Faster lens

Thanks to you all, guys. Will have a look at the DA lenses. Also changing the focus area is a good suggestion, as it is generally the singer or an instrument player who are of interest.
The magnifying eyepiece is also a good tip.
I am at present taking 'start-up' pictures of bands for my new website, which among other things will promote live music in the Portobello Road area. After I have established the section, I would expect the artists to provide me with some pictures to promote their own gigs. So, really, I do not want to spend great amount of money. Other elements of the website are pictures from the Market and surrounding area, so the lenses I already have, should do..
After all the pictures are taken, I will just have to concentrate on updates from the Road.

pink: missed the item on ebay. Saw the following, so asked the seller to confirm if it is OK for K20D SLR. He referred me to one of our Forums, so here is the link. Any advice, guys?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390149220974&_trksid=p2761....

why on earth should it not work? You will need to set the camera to allow the aperture ring to work, but that's it.

I find it expensive for a 1.7.

Bret

I would not ask if I were a 'Pentax Master'.. more of a novice than Master. Expensive? On ebay they are all around £50 mark. Even the one I missed, was bid for at £50.

Sixty quid is about right for an A series 50mm at the moment. The faffing about necessary to use a K or M series lens means that they sell at a premium. You could try keeping an eye on cheap cameras like the ME Super as sometimes naive sellers will have something interesting attached to the front. Unfortunately, every man and his dog (or so it seems) is squinting at badly taken photos to check them out.

Karl... any Pentax K-mount lens will work fine. The original series ("K") and M series lenses require more fiddling, everything thereafter (A, F, FA, FA-J, DA etc) will be fine.

Best wishes, Kris.

How far away are you going to be from these performers? 50mm seems quite short unless you are in the press pit or backstage.

I would follow John R's advice and try your 50-200 first. The performers will probably be lit by spotlights, so even a slow-ish lens should do pretty well (for photographing the performers, things like crowd shots will be a different story).

You won't even need to do that because it has an "A" setting on the aperture ring. Just use it in "A".

By the way, I just bought a rear lens cap from that seller. The item was as described and dispatched quickly. He certainly packs things (too) well enough. The cap came in a large box padded with paper!

.... personally, from the pit I've used a 50, and from directly in front a 28-70. That was too long at times, which is another reason I'd like a 24-x.

It may well be that the lens simply works on A, I remember that the first manual I got was fully so, so I had to make the two changes.

Bret

[quote:3496ace15f="karlh"]pink: missed the item on ebay. Saw the following, so asked the seller to confirm if it is OK for K20D SLR. He referred me to one of our Forums, so here is the link. Any advice, guys?

]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390149220974&_trksid=p2761....

The lens is fully compatible with your camera except for lack of autofocus, of course. The seller is reliable, and the price is about the current going rate.

The large max aperture gives it a big advantage over the 50-200. Try to use ISO 1600 and lower when you can. 3200 noise is quite bad.

You might look out for a Pentax-F 50mm f1.7, it has autofocus. As others have said 3200 seems far too fast, you should get away with 800. If you shoot RAW then you can get away with some underexposure. Assuming there is a lighting rig it will be contrasty and patchy, I would tend to expose towards the highlights and let the shadows go.

Once you have established the correct exposure you might be better going totally manual so that the camera isn't fooled by some momentary bright light.

I was shooting last night in a theatre with rock concert style lighting and manual everything was the only way to go.

Thank you all for your comments. As I said earlier, I want to get few initial shots, to establish the gigs details. I have tried the 50-200 recently, in rather poor light. Was not much of a success. With the 50mm I can get as near to the performers as I wish. Have established good relationship with the venue owners,which are pubs, who are looking forward to someone promoting live gigs in the Portobello Road area. Also thanks for comments about the seller.

iceblinker:Bought the lens yesterday afternoon - arrived by RD this morning!.. Well done axiomauctions.
However, when I fit the lens and switch on, I get F- - in the LCD window. What do I have to do set it up?
The lens is SMC Pentax -A 1:1.7 50mm

Look at the aperture ring on the lens, there should be a small button next to the letter "A"? Press that and turn the ring further to the right, this will put it into "A" mode and your camera should be able to control the aperture.

Dangermouse: Easy, when you know how works a treat. Thanks.