Pentax K-3: likes and dislikes??

Manzur Fahim wrote:

Hello everyone,

Hope you are well and having a great day.

I've got a Pentax K-3 to play with for the next couple weeks and I wanted to write a short review about it. I've got the 50-135mm f/2.8 and the 16-85 f/3.5-5.6 with it. Since this is my very first time with a Pentax camera, I was wondering if I can ask you all about how you find the camera. The advantages of it and the shortcomings compared to the competitions. I know, it is an old camera, but in many countries they are still a viable choice and in a decent budget.

So please do share what you like and do not like about this camera, and / or the lenses above.

I'd greatly appreciate your input. Many thanks and have a lovely day.

Wll I have the K3II, which is broadly the same, with a few exceptions. The K3 is not really an "old camera". It's been out a few years but it's still very competitive with all the APS-C models. In terms of my K3II, which has the same sensor, there isn't much I don't like about it. About my biggest criticism of it is the focusing can be a bit temperamental and many of my lenses have needed calibrating on the camera. The good news is that this is easy to do and I have overcome issues with all the lenses bar one (The Sigma 18-35mm F1.8, which just wasn't reliable in any way, but that wasn't a fault of the camera). I would have liked an articulating LCD but I can live without it.

There are far more positives for the K3 models than negatives IMHO. I love the good sized pentaprism OVF, excellent ergonomics and controls, top plate LCD, configuration options, SR, size, weathersealing, battery life and most importantly the image quality, which is excellent. If you put the right lenses on it, it's excellent, and there is a great chocie of small primes or decent zooms for it. For me personally it ticks more boxes than any other brand and is excellent value. I tried Pentax a few years ago with the K-x and was unimpressed, their cameras and lens choices have come on leaps and bounds since then, so no real complaints from me.