Pentax K-3 III Review After 6 Months 

Thanks for posting... I've been waiting

Lame there are bot accounts responding to your comments. Asking people to respond on Telegram.

Enjoy using it! Great piece of kit

Thanks for the review. I have the K-50 as i scored ot for a excellent deal. Getting better with it. And the f- series glass works great on it.

It's a really solid follow-up to the K-3, which is really all I wanted. :) We'll see how things turn out for Pentax in the next 5-10 years. It's hard to say!

Sometimes less is more. :)

So sad they wont convert to mirrorless!

One of these days I'll try out that PLM! :)

Hehe, happy to help. Now get back to work 😄

@@snappiness I just got spammed by a bot pretending to be you, on a previous video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-97JUbU_jwr0.html&lc=UgzsGqm5WaFkm0U8yqx4AaABAg.9c7UYMq6oyu9d3XOQkLwM6

I think a lot of us want a KP revival in the future. The KP is so capable and had that more vintage style and compact design. Would be nice to have that middle ground model between the entry and the K-3III high end model too.

Cool! It's a great camera, enjoy! :)

The KP is a superb camera that will become a favorite classic in the Pentax world for sure. Thanks for stopping by as always!

Of course! Had to! :)

Thanks for stopping by, Ian :)

Great! I am optimistic with the firmware updates it has received so far. I hope they keep pushing some cool stuff :)

Grab the new firmware for the k70 1.4

One of these days I should make a video introducing non-pentaxians to Pentax camera. Because you're right, there's just a lot going on here that is really cool but wouldn't make it on a specs sheet.

Thanks, Robin!

Thank you!

re dvi, hdmi, ethernet, firehose, bucket brigade of dwarves, whatever, just get it out to a separate box that can free-up the body to go full-on balls out.

The tilt screen makes a lot of shots so much easier. I'm with you there.

That's an interesting thought. There's some sort of time limit on when people can reuse mounts (based on patent law I assume). I do wish we had more third party options. Practically speaking that's one of the draws of buying an older Nikon, for example, is the available of loads of great wildlife lens options for cheap. I do think Pentaxians are particularly fond of the lenses we do have though, so it'd be a question of whether or not that would draw in new people.

Exactly! K3 iii seems to be a perfect camera (meantime, as almost all Pentax cameras like k10d, k5iis, k3, k1, kp, k-01) but! The price for the crop .. omg. Even nikon d500 with genial AF and developed lenses choice is cheaper. But let us remember, Pentax is not Nikon and I would pay more for Pentax;). Well but why full frame costs the same price? I would go for K1 for the same money, rather than buy crop ... And if I understood rightly, k3iii doesnt have gps? My k3ii has it.

@@Xitrun Agree! I bought the o-gps for my k-3,so that I am able to take astrophotography. it's the least thing we should miss

I contemplated getting the d500 for a long time... The reasons are too lengthy to discuss here, but I think the d500 with one of the many affordable used telephoto lenses would make one of, if not the best wildlife setup on a budget right now. I stuck with Pentax because I was fortunate to have the funds and bought one cheap, but I sympathize with the price. It's very costly.

Yeah no GPS in k3iii even though K3ii has GPS. I've seen used K-1's go for $700 lately. If you don't need the speed or crop for telephoto stuff, I highly highly recommend the K-1. Such a joy with vintage lenses too.

@@snappiness thank you for your comments. Where did you see the k1 for 700$? And where would you recommend to search used Pentax k1? I live in Canada so I guess we have more or less the same sites sources of buying.. thanx in advance

The tilt screen would make it pretty much perfect, in my eyes. Can't have it all I guess! The KP may be your bet then for the upgraded ISO performance and tilt screen.

@@snappiness yeah, but it uses a different battery. I really don't want to invest or have carry multiple kinds of batteries. I like that the K1 uses the same ones

I have the K3-11 and the autofocus on the K3-3 blows away the the K3-11

Thank you :)

That sounds like a really great setup between those two lenses. Covers pretty much everything you'd want to do besides edge cases. I agree a revised 50-135 with plm would be an exciting lens. I am still on the fence about picking up a 55-300 plm to test, but now all these comments are really.making me want to. I'm just really curious how it performs.

A bit late comment, Some of the heavier DFA* lens like 50 mm and 85mm are too heavy and needed a different type of heavy torque motor. They might not be suited for PLM from what i understand.

I own a 645z and K1 which both are preety capable of shooting perfectly focused birds in flight . As someone who started his photographic journey many years ago shooting volleyball matches with a Nikon F2AS, the whole doscussion about Pentax af is exaggerated. Yes, I understand the argument that the aim of technology is to make our lives easier but full automation takes fun out of photography. I’m one of those perverts who gets a thrill out of using skill when shooting pictures and getting 1 our of 10 gives far more satisfaction that 10 out of 10. Although, I understand why the latter is so important for commercial photographers.

@@tomcat1132 I feel similarly. Like you I shoot a K-1 and 645D (the D is even harder to use so the feeling of joy when you get a good shot is really great!). For most people however it's not about 'making lives easier', it's about competition. Many photographers are fighting for work, so if they can have a rich portfolio of moments captured then that helps with their promotion and securing the next job. It's why I have switched to Fuji primarily for my event work and leave Pentax to the more controlled slower paced stuff (landscape etc). I think when money is being exchanged you do owe it to the client to deliver, it's not about you and how you feel when you get a nice 1/10 image, you actually need to give 10/10 even if you feel disconnected somewhat from the process.

Thanks! I know my videos aren't the most professional but I am trying to get a little bit better with it incrementally. Who knows, maybe in a few years it won't look half bad 🤣

I'm a bit rusty on the film stops, but digital is vastly superior to film, and it happened between 10 to 20 years ago. Everything is now on the computer using image editing software. Digital camera sensors clearly outperform film IMO in terms of low light performance. Film needs light, and sensors do too, but nowhere near as badly as film needs light. The latest camera sensors are now ISO invariant, which takes it to a whole other level. I'll explain this later. Cameras have built in metering so you do not need a separate light meter. The in-built light meter meters for 18% gray. They also sense for White balance which determines color, and Pentax has the best or one of the best White Balance sensing - but this is for color. Some other camera brands White Balance for "Magic Hour" every time of the day. So you can take a phot at midday and it looks like magic hour, which is off putting. Some will do it even in night scene photography and its never "What you see is what you get". Pentax and Canon have the best White Balance. Nikon seems to create muted tones. But this can all be manipulated on the computer in image editing software. So the answer to the question is that most cameras, including the different sized sensor today have 14 stops of what they call "Dynamic Range" - between black and white, but I'm not really explaining right. The Dynamic Range works like this: You can under expose an image by 10 or 11 stops, and then raise the exposure in the software and recover all the detail. But if you OVER EXPOSE your shot by 4 or 5 stops you'll be lucky to recover detail. So some people drastically under expose their images so they can pull it back in post on their computer. Now most image sensors today from micro 4/3rds, APSC, Full Frame and Medium Format (Crop) can do 14 stops of dynamic range. Some Medium Format (crop) and Medium Format (Full Frame 645) can do 16 stops of dynamic range. Some are brilliant at recovering over exposed highlights........... So basically you do not have to worry about exposure with digital, as long as you do not over expose your images. There are tools for instance with Pentax, that when you take a picture and the image shows on the back screen the over exposed regions on the image are flashing red to show that you've cooked it. So then you can make your adjustments and take a better image. In post you can pull up and recover the dark regions easily. Works for Black and white too. ISO invariant sensors are a new generation of sensor that are two stage or two phase. So at ISO 100 the image is real clean, but gets dirtier by the time you get to ISO 800, and then the sensor at ISO 1600 is the 2nd phase, and the noise at 1600 is as bad as IS400. Take a look at the link below from Photons to Photos website where you can see the charts of ISO performance versus image noise/grain. On the menu on the right select a Pentax K-3 and you can see that the noise/grain goes up as the ISO goes up. Then select the Pentax K-P and you can see the sensor is ISO invariant, and the noise/grain goes up and down like steps, and gets pulled back down because of phasing. What this means is that you can take under exposed images in difficult light and pull up details even more so. Its another leap ahead of Film. But don't get me wrong, film is great, but digital is instant and correcting mistakes is quick and easy. The earliest digital slr's had image noise similar film. By the time they got to 10 mega pixels in apsc it had surpassed film grain. By 16 mega pixels it was well ahead. It went a bit backwards at 20 mega pixels and 24 mega pixels, but todays 24 and 26 ISO invariant sensors just blow it all out of the water. Regards! photonstophotos.net/Charts/RN_ADU.htm

I really think Pentax should have already capitalized on the SLR-esque camera styling with shutter speeds dials and the like. Like what Fuji has done. Or even a full-frame retro designed DSLR one like the Nikon Df. Would be really cool.

@@snappiness definitely! I have the xt3 but if i want to use my pentax glass i have to put a big ugly adapter on the front. Such a shame we can't have the best of both worlds!

Woohoo! Have fun!

@@snappiness I'm taking the III and D FA 150-450 out tomorrow morning to shoot some birds.

@@steverobinson9801 Holy smokes! What a combination!

I love my FA 77mm limited lens... Remarkably sharp

I mountain bike for exercise a few times a week and bring the camera. I spotted one by accident once and that started my obsession with studying their habits and local sightings. They usually have their hunting area they hang out at, and when they nest of course they hang around the nest. So sometimes for months I know whereabout they hangout. Right now I can't find them anymore, but I'll find them again :)

@@snappiness awesome, nice work.

No internal GPS, just the optional external GPS accessory. I think the K-1 really excels with those older lenses. There's a lot of character that gets brought out when you use the full sensor size they were designed for (not to say it's bad to use on APSC, that can produce lovely results as well). I don't own any of the newer DFA glass, but I imagine when you want the very best sharpness especially edge to edge that would be the way to go. The 15-30 is on my list one day when I get back into landscape photography. My kids need to be older though. They don't yet have the dexterity to go where I want to go :)

The K-3III is smaller, lighter, faster (in every way) and has the crop factor that benefits my wildlife work. For everything else, I prefer the K-1. It's not that the K-3 III can't also be an excellent portrait/landscape/whatever camera, it's just I prefer the way the K-1 makes my old glass shine, the tilt screen, that resolution etc. K-1 is a powerful camera.

​@@snappinessI have a k5 and a decent number of FF lenses (31mm ltd, 77mm ltd, M135, FA50mm...).. do you think K-1 or k3-iii would be better ? K1ii is so old at this point... Wondering if the k3 would be better. I want to do more indoor shots and the crop sensor is annoying for indoor studio type shots. Anyway been on the fence . K5 going strong but it's over 14 yrs old now and am itching for something new

I have never actually used the K-3ii, but I used the K-3 a lot. The K-3 original is a good enough jump from the K-5, and not much more, that even that move would be worth it. Spend the extra on nice glass. The difference between the K-3 and K-3ii is small enough that I wouldn't do it unless it was about the same price. If you don't mind switching body types and losing certain features, but gaining the best IQ for the buck, the Pentax KP is a great camera. The noise performance over the original K-3 is very good. But noise reduction software is also getting very, very good. So here we are back at the original K-3 😆 Hopefully that was helpful

thank you for replying! Believe it or not image quality is not the reason I want to update from K5. Lack of f2.8 autofocus points is. My fast lenses are not focusing that good in low light with k5. I prioritize construction over iq, so k3 is my preference. Here in Greece we don't have a lot of options in used cameras so you take what you find... Differences between mk1 and mk2 are minimal only the Astro tracer is it Worthy addition so I'm happy with either of them Love from Greece!

I thought so too! I was planning on waiting at least two years before picking one up, but they dropped in price on the used market pretty quick and I had the funds :)

Yes, several. I'm not sure where you're looking but here's their current lineup: us.ricoh-imaging.com/product-category/lenses/k-mount-lenses/

Haha! I have seen those GX's floating around. Always thought it was kinda cool to have a K10/20D in disguise.

@@snappiness It's weird, this thing reads Samsung but screams Pentax :D And getting a battery grip for it is next to impossible. Anyway, good to see new and exiting Pentax content, thanks for the video. I will upgrade to the K3 classic in the next years, looking forward to it! :D