[robr7]

Not sure if its already been asked but in my case...

Only real lens I can use is my 31mm, so it'll be a whole lot of new glass. I also have a 16-85mm, 18-135mm, 20-40mm, 40mm, *55mm, 55-300mm - I may be wrong but I'm thinking not many of these are keepers after an upgrade. For now I plan to keep the K3 as a backup unless a trade in is worthwhile.

Or do I hold for the inevitable K1 II? I'm going on a trip so of course I'm itching to pull the trigger...

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Last edited by robr7; 07-28-2016 at 04:00 AM.

[Alex645]

Yes and no. The K-1 offers many improvements, but mostly in the area of resolution, low light with less noise, improved dynamic range, less depth-of-field, nicer bokeh, and more. But I wouldnʻt upgrade if your K3 is getting you the quality and images you want and need. When is the upgrade worth it? When you donʻt have to ask us; youʻll know.

I recently got some really nice star field shots on an APS-C, but I know if I had FF it would have gone from very good to excellent. I also love shallow depth of field, and although you certainly can get it done with APS-C, I know with my MF 645 film camera plus primes, it just isnʻt the same. So for me, thatʻs reason #2 for considering FF. The last valid reason for me is that I live in a place with lots of direct sunlight and hard shadows. Dynamic range is very challenging and I know a FF sensor will help unwieldy highlights and shadows.

IF you do upgrade, I would keep the 16-85mm, the 55-300mm, and one of your primes. The main reason, however, for your upgrade should be something in your current system that would be improved with a K-1.

[UncleVanya]

Only real lens I can use is my 31mm, so it'll be a whole lot of new glass. I also have a 16-85mm, 18-135mm, 20-40mm, 40mm, *50mm, 55-300mm - I may be wrong but I'm thinking not many of these are keepers after an upgrade.

Disclaimer: I don't have a k-1.
31 of course is a keeper.
40 is quite good from the pics I have seen. I would keep it.
50 (which one?) should be pretty good on the K-1.
16-85, 18-135, 20-40, 55-300 all are useable on crop mode but assuming that isn't your wish then you could replace the 18-135 and 16-85 with the 28-105 (not as wide as the 16mm or as long as the 135 after crop factor is applied) The 20-40 is a bit faster lens but with the improved ISO you may not miss that aspect of that lens. The 55-300 is next the hardest to replace but as mentioned you can keep it in crop mode.

So you still need something wider than 28mm and faster than the 28-105. The 24-70 is a great possibility but expensive. The long lens options are really expensive.

Personally I'd be curious what you want to improve - plenty of possible benefits but hard to be certain if the uses are worth it without clear ideas of what you want to get out of it.

[nomadkng]

Not sure if its already been asked but in my case...

Only real lens I can use is my 31mm, so it'll be a whole lot of new glass. I also have a 16-85mm, 18-135mm, 20-40mm, 40mm, *50mm, 55-300mm - I may be wrong but I'm thinking not many of these are keepers after an upgrade. For now I plan to keep the K3 as a backup unless a trade in is worthwhile.

Or do I hold for the inevitable K1 II? I'm going on a trip so of course I'm itching to pull the trigger...

There's about 10 threads all asking the same question, and after reading the 1000's of replies, one starts to get a feel for who's buying, who's not, who's on the fence.

I'm going to stick my neck out with my answer; based on your lens collection AND the fact you are in doubt, no. If you are hoping the camera will make you a better photographer, the answer is no. Based on your lens collection you aren't a legacy shooter and you aren't a semi-pro. you are a hobbyist, and not even a hard core pixel peeper or wanna-be pro. You may be a decent photographer, but you know you have a lot to learn and for you an image that's "good" enough works just fine because you don't take things that seriously yet/ You have dreams, but that's what they are, dreams. The K1 won't magically fix your shortcomings. I'm also guessing you are pushing your budget ceiling with this purchase or you wouldn't be asking for a quantitative value.

Give yourself another couple years and fully develop your style. Learn what you want your camera to do and learn how to push its limits. If you get there, you will be able to answer your own question.

Of course, anyone can purchase any camera they want at any time for any reason... so go right ahead if you feel a subjective want or need. But you asked "me". My answer is, in your case, no, it's not worth it.

[noelpolar]

It will be a much more memorable trip with a new K-1*. That's all you need to know.

Life is all about experiences.... so go and have a great one!

I have a K3 and K-1....... K3 is quite lonely these days.

* This advice is given based on the assumption that you can afford a K-1 and also afterwards, you wont feel too guilty that you could have donated the purchase price to some third world cause and saved 20 children from starving in 2016.

[biz-engineer]

Larger format give you better image quality for ALL images you take. Using apsc lenses on ff does not make sense. But, lenses resell quite well without losing too much value. Regarding your K3, better sell it before a next apsc model comes out (camera depreciate quickly). Folks who are keeping the K3 and K1 are actually losing on the K3 depreciating over time. What I did: I negotiated a part exchange and also had lenses that I did not use much , so , overall , K1 upgrade did not cost me so much. Now, I have less equipment but only the good one, and I can enjoy the K1 system. I considered the upgrade as a 5 years spending, so, cost per year is relatively low.

[Snappertim]

Sold 2 k3 one silver one grey, both special editions superb cameras, purchased a black k1 with grip, absolutely no regrets what so ever, better everything, and with wide angles from Irix 15mm and loawa 12mm and Samyang 14mm Autofocus coming onto the market, time to go wide.

[Wild Mark]

K-1 + 31mm + Pixel Shift @f9 ISO 100 shutter = 1/4s SR off

:P

[surfar]

All of your lenses will work on crop mode(16mp...36divided by the square of the crop)and theres a thread on K1 crop mode.EXCELLENT PHOTOS.


The 40/50/55-300 all work in FF mode on my K1, I don't own the 31/20-40/16-85 so cant comment.Disappointingly the 18-135 vignettes all through the focal length.


I didn't own a 24mp ASP-c camera I upgraded from ASP-c 28mp, funnily I haven't touched that since I got the K1( Friday,may 13th, my lucky day)


My advice is go test one and take your favourite lenses.

[Barry Pearson]

There's about 10 threads all asking the same question, and after reading the 1000's of replies, one starts to get a feel for who's buying, who's not, who's on the fence.

I'm going to stick my neck out with my answer; based on your lens collection AND the fact you are in doubt, no. If you are hoping the camera will make you a better photographer, the answer is no. Based on your lens collection you aren't a legacy shooter and you aren't a semi-pro. you are a hobbyist, and not even a hard core pixel peeper or wanna-be pro. You may be a decent photographer, but you know you have a lot to learn and for you an image that's "good" enough works just fine because you don't take things that seriously yet/ You have dreams, but that's what they are, dreams. The K1 won't magically fix your shortcomings. I'm also guessing you are pushing your budget ceiling with this purchase or you wouldn't be asking for a quantitative value.

Give yourself another couple years and fully develop your style. Learn what you want your camera to do and learn how to push its limits. If you get there, you will be able to answer your own question.

Of course, anyone can purchase any camera they want at any time for any reason... so go right ahead if you feel a subjective want or need. But you asked "me". My answer is, in your case, no, it's not worth it.

I think that is one of the best answers I've seen for this question!

An FF system isn't simply "superior". It is different, with its own advantages and disadvantages. (Just as APS-C isn't simply "superior" to m4/3, nor 645 simply "superior" to FF).

I bought the K-1 because I has enough knowledge and experience to be confident that it was the right decision - for me. But people differ massively, and I don't assume that what is right for me is right for others, even if they themselves are experienced.

[totsmuyco]

The way I see it is the decision really depends on you. If you're going to FF, then probably yes. But if you plan to stay with APSC then no.

[newmikey]

I'm going to stick my neck out with my answer; based on your lens collection AND the fact you are in doubt, no. If you are hoping the camera will make you a better photographer, the answer is no. Based on your lens collection you aren't a legacy shooter and you aren't a semi-pro. you are a hobbyist, and not even a hard core pixel peeper or wanna-be pro. You may be a decent photographer, but you know you have a lot to learn and for you an image that's "good" enough works just fine because you don't take things that seriously yet/ You have dreams, but that's what they are, dreams. The K1 won't magically fix your shortcomings. I'm also guessing you are pushing your budget ceiling with this purchase or you wouldn't be asking for a quantitative value.

Give yourself another couple years and fully develop your style. Learn what you want your camera to do and learn how to push its limits. If you get there, you will be able to answer your own question.

Of course, anyone can purchase any camera they want at any time for any reason... so go right ahead if you feel a subjective want or need. But you asked "me". My answer is, in your case, no, it's not worth it.

Great answer!

I'd add that moving between sensor formats isn't necessarily always an upgrade, more like a sideways move requiring you to relearn a lot of things which may now seem pretty bread 'n butter to you.

As to IQ comparisons between different systems based on different sensor-sizes: these will always show a benefit to the larger sensor. How much of that is visible in your everyday results probably depends a lot on your type of shooting and post-processing, as well as to whether you often find yourself operating (or wanting to operate) at the extremes of the performance envelope of any particular type of camera (high-ISO, razor-thin DOF or extreme macro/micro). Chances are that, if 95% of your photography is currently well within the optimum performance envelope of the K-3, the K-1 would not actually be an upgrade.

Last factor is cost, size and weight. I happen to feel that purely for myself, the APS-C format is about the optimum balance between size/weight of the gear and the resulting IQ. Costwise as well, APS-C allows me to maintain a bag full of quality glass where with the K-1 I could possibly only justify one or two mediocre lenses at the most.

[jlstrawman]

Not sure if its already been asked but in my case.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/169-pentax-full-frame/321064-worth.html

[UncleVanya]

55-300 in full frame???? I see such mixed reports on this. What's the true reality folks? I have no K-1.

[shardulm]

SR off

Would SR On even make sense in case of PixelShift images?