[TheOneAndOnlyJH]

A K-3 (II) or K-70 will be a huge improvement over your Kr in both resolution and low light performance, so I would definitely recommend one of them as part of your upgrade.

If you've been getting by with mostly the 18-55 then you'll love a 17-50 f/2.8, which will help even more in low light. You might find you don't even need a flash. (Most of the trade shows I've been to aren't that dark.) The Sigma and Tamron are both very good. The Sigma has quieter focusing and slightly better edge sharpness but it costs a more, and the 77mm filter ring and hood make it a little bulkier than the Tamron. (Pentax Forums has a good review that compares them.)

If the Yongnuo flash you mentioned of is the YN-560, keep in mind that with a fully manual flash you'll have to keep making adjustments as you get closer or farther from your subject. I'd recommend an automatic P-TTL flash like a Metz 44 AF-1 or 50 AF-1 since they're cheaper the Pentax ones. That said, if you don't have to spend the $1500 all at once you could get a cheap manual flash first and see if it works for you before you spend more on a TTL flash.

[DeadJohn]

I suggest skipping flash. Will you be photographing booths after hours, or while the show is open?

Tradeshows often have high ceilings, so on-camera bounced flash is no good. Direct on-camera flash can look harsh. Off-camera flash setup may interfere with trade show foot traffic.

K-3 or K-70 plus 16-50 f2.8 (or 3rd party 17-50). f2.8 doesn't give much depth of field but should be usable to photograph a single booth. Compared to your current 18-55, 16mm is considerably wider. You can shoot at much higher ISO than your current camera.

You won't have much money left over after buying a camera+lens. Set aside unspent funds, use the new setup for a while, then consider adding a used wide angle lens or flash if you feel it's needed.

[Stavri]

or K3 + Da Limited (s) used (15, 21, 40, 70)

[TER-OR]

If you need a flash for close work, the little AF201 with diffuser or pop-up flash with Fong diffuser is more than sufficient.

[lithedreamer]

I suggest skipping flash. Will you be photographing booths after hours, or while the show is open?

Tradeshows often have high ceilings, so on-camera bounced flash is no good. Direct on-camera flash can look harsh. Off-camera flash setup may interfere with trade show foot traffic.

On flash diffusers could work perfectly fine.

[Nicolas06]

Indoor = large apperture + flash. Also a recent body would more than help.

Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 : 299$
K3 if you can have it used: 500-600$. Otherwise new K70 for 599$, but that neither a pro level camera neither with great AF...
sigma 10-20 f/3.5 => 449$

=> With the change you can get a basic TTL flash and a diffuser.

All at B&H except the used K3.

[VoiceOfReason]

Okay, if you spend most on lenses then this flash (I had one and sold it) is a really solid budget choice. Opteka EF-790 DG Super TTL Flash for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras-Newegg.com

[gatorguy]

Indoor = large apperture + flash. Also a recent body would more than help.

Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 : 299$
K3 if you can have it used: 500-600$. Otherwise new K70 for 599$, but that neither a pro level camera neither with great AF...
sigma 10-20 f/3.5 => 449$

=> With the change you can get a basic TTL flash and a diffuser.

All at B&H except the used K3.

The whole "bad AF" discussion is getting tedious IMHO. The OP isn't shooting football games from the sideline. For the type of photography he's doing, and in fact for the overwhelming majority of shots most of us take the autofocus of any of the newer Pentax camera's, ie KS2, K70, K3, K3II, K1, KP, is just fine and works very well.

Personally I'd suggest for him the K70, $599 at BH Photo, and the Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8, $882 and also at BH. Or if he grabs one of the frequently listed used but well-cared for 50-135's here on the forums Marketplace for under $500 then he'll have enough for three great choices: The K-70 new, the DA*50-135 used and a brand new Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM from BH for $369 and still stay in budget. That would make a great grab n'go kit.

EDIT: Here ya' go
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/24-photographic-equipment-sale/333272-sa...ale-trade.html
Pentax K-70 and Sigma 17-50 for a total of $969.
the above linked DA*50-135 for $515

Final tally: $1483

.... Bada bing bada boom.

EDIT: Forgot the flash. :/

The K-70 has an adequate flash for many indoor purposes but to be more at ease add a Neewer TT560 Flash Speedlite, $32 at Amazon. So new total is $1515 unless you can talk the Marketplace seller down to $500 even for the DA*50-135.

So additional flash for your trade-show work: Check
Usable off-camera as a speedlite: Check
Highly-rated glass, absolutely top-notch : Check
New Camera with warranty, better features and image quality: Check

Just do it.

[fumanchu1]

My personal photography has been noticed by my company, and they're giving me $1500 to upgrade my equipment.

I Currently have a Pentax K-R with the SMC Pentax-DAL 55-300mm and an SMC Pentax-DAL 18-55mm lens. I feel a wide-angle lens along with an external flash is needed. Ideally, I would love to upgrade the camera body too. Just not sure I can make all of that happened with the given budget.

What would be the best possible setup could one obtain with my current cache plus a $1500 allowance?

Feel free to snoop around my Facebook photography page (Porchlightt Image Studio | Facebook). Please reply with any constructive criticism. I really wanted kick things up a notch and possibly turn this into a position instead of just a side project.

thanks in advance

A really useful calrification that you could provide would be what type of photography you mainly do and what is the most critical aspect of the upgrade for you.


The k-3 and k-70 suggested are good choices (you could always get a k5ii/iis, I mean sure, it's an older body/sensor with less MP and options but depending on your needs it may fit the bill and would definitely leave you a ton more cash leftover for glass and accessories if you manage to find it on the cheap).


Just providing an alternative depending on your need it may or may not be suitable

[gatorguy]

A really useful calrification that you could provide would be what type of photography you mainly do and what is the most critical aspect of the upgrade for you.

He mentioned most of his work is with tradeshows.

[fumanchu1]

He mentioned most of his work is with tradeshows.

Yes, I gathered that much, what I meant is he could provide more clarification (does he mostly focus on taking photos of products in the shows, does he take pictures for his company's booth only, of the crowds and people or just a bit of everything).


I mean if he mostly does product photo vs photos of people present at the events, the recommendation may vary... sorry if that wasn't made clear

[gatorguy]

Yes, I gathered that much, what I meant is he could provide more clarification (does he mostly focus on taking photos of products in the shows, does he take pictures for his company's booth only, of the crowds and people or just a bit of everything).


I mean if he mostly does product photo vs photos of people present at the events, the recommendation may vary... sorry if that wasn't made clear

Ah, gotcha. And agree.

[Nicolas06]

The whole "bad AF" discussion is getting tedious IMHO. The OP isn't shooting football games from the sideline. For the type of photography he's doing, and in fact for the overwhelming majority of shots most of us take the autofocus of any of the newer Pentax camera's, ie KS2, K70, K3, K3II, K1, KP, is just fine and works very well.

I can't agree there, but I guess each to his own. Only K3, K3-II, K1 and KP have somewhat decent AF where with enough practice you can reasonably do anything but that would not be ideal for sports.

The KS2 and K70 match what the competion had 10 years ago. 2 few AF points except the center AF meaning any large apperture + composition is not reliable on top of no real possibility for any sort of tracking.

You can compensate with MF so you need fantastic eyes and to replace the view finder, LV but then even on K70 this is really slow! or tricks to compensate the camera short comings. Like when there was no AF... But then why spend money on AF lenses or modern camera at all ?

It is true the center AF point of theses bodies is quite good, not too big, optimized for fast lens, low light and reasonably fast, but that mean you either need to shoot larger than needed and crop to get decent composition and magnify the noise or focus and recompose so your are slow and introduce focus errors on large appertures... such kind of apperture that you may use more often indoor.

So yes if you use auto AF, target landscapes/scenes with f/8 - f/11, or if you just center AF point and recompose, yes K70 and KS2 AF if great. If you plan for anything better like using off center AF point, any kind of tracking then, theses AF module are clearly too limited.

If you want the typical setting of AFC + AF on the back button + selection of the AF point, this is a recipe for disaster. I started using that like 1 year ago, and funily since then my kepper rate and my composition drastically improved. But that with a K3.With the old AF module, the off center focus points are simply far too big. You ask to focus on the eyes, it may select the nose, some hair or whatever else.

Just a portrait with an off center AF point on the eye and a large apperture lens, even on a perfectly still scene and the AF of K70 or KS2 is lost if you don't go to live view.

[gatorguy]

I can't agree there, but I guess each to his own. Only K3, K3-II, K1 and KP have somewhat decent AF where with enough practice you can reasonably do anything but that would not be ideal for sports.

The KS2 and K70 match what the competion had 10 years ago. 2 few AF points except the center AF meaning any large apperture + composition is not reliable on top of no real possibility for any sort of tracking.

You can compensate with MF so you need fantastic eyes and to replace the view finder, LV but then even on K70 this is really slow! or tricks to compensate the camera short comings. Like when there was no AF... But then why spend money on AF lenses or modern camera at all ?

It is true the center AF point of theses bodies is quite good, not too big, optimized for fast lens, low light and reasonably fast, but that mean you either need to shoot larger than needed and crop to get decent composition and magnify the noise or focus and recompose so your are slow and introduce focus errors on large appertures... such kind of apperture that you may use more often indoor.

So yes if you use auto AF, target landscapes/scenes with f/8 - f/11, or if you just center AF point and recompose, yes K70 and KS2 AF if great. If you plan for anything better like using off center AF point, any kind of tracking then, theses AF module are clearly too limited.

If you want the typical setting of AFC + AF on the back button + selection of the AF point, this is a recipe for disaster. I started using that like 1 year ago, and funily since then my kepper rate and my composition drastically improved. But that with a K3.With the old AF module, the off center focus points are simply far too big. You ask to focus on the eyes, it may select the nose, some hair or whatever else.

Just a portrait with an off center AF point on the eye and a large apperture lens, even on a perfectly still scene and the AF of K70 or KS2 is lost if you don't go to live view.

I NEVER use Liveview for focusing but my AF experience has been quite different from yours on my KS2's. My keeper rate if based only on proper focus is pleasantly high and I'm exceptionally picky, even to a fault. If the slightest out of focus in 8x loupe-view it gets relegated to trash more often than not. In fact I might be one of the most anal amateurs you could ever meet when it comes to focus. 11 point, 27 point or 100 point doesn't matter to me in most cases. I only use one in general, and yes do a fair amount of portraiture (for fun of course but I'm no less critical when it comes to focus.)

Trust me, if I was having any significant issue with focus on my KS2's I would have upgraded my gear already, as I did when I sold off my K50. But I recently instead bought a 2nd KS2 for those times I need to carry two bodies, seeing no particular need for a K3/K3II for the types of shooting I do tho I could have easily purchased one.

Of course if I used my cameras for sports photography I might not find my current gear acceptable. Dunno but I'll accept that you're probably right about that type of photography....
But I don't, nor did the OP indicate he planned to either. Apparently he's been pleased with the AF performance on his relatively old Pentax and every model I mentioned would be a very noticeable improvement over that one. FWIW the KP doesn't interest me .

Anyway I'm sorry your KS2 left a sour taste with you. I've been quite happy with mine, "bad AF" and all. Then again perhaps ignorance really is bliss.

[zapp]

Just wondering who gets to keep what in case you and your company are parting. It would be difficult to separate pieces in case you sell your own camera and buy a new camera from company money... in that case I would add pieces instead of replacing.