Thanks, nice shots! I am usually much further back, so cannot use such short focal lengths. If I nail the focus, I have probably done best with my old Pentax-M 75-150 F4.



Sounds like a good deal to have a "like new" K-5 in partial exchange for a K-30 with 14,000 shots on it.

During performances, from way in the back if theater, the short end of my 50-135 will just squeeze in the proscenium and the 135 end about a third of the stage. If I could only use on camera, it would have the 50-135 on for performances. I have the Sigma 100-300/4 on a tripod next to me with loose ball head. There is no one lens that will do it all.

If you can, shoot rehearsals, you can generally move close.

My current K5IIs bodies have about 70K images each and my backup K5 has about 130K. They just keep on trucking.

[reduno]

During performances, from way in the back if theater, the short end of my 50-135 will just squeeze in the proscenium and the 135 end about a third of the stage. If I could only use on camera, it would have the 50-135 on for performances. I have the Sigma 100-300/4 on a tripod next to me with loose ball head. There is no one lens that will do it all.

If you can, shoot rehearsals, you can generally move close.

Getting away from the original thread but I agree, the short zoom range really in't enough to cover the whole stage and still get in close. I have wondered about setting up a second body on a tripod with a 50mm (or similar), and having it fire away every few seconds using the interval shooting function. I'm sure I'd throw away a good many of the shots but it may capture the full scene while I concentrate on following my son/daughter. Unfortunately they usually only have one dress rehearsal on stage, and the backdrop and lighting are often not setup yet.