thanks, confirming what I thought. with the birds of prey example. probably AF.C might not be a good idea. More importantly if I position myself so that I can pan and have a wide area where the distance between myself and the subject is the same then AF.S might be best, as that same focus will be maintained throughout the continuous shooting. It would seem to me for shooting like that its my best hope for good results.

Hi I wonder if folks have some knowledge on this. I have been trying out the K10D with my 50mm 1.4 prime with continuous and AF.C on with focus on the centre spot to capture my kids running towards me down a slope. The results are really very good. All the shots are in focus except for one or two. Here's some questions on this:

Does this slow the frame rate down, or does it just depend a) on the speed of the lens and b) what you are asking the lens to do. So my kids running towards me is not quick, but if it was a whippet the camera might struggle.
Is it a case that if the lens does not re-focus in time the camera takes the picture anyway.
If I was to compare the 50mm prime with my £100 Tamron 70-300mm zoom would you expect the refocus speed of the Tamrom to be slower and therefore maybe results could be more unpredictable. Let's say I was shooting a bird of prey at a falconry show, using the Tamron. Would AF.C being on be pointless, assuming I pan correctly and keep on target? So far I have used AF.S for such pictures and get a few good ones to keep.

Well Sandie I hope you are still there and reading the helpful comments posted on this thread. You sound like you are trying to achieve the same as me, something not easy to do perfect, and that is indoor low light pictures of children that don't keep still unless you bribe them with sweets! Matt has put some helpful comments on. I can only echo them from my limited experience so far.

Green mode, see what the camera is going to cope with. Unlikely to be enough. So switch to P, put the ISO up and then see if you can achieve an aperture and shutter speed that works. This will be trial and error but I have taken shots I am very happy with of the kids with ISO at 800, shutter of 180 and aperture of 2.4, but then that was on a 50mm lens. On the kit lens you can't get the aperture as low as that so you need a good amount of light or push the ISO to 1600. Personally so far my impression of pics at ISO 1600 is they are too noisy for me. But if that is the best setting to get good enough results then go for it. Also I have found that skin tones are not right unless you set manual white balance, see the manual for that, it works well and only takes a minute. I have not used the pop-up flash much as it washes out skin tones. i've just bought a popup flash diffuser online and can post back results later.

especially like the second one, very interested in what you did in the PP to achieve that look.

Dreaming of toys

can't claim to be an expert but for me the two colour ones look a bit unreal, the edges on the right and in the arch are so sharp it doesn't look natural to me. But Black and White it all works very well, far and away the best shot.

as above, ideal for this weeks comp, and dare i say it streets ahead of some of the entries this week

Thanks, sounds like for achieving something I'd be happy with a P-TTL will be the way to go. I see that SRS do a Sigma for £110. It might be a bit of a stretch but I suspect anything less will be as you say inflexible for what I want to do.

Thanks for responses.

George, the manual flash option does seem like a good budget one if I can find one off ebay in the UK, 3 weeks until the wedding, should manage it. Can you advise or is there a thread on operating a manual flash like this with the K10D, what parts have to be done manually, what settings on the K10D might need adjusting etc?

Hi does anyone have any recommendations on anything for this? I tried just holding a section of opaque plastic milk bottle in front of the flash and that alone sees mush less washing out of skin tones. wondering if there is anything out there more designed for the task, have seen some on ebay that slide into the hot shoe. Also if you get one for say taking photo's at a party where its darker what best settings might there be to get good results from the pop up flash? I'm thinking mainly of later on at a wedding do when the sun has gone done and no longer lights the marquee.