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Pentax K-3: likes and dislikes??

Started Jan 15, 2017 | Discussions thread
Walt_A Senior Member • Posts: 2,136
Re: Pentax K-3: likes and dislikes??

In terms of body functions and image resolution my K3 is the best Pentax that I've owned so far. The af module is a step up from my K30, it can be made to af on a smaller object size in the viewfinder (finer af points) and there is far less hunting to find the subject. The af now makes a pretty good guess on which way to move to get the subject in focus. It tracks objects better in the z-axis (coming to and going away from the camera) through the viewfinder in that the af does seem to lock on and understand the subject better than my previous cameras. However the resulting moving images are often not in perfect focus,  usually lagging behind the subject but sometimes the image is perfectly focused.  I also use a Canon 50D which has a far better hit rate so I don't think I'm the problem.

The shutter noise is beautifully subdued. The viewfinder is clear for me as a glasses wearer. Changing the af pattern is quick. I also like the video switch.

What I don't like or miss;

  • the problem mentioned above with af-c hit rate
  • the lack of sr switch
  • the lack of afc/afs/mf switch (need to use 2 hands and multiple movements), a double edged sword that I think is a necessary compromise to allow switching between pasm modes and custom modes and allowing them to change af modes
  • delayed initial af, there seems to be a pause between shutter press and af starting, this is noticeable after having used olympus/panasonic m4/3 cameras. Its enough to miss some shots of active animals.
  • cannot review images while camera is writing to cards after a burst
  • limited/awkward live view compared to my olympus cameras, loss of zoom feature immediately after af as was available in my K30
  • shadow recovery not as good as amazing 16mp sensor in my K30
  • weight, i'd be happy giving up some of the body weight to a build more similar to my K30, I don't tend to use my cameras as hammers, which the K3 feels like it could do and still take pictures!
  • video could be better, would love to see focus peaking during movie recording, video sr introduces some distortion making video unpleasant to watch in replay. I'm only a casual video taker and don't understand a lot of things video experts mention.

Looking above you could be forgiven thinking I don't like my Pentax K3 but it is still the camera I reach for to compliment my Olympus kit. I prefer my OM-D EM10 for macro but my Pentax for wildlife, although that might have changed if Olympus had delivered an affordable (IMHO) 300 F4 and an affordable phase detect body to use it on.

I'm sure there is more I like and maybe a little bit more that could be improved but this is what comes to mind sitting here on a rainy sunday afternoon.

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