Need a little help deciding which Pentax DSLR

Hi all,

I am looking for a new Pentax DSLR, my K-30 was stolen a few months ago (along with my 18-135) and I have gone without a camera long enough!  Prior to the K-30 I had an *ist DS, and an K-200.  While I loved the K-30's auto focus and high ISO performance, my favorite by far was the K-200.

I am trying to decide between a K-70, a K-3, or a K-3ii.  I think the K-3 and K3ii will give me the heft and 'feel' that I liked with the k-200 along with the top LCD, while the K-70 will have somewhat newer/better technology.  Price are $599 for the K-70 body only and $896 for the K-70 with the 18-135 and the K-3 and K-3ii bodies only are $799 and $835 respectively.

The K-3 option for $800 is at a local shop which is nice, but I am not opposed to Amazon or any other place online.

Does anyone have experience with moving from a K-30 (or K-50) to the K-70, K-3, or K-3ii?

I would really appreciate any input that helps me make a decision!!!

thanks!

-Schmutzie

Schmutzie wrote:

Hi all,

I am looking for a new Pentax DSLR, my K-30 was stolen a few months ago (along with my 18-135) and I have gone without a camera long enough! Prior to the K-30 I had an *ist DS, and an K-200. While I loved the K-30's auto focus and high ISO performance, my favorite by far was the K-200.

I am trying to decide between a K-70, a K-3, or a K-3ii. I think the K-3 and K3ii will give me the heft and 'feel' that I liked with the k-200 along with the top LCD, while the K-70 will have somewhat newer/better technology. Price are $599 for the K-70 body only and $896 for the K-70 with the 18-135 and the K-3 and K-3ii bodies only are $799 and $835 respectively.

The K-3 option for $800 is at a local shop which is nice, but I am not opposed to Amazon or any other place online.

Does anyone have experience with moving from a K-30 (or K-50) to the K-70, K-3, or K-3ii?

I would really appreciate any input that helps me make a decision!!!

thanks!

-Schmutzie

Hi

Sorry to hear about about your camera.

I have k200 silver version love it so much even it is old .

I was thinking to get the kp a lovely and beautiful camera but I ended up with k3ii. It is still the pentax aps/c flagship camera.

Schmutzie wrote:

Hi all,

I am looking for a new Pentax DSLR, my K-30 was stolen a few months ago (along with my 18-135) and I have gone without a camera long enough! Prior to the K-30 I had an *ist DS, and an K-200. While I loved the K-30's auto focus and high ISO performance, my favorite by far was the K-200.

I am trying to decide between a K-70, a K-3, or a K-3ii. I think the K-3 and K3ii will give me the heft and 'feel' that I liked with the k-200 along with the top LCD, while the K-70 will have somewhat newer/better technology. Price are $599 for the K-70 body only and $896 for the K-70 with the 18-135 and the K-3 and K-3ii bodies only are $799 and $835 respectively.

The K-3 option for $800 is at a local shop which is nice, but I am not opposed to Amazon or any other place online.

Does anyone have experience with moving from a K-30 (or K-50) to the K-70, K-3, or K-3ii?

I would really appreciate any input that helps me make a decision!!!

KP with a grip is as hefty as the K3II
Jokes aside, that was a serious idea; the K3II is a faster, and more robust, but the KP is something very special too.
Consider it.

Out of the 2 cameras that you have listed, ultimate IQ goes to the K-70, but ultimate speed & performance goes to the K-3/3II. I'd go for the K-3/3II if I were in your shoes.

The recent KP beats the K-70 in IQ by a hair. I'd set the auto ISO on the KP from 100 to 51200, while I'd set the auto ISO on the K-70 from 100 to 25600. It's not a big difference, but it seems like the KP is more usable at higher ISO. It does perform better & faster than the K-70, but it doesn't have the flagship build of the K-3/3II. I'd set the auto ISO from 100 to 12800 on the K-3/3II.

I was on the fence about getting a K-3II a while ago, but now I'm waiting to see if Pentax will release its APS-C replacement later this year or early next year. It should have the same IQ of the KP or slightly better, plus the flagship performance to boot. More than likely, it's also going to carry a larger price tag, judging from the current KP.

Schmutzie wrote:

Hi all,

I am looking for a new Pentax DSLR, my K-30 was stolen a few months ago (along with my 18-135) and I have gone without a camera long enough! Prior to the K-30 I had an *ist DS, and an K-200. While I loved the K-30's auto focus and high ISO performance, my favorite by far was the K-200.

I am trying to decide between a K-70, a K-3, or a K-3ii. I think the K-3 and K3ii will give me the heft and 'feel' that I liked with the k-200 along with the top LCD, while the K-70 will have somewhat newer/better technology. Price are $599 for the K-70 body only and $896 for the K-70 with the 18-135 and the K-3 and K-3ii bodies only are $799 and $835 respectively.

The K-3 option for $800 is at a local shop which is nice, but I am not opposed to Amazon or any other place online.

Does anyone have experience with moving from a K-30 (or K-50) to the K-70, K-3, or K-3ii?

I would really appreciate any input that helps me make a decision!!!

thanks!

-Schmutzie

They are all very good. One thing about the K3 series cameras is the build quality and this includes the high grade shutter mechanism. 200K mtbf and very smooth plus much quieter than the middle grade cameras. I don't know about the KP shutter yet though. YMMV.

I recently upgraded from K-50 and went for K-3ii, mainly because I wanted to have the GPS. I cannot compare to other models such as K-70, but must say that I am extremely happy with my choice of K-3ii. IQ is good and I think the image stabilisation has improved quite a bit from K-50. I routinely use 1/13sec with 18mm, handheld. Yes, I know this is not even pushing the limits, I just like my pictures sharp. I have also done 1/8s and  a few 1/4s exposures succesfully. The only disappointment is that there are only three user modes which is a bit limiting (but K-50 only had two). I also like the dynamical range of the sensor: even that seems to have improved a lot from K-50. One more small drawback might be K-3ii's more limited ISO tolerance. I personally prefer not go above 1600 with K-3ii, and based on reviews I believe e.g. KP could be a step or too better in that respect. However, I rarely need anything beyond that for handheld photography, and prefer using tripod and longer exposures for night landscapes anyway, so for me that was not a big issue.

K-3ii is a very good camera.

I would go for the K3II coz i have it and i love it.

well, i would go for the K3II due to it's resistant body and great grip, astrotracer ( which i love ), gps, more af points don't know if also faster af, bigger buffer,  and the price seems fine.

The K3II lacks of flash, which i don't care, the KP and K70 sensor seems to be a bit better and the tilting screens are nice. And all the three has pixelshift.

I guess it depends on very personal matters.

gen126 wrote:

Is the KP worth twice the price of the K70 ?

I feel you would hardly notice any difference in photos taken by these in most cases.

I would seriously consider the K3 (not K3II) due to its pro features and robust body along with the flash that can be handy.

Next in line if you can do without the top LCD but want to gain in swivel screen, I would consider K70. KP is not worth double the price, that money can be spent on lenses

well imho K3II is better just by the gps and astrotracer, however some say it has better af too. the only advantage K3 has is the flash and you can get something like this

https://www.amazon.com/Pentax-AF201FG-Flash-Black/dp/B00TF6TQPA

which is much better than the K3 built in.

I have found the gps to be quite unique and extremely useful and the astrotracer is really interesting to use. So it depends on each person usages, but i would not trade my K3II for a K3 nor for a D7200.

Schmutzie wrote:

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I for the delay in responding to you all...

A ton of great advice here, thank you! I would love the new KP, but it stretches my budget just a little too much!

Last night I found a used K3ii that is in great shape and has a very low shutter count that was near the bottom of my budget. I think I will enjoy the heft and feel of the larger camera more than i would enjoy the new features of the K70. Plus, I realized I missed the extra grip that I had on my K200.

Once again, thank you for all your input, comments, advice, and info - this place is a tremendous resource!

-Schmutzie

Excellent choice.