Fully loaded: Pentax K-3 review

It is now May 2015, one year after the review. $750 for the body and $980 for the body with the 18-135mm lens. These are great times to be buying a camera.

Great, comprehensive camera review. I've written about my experience testing the Pentax K3 in the field as a professional photographer, and also compared it to the Nikon D600/D610 camera. Hope it helps someone trying to decide! http://www.englishphotographer.com/pentax-k3-camera-review/

I still think Pentax are falling behind too much.

What does it mean when you really just happen to stumble across a $100 used K-x in a garage sale, and like it so much that you decide to buy a cheap, used K-7 without even reading the reviews, and then read the reviews, and realize you really want a K-5, and then buy a brand new K-5, but after using it only five months, you impulse buy a $809 brand new K-3 with a battery grip that will probably never see any use? (The battery grip, I mean!)

Too much denoising and... Denoising in RAW? Why?
RAW is not RAW now...

Wow! A .95x magnification viewfinder with 100% coverage. What other company offers that in a DSLR? Even the FF from Nikon and Canon have puny viewfinders in comparison.

The experience of shooting with a nice bright viewfinder is such an engaging experience, that alone is worth switching systems for.

Pentax ( Ricoh ) is still introducing new products that were likely in the pipeline before their takeover from Hoya. They have the ability to create a niche product by introducing a better and more directed line of lenses. WR and A* are really the only way to go if you have a K 7 or newer body as they create a complete system, especially now that the series II flashes have been created.

For K 5 and K 3 photographers, there also should be a 10 mm or 10-20 mm WR lens, preferably with a 2.8 or 3.5 fixed f to fill a void in their lens lineup.

As to an articulating LCD screen, I personally don't see the point as the more serious photographers seem to be quite happy with fixed screens as is the norm for high end Nikon and Canon. Personally, I think one pays more attention to details when looking through a viewfinder.

The K-3 just won the EISA "Advanced DSLR Camera award 2014-2015":

http://www.eisa.eu/awards/photography/40/european-advanced-dslr-camera-2014-2015.html

Regarding the autofocus speed, I understand that the K-3 has a more powerful in body motor for the spindle focus drive, so it is quicker than say the K-5 by about 50%. With respect to the 'in lens' motors, then Pentax probably does need to up the design parameters here and introduce faster drives, especially for the long focus throw lenses. The shorter primes, even with spindle drive, seem to be quick enough now.

This will happen in time I'm sure and third party lenses may well be the first to go down this route, so there should be plenty of choice.

dpr gave the K3 a GOLD award "wholeheartedly"

......got to say I'm totally impressed with the K3 which I've been using professionally extensively for almost a year now. I've always used 35mm Pentax since the Spotmatic back in the late 60's / early 70's and have a large selection of Takumar lenses (arguably some of the best, fastest and sharpest lenses ever made)
My K3, old Takumar lenses with screw mount / k mount adapter produces great images with the best of them, and they still produce as sharp results as a lot of the new pentax lenses. The reason I bought the K3 was because I had all of these very expensive and specialised lenses from the days of film and wanted to maximise the use of what I already owned.
In my workplace I also use various Nikon and Canon DSLR models which have their uses, but I am totally biased and must confess that in my opinion for my own personal use the K3 beats them all hands-down in almost every respect.

So from this review it seems the auto focus on the lenses is the culprit on the Auto focus "problems" not the camera itself. Are there any other reviews out there that indicate that the Pentax Auto Focus is substantially slower than those on Nikon?

I am up in the air between this and the D7100 and really the ONLY thing throwing me for a loop and preventing me from buying the K-3 right now is the problematic slow auto focusing lenses available for the camera.

Is there any other reviews out there on the interwebs that can verify or refute the claims here that the slow AF on the lenses are to blame for the issues with the Cont. AF they see here?

This is a deal breaker for me really if this is true. I want fast auto focus lenses, like those available for the Nikon D7100... Any body with some thoughts or links to shed some light?

Any news about the crazy mirror flapping issue with the K3?

It seems DPR simply doesn't review or care about some of the unique aspects of the K-3. How about an evaluation of the weather sealing and comparison to other models? Or a simple breakdown of lens focal lengths available with weather sealing among different manufacturers. I don't know who would win but it's certainly a worthwhile question, particularly relevant to anyone considering Pentax.

Similarly, what about testing Image Stabilization and its effectiveness? Has this ever been tested here, for lenses or camera bodies? I don't recall, though I know others have. The fact that it's in-body with K-3 is hardly mentioned, much less tested. How does it compare to lens-based stabilization of other systems?

Finally, it's great (really great!) to test focus tracking. But I don't recall seeing similar tests on other recent cameras. Is it just taken for granted that they handle this stuff well, and the K-3 is only being tested due to poor past performance and claimed improvements by Pentax?

I wonder what happened to the intelligence of some of these "expert reviewers"??? The direct competitors of the K3 are the D7100 & 70D. They have similar size, sensor size and price point. I don't understand why on earth do they compare the K3 to a 6D or D600. Does not make sense (different sensor size & price point).

I'm curious why K-3 is only compared to D300s and EOS 7D as direct competitors but not to D7100 which seems more logical for me? I mean the picture quality not handling. So far, D7100 was the leader in the crop category.

I'm still concerned that the review draws a conclusion about AF-C in this camera without TESTING whether any other camera would have performed better under *the same conditions*.

Is Pentax's Hyper-Program operational interface mentioned anywhere in this review? I did not find it under "shooter's experience" where it ought to have been, nor anywhere else. Have I missed it, or was it not mentioned?

After pulling out EXIF data from some DPR test shots, it was concluded DPR indeed did a sloppy job in evaluating the K-3.
In the AF-C test, they have left the Shake Reduction on, which means camera wanted to stabilise each image in consecutive firing like it would do in a single shot mode.
The Conclusion? DPR made a wrong conclusion about the camera's AF, of course. Their verdict is invalid and wrong and inconsistent with results experienced users are getting out of K-3. Truth is the K-3 is a very sophisticated machine, allowing for many settings. It is not a P&S toy.
Get to know your gear, especially with a less known and more unique brand of cameras, and have a thorough attitude before testing or making public verdicts.

K-3 now got the ipa award for best expert level dslr http://www.tipa.com/english/award-details.php?iId=3634&sAward=Best%20Digital+SLR++Expert

So what could be the next now Pentax ?
1. Pentax K-02, mirrorless with new mount to maintain compactness
2. Pentax FF with 36 MP, DSLR.
3. Lastly, lenses with better AF. 12-24, 17-70, 16-50, 50-135. They all need new updates.

Have I missed something? Or why is the Sony A850, a FF camera, in this 'Semi-professional Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR' group and not the A77?

Thx a lot for this review that I find balanced and right. I already have a K-3, and I just love it, the best Pentax camera up to date...

Wish there was more mention and test of the full weather seal. Thats an important factor, i feel to show as Pentax does weather sealing better then anybody else i feel then is comes to DSLR.

I think as already suggested, even if emotionally not easy, that I might take a serious look at FF with VERY High Iso capabilities. I also often Crop, and image quality e detail rendition are critical.I really love the Outsider Philosophy of Pentax, humbly and quietly delivering what I consider the best aps-c camera 3-4 years ago ( the K-5). Now time has changed and I believe you cannot win the competition with selectable anti aliasing filter.
The game , or the war, is on other grounds.

Hi,

thanks to all for the replies.
I'm trying to play and change some of the settings but still not 100% happy with the results.
I will give my self time in order to know and understand better if the K-3 can match my expectations.
Especially when looking at the image quality comparison of professional reviews I understand that some other " Systems" might be more suitable for my needs.
Pentax colour rendition is sometimes weird. When you photograph at 2-3 am neon signs of some shops or other artificial lights the colours seem to be sometimes similar to what you see after taking an hallucinogenic.
Very warm , maybe too much, is like the colours are the colours of a marker-highlighter. I tried to change WB, SCENE, still I'm not convinced. Other cameras have a more natural and balanced approach.

I have a K-5 and I don’t need better image quality. Its sensor surpasses all my needs. But I need better menus, ergonomics, more precise exposure and WB metering, faster AF and a viewfinder optimized for MF. K-3 is half way from K-5 to my ideal camera. And the sensor doesn’t play any significant role.

I think the K-3 is the best APS-C camera at the moment, and Ricoh’s share of this market will grow. That’s the way to a good competition and to the best choice of cameras for all the photographers.

Hi I own a K-5 ( Silver ) and one month ago I received my K-3 ( Silver ).
I don't know what will be the future of APS-C but I'm unhappy with the results of the Image Quality Compared. Olympus is almost there, for my personal opinion D7100 is performing better and when compared to Sony 7R........
I photograph mainly during the night ( color rendition and low light capabilities are crucial ) and I'm starting to think that maybe time has come to sell everything and check both Nikon ( D4s, DF, D400 ? , ) and Sony 7R.
K-5 was my first camera and loved it but it seems to me the future is going into another directions. Image quality of Sony is unbeatable. low light capabilities of some nikons also. Don't know.
Can someone cast light on my considerations ?

Excellent review...objective and well balanced ! :-)

Nice cam, bit heavy ..
Does it also have the mirror flop issue?
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I ask because a friend is quite enamoured and has asked me my opinion.
.
My blanket reply "they are all pretty good, just get the one that suits you", didn't wash too well :(

Well, on the plus side, at least we won't have to read any more posts from all the Pentax fanboys complaining "Where's the K-3 review?" every time DPReview posts a review of any other camera.

Interesting to see that dpr does not mention the K3's AF capability in low light. For every in-door available light photographer this is as cruicial as low noise at high ISO. When reviewing the K5 II this was mentioned: "As for light levels, I was able to compare the K-5 II with the Nikon D7100, and found I was able to focus with the K-5 II in lower light than with the Nikon. In exceptionally low light (a large blacked-out room lit with a single tungsten bulb) there was a clear point where the Nikon's AF system (rated down to -2EV) just gave up, never delivering a focus confirmation beep, and the K-5 II (rated down to -3EV) kept on making accurate decisions." Also something I do not understand: for both the K5 ii and the K3 the whole "performance" section is missing while it is being part of other reviews. Anyway, I hope the K5 ii low light capabilities are a base feature in all Pentax bodies now.

Regards

Zvonimir,

you've made that ALL up.