I am new to this forum. But have been a Pentax shooter since 2009. I started out with a Pentax Kx, and have a K5 currently, and would soon like to upgrade to a K3ii. I shoot primarily with a 50 1.4, and tamron lenses. I have been a portrait photographer for 6 years, shooting anything from weddings to babies, but over the past two years have concentrated on newborn photography mostly. My business name is Lighted Lamb Photography if anyone would like to follow my work on facebook. Let me know what you all think. Does anyone currently shoot with a k3ii? I am curious if I should get it... Below are some of my recent images..

[patrick9]

Welcome to the Forums. nice work. I rally like the last one

[rawr]

Very good images, and welcome to the forum.

By the look of your images, you don't need any advice from us!

But the K-3 II (or K-1) might give you some useful extra capabilities - better resolution for printing big or cropping, better handling of tricky or poor light in focus and metering, etc.

[Unregistered User 8]

Lovely images. Very well taken. A fantastic series of photographs to introduce yourself to the Pentax forums. Welcome aboard.

[lightedlamb]

Very good images, and welcome to the forum.

By the look of your images, you don't need any advice from us!

But the K-3 II (or K-1) might give you some useful extra capabilities - better resolution for printing big or cropping, better handling of tricky or poor light in focus and metering, etc.

I have been on the fence for so long about swapping over to Canon because that is what all my friend photographers shoot with.. I have no faults with my camera and everyone lives my work.. I just don't know anyone who shoots my type of work with Pentax and people cringe when I tell them. I just laugh because I love my camera. So I am ready to upgrade to the K3ii or the full frame.. I like being different.

[lightedlamb]

Lovely images. Very well taken. A fantastic series of photographs to introduce yourself to the Pentax forums. Welcome aboard.

Thank you!!!!

[lightedlamb]

Welcome to the Forums. nice work. I rally like the last one

Thank you!!😊

[BigMackCam]

Welcome to the forums

Those are fantastic shots - all of them, but especially the last one... really excellent!

Re the K-3II... Hmmm... Well, I went from the K-5 (which I still own and use) to the K-3 (which is my main camera now) and a K-3II (which is less used but which I'm gradually moving into as a second body). There are lots of upgraded features and some additional ones too, but the three main improvements I'd say are increased sensor resolution, no AA filter (but with emulation included if moire is a problem) and AF performance. If those really matter to you - i.e. you find resolution, detail and/or AF to be limiting with the K-5 - or if the other new features are useful to you, then yes - the K-3II is a worthwhile upgrade, and a fantastic camera overall. But, if none of those are limitations for you right now, you might want to wait and see what Ricoh comes up with next

[lightedlamb]

Welcome to the forums

Those are fantastic shots - all of them, but especially the last one... really excellent!

Re the K-3II... Hmmm... Well, I went from the K-5 (which I still own and use) to the K-3 (which is my main camera now) and a K-3II (which is less used but which I'm gradually moving into as a second body). There are lots of upgraded features and some additional ones too, but the three main improvements I'd say are increased sensor resolution, no AA filter (but with emulation included if moire is a problem) and AF performance. If those really matter to you - i.e. you find resolution, detail and/or AF to be limiting with the K-5 - or if the other new features are useful to you, then yes - the K-3II is a worthwhile upgrade, and a fantastic camera overall. But, if none of those are limitations for you right now, you might want to wait and see what Ricoh comes up with next

Awesome!! Great advise!!!! Wow this is so helpful.. I do find my K5 to have issues with sharpness just recently.. but it could be my lenses.. I am looking to have better resolution and sometimes feel constrained by the crop sensor.. but not sure if I want the full frame Pentax just yet. Not sure about the ff lense selection

[BigMackCam]

I do find my K5 to have issues with sharpness just recently.. but it could be my lenses.. I am looking to have better resolution and sometimes feel constrained by the crop sensor.

So, first things first, are you absolutely sure that AF fine adjustment is set accurately for each of your lenses? At close range and/or wider apertures (especially both together), any inaccuracy in AF could make a big difference to how sharp things look at the point of focus - though I have to say, difficult though it may be to judge at this size of reproduction, your photos look very sharp and detailed.

That aside, the extra resolution and lack of a physical AA filter on the K-3 & K-3II can make a very noticeable difference in certain areas, particularly on very fine details such as hair, eye-lashes etc. In many cases, though, careful RAW "pre-sharpening" of your K-5 images in post-processing can give results that are very, very close to the K-3 & K-3II in a great number of situations - so before you look to upgrade for the sake of perceived sharpness, I would make sure you've exhausted the possibilities, tools and your own skills in applying sharpening.

not sure if I want the full frame Pentax just yet. Not sure about the ff lense selection

I have some non-Pentax full-frame equipment, and I enjoy shooting with it very much, but I chose to stick with APS-C for my Pentax gear - and the K-3 remains my main go-to camera. I get the results I want from it (and the K-mount lenses I own), so there's really no sense in me moving to Pentax FF right now. That said, there is a significant improvement in very fine detail and high ISO performance between the K-3 / K-3II and the K-1.

As for FF lenses... Ricoh has the main bases covered in terms of high quality zooms. They're not cheap, but feedback from users suggests they're good. Plus, the existing FA Limited lenses are undeniably excellent (and remain hugely popular for that reason), whilst the FA50/1.4 and FA35/2 are both excellent and *slightly* more accessible price-wise. There'll be new lenses coming over the next year or two as well, but I'd say the K-1 is already better catered for than you might think.

[MSL]

Very creative shots. Many folks have comments on the last one; I like the first one too. Of these shots the only one that stood out as being not sharp was #4 (and then on close inspection and looking at the EXIF data #3). Both were taken using the Tamron 28-75 at f2.8. I also use this lens on a K5 and I have mixed views about it. It can do well, but I've rarely found it to do well at f2.8. No, I haven't done the AF fine adjustment for this lens or for any of my lenses, and perhaps this might help. But I've seen a number of other reports of this lens not being a great lens wide open. Both shots were taken at around 55mm and if you shoot at that focal length a lot, you may want to just rely on your 50, or even the DA*55. Or you may want to look for a zoom that works better at its limiting aperture.
You certainly seem to understand the patterns of young babies and how to get them to "cooperate" so keep doing what you are doing.

[Carpon]

And allready possing Great serie.