The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Pentax K3 flagship announced

raist3d

Well-known member
I think it's a fantastic camera from everything I see, but I am not going to be first. It's just not the body for me, but I really admire how well it looks on capability and as usual- Pentax ergonomics.

Hopefully Jim Radcliff will go nuts with it :)

One interesting question: I look at the size of the EM1 and this camera (or K-5ii) and... they are pretty close.

- Ricardo
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
This seems to be a really nice great camera! Finally state of the art in Pentax style! Looks pretty similar WRT ergonomics like my K5IIs.

SO far I am out of this game as I decided to concentrate on m43 with EM1. But who knows ;)
 

Craftysnapper

New member
I can't believe Pentax have still not introduced a articulating LCD, it's something I will not do without these days and the only reason I left Pentax.

It's indispensable to us old folk that can no longer lie on the ground and get up like we used to but still want to take images from a low perspective for impact.;)
 
V

Vivek

Guest
This looks like the most accomplished of all "classical" DSLR cameras. :thumbs:
 

4711

Member
I can't believe Pentax have still not introduced a articulating LCD, it's something I will not do without these days and the only reason I left Pentax.

It's indispensable to us old folk that can no longer lie on the ground and get up like we used to but still want to take images from a low perspective for impact.;)
Have you heard of something called "right angle viewfinder"? ;)

Did you really quit a system because of a 100 USD accessory available for all cameras and much better then a tilting screen in bright sunight? :eek:
 

tsjanik

Well-known member
I can't believe Pentax have still not introduced a articulating LCD, it's something I will not do without these days and the only reason I left Pentax.

It's indispensable to us old folk that can no longer lie on the ground and get up like we used to but still want to take images from a low perspective for impact.;)
It has something better: wireless tethering using a FLU SD card. You can control the camera using a laptop or smartphone (including focus with liveview).

Tom
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
It has something better: wireless tethering using a FLU SD card. You can control the camera using a laptop or smartphone (including focus with liveview).

Tom
It would be sure better, IF it would be built in WiFi and not via a FLU card!
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Have you heard of something called "right angle viewfinder"? ;)

Did you really quit a system because of a 100 USD accessory available for all cameras and much better then a tilting screen in bright sunight? :eek:
As someone who had wasted several such hundred $ on these angle finders and such crap, i appreciate the tilting LCD, live view, focus magnification and the whole modern works! :)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
New Pentax and Olympus top of the line cameras ...
Both well spec'ed.
Both compact.
Both have a suitably comprehensive lens line.
Both with their own plusses and minuses.

I'm in the Olympus camp for various reasons, and I've ordered the new Olympus. Handled it recently, looking forward to its arrival. I was curious about the sizing difference between these two remarkable cameras, so I went to camerasize.com. I put this page together as I thought you might be interested:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25268645/pocomparo/index.html

What struck me more than the size differences is the difference in number of buttons and such. Ricoh concentrated on lots of discrete function buttons, where Olympus made a big use of the 2x2 control system (the little lever on the back above your thumb flips button functions from an A set to a B set).

It will be interesting to see how they play out in use.

Having been a Pentax user in the past, I hope the new Pentax is every bit the fantastic camera its specs propose. It looks like Ricoh has done a good turn for Pentax.

My biggest reservations about Pentax equipment, sadly, are their quality control and the lenses which at one time were two of their greatest strengths. I've never had occasion to be concerned about these things with Olympus gear, which is one*of the reasons why I'm using Olympus. I hope Ricoh has also addressed these issues.

G
 

raist3d

Well-known member
The lots of buttons was an approach that was there since the K-7. That's just the Pentax approach to this camera body.

I think there's more than it seems on this comparison. The K-5 of over two years ago can still deliver better sensor IQ than the EM1 released today, a K-3 would be (most likely) even better.

But the Em1 has the size advantage until you look at these two particular cameras at camera size. The K-5 line and K-3 are really close in size. And I still think even comparing a K-5iis vs an Em1 is entirely valid- the K-5iis is hardly a bad camera.

The telephotos for Olympus will be smaller, but I can't say the same thing on the primes as those Pentax pancakes are pretty small too.

You get the ability to "turn off" the lack of AA filter- that's pretty clever and I dare say partially revolutionary (I wouldn't call it all out revolutionary).

And those who always wanted to keep using an OVF, with no lag at all can keep doing so.

I expect the EM1 to focus faster in good light than this one, at least with most lenses, though I expect the K-3 to focus faster in lower light given the K-5ii rating.

Oh, the K-3 is $100 USD cheaper too.

That said, at the smaller sizes, even smaller size differences matter more when you see/pick the camera, so I still expect the Em1 to "feel" smaller in a somewhat notable way over a K-3.

- Ricardo
 

Oren Grad

Active member
There's at least one new feature in the K-3 which doesn't seem to be getting much attention so far, but which surely comes from Ricoh - the multipattern WB. This has been a distinctive feature of the later-generation GRD cameras - IIRC it appeared first in the GRD III.
 

raist3d

Well-known member
True though I have to admit to you, my first thought on that was "Nikon" :) Didn't know Ricoh had that.

- Ricardo
 

raist3d

Well-known member
Oh, forgot, the K-3 does have much better video. Would be good to see real samples and see how the compression is working to avoid compression artifacts, along with rolling shutter. This is an area that both Sony and Panasonic have nailed down pretty good.

- Ricardo
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
...
The K-5 of over two years ago can still deliver better sensor IQ than the EM1 released today, a K-3 would be (most likely) even better. ...
To me, this is just a snore. Image quality produced by my ancient 5Mpixel 2003 Olympus E-1 is better than needed for 90% of everything. Ergonomics and handling are the primary criteria I judge cameras by nowadays.

More's always better, but enough is always enough.

G
 

raist3d

Well-known member
To me, this is just a snore. Image quality produced by my ancient 5Mpixel 2003 Olympus E-1 is better than needed for 90% of everything. Ergonomics and handling are the primary criteria I judge cameras by nowadays.

More's always better, but enough is always enough.

G
To you its a snore, to others its not. I am glad you find your e-1 iq more than good enough- nothing wrong with that. And I actually agree with you particularly now that handling and ergonomics sure have a lot of weight at this point in the "what should matter today" scale. The e1 to me still has the best ergonomics of any Olympus 4/3 and I am glad to see the em1 layout as a step forward from the "sidetrack" they did with the e-3/e-5.

However, given the fact The k lines ergonomics are pretty much superb and so is its handling - given the asking price of both cameras its one thing to consider. How much of a consideration depends. Those that want better iso or available light work or landscapes probably would weight more the k. I think the em1 will still have an extra "kawai" factor that for many (I would include partially myself in here) that will make the feel of using it kind of smaller camera - right.

Going back to a more general discussion- One more feature that Pentax added here is the dual sd cards. For the working pro that's pretty good- you get an instant backup and workflow wise you can finish a card and send it to someone for backup/workflow purposes. Nikon had this already, glad to see pentax putting that in. That's great.

- Ricardo
 
Top