i am wondering...

I curently shoot university ceremonies, kids kicking the ball and weddings/baptismes.
I find my equipment(k5ii or k20d+ sigma 18-125mm hsm or 70-300mm+ 540fgz) to be more than perfect for the first two.

But, i am not happy with what i get out of it when shooting weddings/baptismes.
Problems:
1) AWB. I don't like the awb performance inside the church.
2) the not-exactly-in-focus things are not how i think they should be.
3) AF Accuracy. Considerable number of shots are not as focused as they should (i do nothing wrong).
4) AF speed. Some hunting may be there in times when no one needs it.

So i am wondering, if i bought the 17-50 2.8 hsm would 2,3,4 become less frequent and less annoying?

Do you have any suggestion?

Regards,
Petros

This is my take on your questions

1. You need to take a custom WB in the church, you could use various products to help with this, Expo disc for example. You could take an image with a colour passport in the frame and then set WB in post.

2. Not exactly in focus? What aperture are you shooting at and what shutter speeds in relation to the lens you are currently using?

3. As above, perhaps you shutter speeds are to low or you need to step down your aperture in relation to your plane of focus and subject? What ISO are you using? Are you focusing and recomposing without locking your focus?

4. As above really. My only guidance is to think about the photographic triangle as some of the answers to your questions lay within it.

A lens offering 2.8 throughout will help with low light, either Pentax DA* 16mm - 50mm or sigma or Tamron. But they are not magic bullets.

I would have thought you will need to be increasing your ISO a fair amount in churches anyway, to at least ISO 1000, ISO 1600, ISO 2000.

Go back to the church and other churches and experiment with WB settings and focusing and make some notes. Practice makes the perfect more possible.

Regards

Fletcher8

You don't say whether you shoot RAW or JPEG, but if you shoot RAW, then you can adjust the White Balance in post processing, so it's not really a problem.

1) My problem is not how the backround is. My problem has to do with how i think the people should look.

2) I shoot F.8 and the shutter speed i shoot is not a problem. A not-exactly-in focus things is, for example, the person who holds the baby when i focus on the baby.

3)As i said here i do nothing wrong which means that: the ways i get the beep (focus-confirmation) in church are ways which they do the job in any other occasion.

I use iso 800 and i demand of every light in the church to be lighted so i have backround even of the big churches. So this does not seem to be the problem. But i will try and shot at, at most, 1250 to see what happens.

Is it worthy of selling my DA 18-55 II (and keep 18-125 hsm as backup and for the university ceremonies) and get the 17-50 2.8 hsm for 380gbp new?

I shoot raw, so I do adjust it afterwards. But i want to get the most out of my camera and my time.




To be fair I like the colors I get most of the time after adjusting the WB and the MC i shoot with are very nice for my taste.
+ When i get my GF's k-5 (which i do whenever i shoot alone or as 1st photographer) and mount my fa 50mm 1.4 i have none of the 2 or 3 and the 1 is seriously reduced.

Could you post any shots to better explain the issues?

I'm a little baffled too... but I would have though an f2.8 zoom woould be handy in such situations. You would have to shoot at f2.8 and use the shallow dof to your benefit.

petros205

Have you tried re-calbrating your lenses, Just a thought? You can use the lens fine tune adjust on the K5.

If you are shooting at f/8 things should be in focus, unless your shutter speed is to low in relation to your lenses focal length?

If you can post some images, I think people would be able to see what you mean, and perhaps provide some ideas or guidance.

I'll try to find the issues in photos i am allowed to post.

You shoot indoors at f/8???

Even with a flash on younare going to get blur as the shutter speed will be to low even at iso 800

You really need some fast glass to stop the focus hunting, focal systems need light and f/5.6 lenses are going to restrict the focussing speed, accuracy and your hitbrate as you have found out. Also the k20d is ancient in dslr technology, particulalry its focus speed.

I use the 540fgz on the camera and 2x studio flashes. Shutter speed hardly falls bellow the beloved 1/125. I shoot at M.

Also i never use the k20 indoors.

how do you set up the flash units to deal with the pre-flash of the 540?

Manual mode.