Thanks guys! All great advice and understandable points of view.

I'll try to find out which child protection agancy is advising that photographers (hobby and pro) should be CRB checked.

As we all know this is misguided when with digital pictures the organiser could easily review all before the photographer leaves the venue. This could never have happened with film!

Nathans concise checklist is certainly something we should all consider if by way of our hobby or profession we end up at such child focussed events. There are a very small number of children who qualify for formal protection orders and who must never be identifyable in the public domain -sad but true!

Thanks again, one and all, for your comments.

Geoff

I have a problem and hope someone has a sound answer.

I have a local cheerleader/dance group who are interested in my taking some pictures of their performances.

They have a duty of care to ensure that nothing "inappropriate" can happen with these pictures -they feel that there is a risk of fast shutter speeeds catching action/poses which the eye would not really have time to see.

As a school governor I understand where they are coming from and also that a CRB check is not a watertight answer.

I would never be left alone with the children - it is just that "fear" that the group leader needs to be reassured about concerning action freezes.

Anyone got any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks

Geoff

Thanks for the comments and guidance. I've now got an adaptor ring (Pentax...and great service from SRS)and had the chance to find out just how much more light an F1.8 lens lets through compared to a 4.0-5.6!

This will prove fabtastic for portraits and close action shots.

My telephoto option is not so good as the lens (a Pentacon 200mm F4)shows too much purple fringing and is a bit heavy for the adaptor ring which I'm wanting to use without the spring for ease of changing back to normal DA lenses.

I'll soldier on with the 50mm screw and if anyone has any fastish /manual telephoto pentax bayonet maybe you could let me know while I save up for an auto lens.

I'm still so happy with my Pentax and this forum has been the icing on the cake!!

Cheers Guys

Geoff

Hello one and all!! I can only aspire to the genius (/insanity) of you veterans. I'll work at it during those long minutes that are part of the SD card copy to PC hard drive moments. Those times when suspense impacts on the speed of the clock.

Do I sound mad enough for a beginner? A kindergarten Pentaxian for now.

Thanks for the welcome.

Geoff

Apologies for not saying hi to all before now. I've had a K10 since Christmas but didnt discover this site until quite recently.

I've already dived in with a couple of questions on issues that were challenging my handling and understanding of the more advanced features of my camera.

Its been great so far -and I feel like a newcomer who now knows that he has many good Pentax user cyber mates.

I'm always glad that i purchased the K10D - and especially so when flicking through the memory card after a day clicking away.

This User club site seems to bring together a great cross section of experienced and enthusiastic fellow "Pentaxians" With every thread I read I seem to learn something new.

One day I hope I can contribute and help others.

Kerrodown's point about AF being fooled - could this also happen with heavy rain? This would further account for my problems from last week's game.

I'm busily searching for my long lost 200mm Pentacon M42 screw...but have anyway got the 50mm 1.8 M42 prime which would get me started in the goal mouth area at least.

Does anyone know if Olympus OM fit lenses can be adapted to fit the K10?

Cheers for all the thoughts and encouragement - its good to be among Pentax friends

I hope I'll be able to help others soon!

Geoff

Geoff

This is proving truly most enlightening. DoF and manual focussing was the way back when we had to pay for every roll of film. We tried to make every shot count and I guess accepted that there would be a lot that simply "got away".

My wishes for sports photos are that I capture the expressions and the close up player interactions and body language. I need the shallowist depth of field that I can manage -which also helps by giving me the highest shutter speed .

I think I read on here that pro sports photographers will use manual focussing. If this is true then there has to be a good reason and I must practice hard to do both the zooming and the focus turning.

Guys, Chris and Pete most recently, you've brought loads of clarity to the debate and to my thinking. The logical (and lowest cost)experimental starting point for me would be to dust off one of my old M42 primes and buy an adaptor then give it a go for a few matches really to see if I can be as good as the auto-focus normally is. Creatively I can feel a strong desire to crack this low light situation and get some shots under full floodlights. I can just imagine the "sparkle" this should give with players against the night sky.

Older manual lenses sound like a way forward at the sort of price which is logical for a relatively infrequent problem. Please excuse my ignorance but can I really use any Pentax bayonet fit on my K10D body? Will the lens F stop be adjustable? (tho in TAv mode I could see me wanting it wide open all the time). What will happen to the metering -will the camera still be able to adjust the ISO speed while I leave the shutter and aperture set as open and fast as possible?

Do the same guide lines apply to the M42 screws that I have at the back of my cupboard?

Image quality wise what I get from the Sigma 70-300 is absolutely fine under all normal lighting circumstances.

Cheers Pete - sound logic! I can see how the two camera approach would be a winner. The K20 I see raises the ISO stakes to 3200 max..mmmm .. Dear Santa!! In the meantime I hope for better light.

Geoff

Hi Guys, the action can be anything from 10 to 100 metres away. I accept the limitations of the Sigma 70-300 but this is nearly the perfect lens to cover the whole field of play. Having a wider angle -eg 50 mm would be an improvement. I think flash would not reach far enough or be accepted by the players.

In low light or driving rain the grain effect is actually OK. Maybe I should experiment with underexposing and pushing in post development. Would 3 full stops be pushing my luck too far when the ISO is already 1600?

I can't expect results like the pros get from even floodlit games but something halfway there would be great.

What is the feeling on shake reduction and monopods? I usually shoot with SR on.

Thanks for the suggestions
Geoff