignored him.

[TER-OR]

But, I'll warn you, those big zooms are bitch to carry. Before I bought my DA*60-250, someone told me carrying big zooms will ruin your life and make you miserable. There's been many a time I wished I would have listened to him. And there's been other times I was glad I ignored him.

I can concur. I rented a 60-250 for an airshow to use on my K10. The total kit was over 5lbs, which was not fun to cart around. It turned out to be a drizzly day, so the weather sealing was nice but the photos were still disappointing (all low-contrast).

I do enjoy hiking around with the 55-300, though, it's pretty light. It really does depend on how you plan to use the equipment.

[Kerrowdown]

You have 1100 to spend...what do you do?

Put down a deposit on a Leica M9, oops wrong forum.

[rzarector]

PULLED THE TRIGGER!!!

K-5iis for 699 total, including shipping and taxes (there were none)!!!! PUMPED!!

Leaving me 450 saved for a lens down the road.

I hear you on the heavy aspect. But in the concert world, that lens is a must. I must have a fast zoom to get in close from venues that don't allow that to occur.

The pentax 30-150 lens is too pricey for what i think its worth. I liked it, but it was pricey new. the tammy looks and sound great. I hear its sharp and affordable.
I don't have any Tammys yet so this may be a good first dip. Possibly I'll pick up one used on here, saw one went for just over 550 not too long ago.

Thank you all for your help. I really do appreciate it. I think I'm overdue for donating to the site after all this help I have been getting.

Pentax for life yo! ...uh.....or Ricoh for life yo....whatever.

[rzarector]

Woohoo!

[gazonk]

PULLED THE TRIGGER!!!

K-5iis for 699 total, including shipping and taxes (there were none)!!!! PUMPED!!

Good choice - and what a bargain! The K-5 is a great concert camera with its super silent shutter, just don't forget to turn off that annoyingly strong AF light when you're at a dark venue

[Wired]

I think the big thing people need to remember with the lens recommendations is the OP's original intent and goals as a photographer. We are hearing things that are not usually considered useful for his shooting style.

The typical shooter in a live music venue pit has a high fps camera capable of low light auto focus and good/great noise handling with 3 lenses, a fast wide zoom, fast normal zoom, and a fast tele zoom. Or at fast wide prime and a fast normal zoom, or a fast normal zoom and fast tele zoom.

I would say the ultimate Pentax kit would be: Sigma 10-20 F3.5, Sigma 18-35mm f1.8, Pentax DA*50-135mm f2.8 with a Pentax K3 and a pair of Thinktank.



edit: great choice! K5IIs is a beauty!

[normhead]

Good luck with your choice, that's a great camera.

[TER-OR]

I think the K5II has plenty of ISO to play with in concert venues. I'd love to play around with the Tammy 70-200 just to see how well it works, and if you get a used one you can resell it for the same price, I'm sure.

The one thing to be careful of - again, no direct experience on my part - is the LED light systems now - they can screw with light meters or essentially overexpose certain colors. There are some threads about this. I don't know if RAW will do enough to compensate, I think it's inherent to the limited-wavelength light - unlike gels on old incandescents.

[Wired]

I think the K5II has plenty of ISO to play with in concert venues. I'd love to play around with the Tammy 70-200 just to see how well it works, and if you get a used one you can resell it for the same price, I'm sure.

The one thing to be careful of - again, no direct experience on my part - is the LED light systems now - they can screw with light meters or essentially overexpose certain colors. There are some threads about this. I don't know if RAW will do enough to compensate, I think it's inherent to the limited-wavelength light - unlike gels on old incandescents.

I think the iis is just fine for live music. 6400 isn't terrible and quite usable on that camera. I normally use auto white balance. I would try manual WB and change the temp manually for the LED lights?