[Steve7527]

It is indeed very strange: that you should think this was an obvious improvement *for all*. It would make the screen more prone to failure, more difficult to weather seal and would make the body bigger, which are all fundamentally against Pentax's design philosophy for their flagship DSLR. I also imagine the possibility of tethering in the K-3 would make it redundant for anyone who is serious about video anyway.

What you mean is some people (including you) think it would be neat.

Sony, and probably others, make an underwater camcorder with an articulated screen and they don't frequently produce unreliable crap. It's also half the size of your DSLR and a 3rd the price.

I do however take your point that maybe some people don't need to see the screen whilst holding their camera over a crowd.

[MariusCTM]

I do however take your point that maybe some people don't need to see the screen whilst holding their camera over a crowd.

yeap, a dslr of 1kg and 1 lens of 1.5 kg over the heads of the crowd! cool!

[Cynog Ap Brychan]

Two days people. Shouldn't we just wait?

Nah, I wouldn't want facts to get in the way of a good speculation!

[Steve7527]

yeap, a dslr of 1kg and 1 lens of 1.5 kg over the heads of the crowd! cool!

And that's not even worthy of response

[MariusCTM]

And that's not even worthy of response

then move to sony or whatever you want and need!

[Mistral75]

(...)

Does anyone have any rumours re. the no. of AF points on this K-3?

24 or 25 all cross type apparently.

I heard 27, but I have nothing to substantiate this.

Our beloved friend RiceHigh wrote 27, of which 15 cross type, and even published a pattern (three on top then three lines of seven then three on the bottom).

As I wrote in another topic, did you notice that the reflection of the viewing screen on the mirror shows the same drawings/patterns as previous models?

Detail:


Comparison with the current viewing screen:


Of course the autofocus system is in the base of the camera and is not linked to the viewing screen per se, but manufacturers use to provide a standard screen, the drawings/patterns of which indicate where AF points are located / how they are "organized".

[raider]

ok. I know its 2 days away...but....

is it reasonable for me to expect focus peaking on the K-3? just like the K-30 and K-01 perhaps?

[Mistral75]

(...)
is it reasonable for me to expect focus peaking on the K-3? just like the K-30 and K-01 perhaps?

Yes, K-3 takes advantage of focus peaking.

[yusuf]

this could be a world-beater at the rumoured price of $1,300.
.

Sony A7 may give it a serious competition at rumored price of around $1600, less than price of any existing FF body today

[Mistral75]

You have a source on this, Barry? AFAIC judging by the pics I`ve seen D-BG4 and D-BG5 look pretty much the same.

Similar, but not the same. Look at the detente pins. On the D-BG4 there are both the same size, but on the D-BG5 one is thinner, and one is thicker than those of the D-BG4. As such they are quite deliberately incompatible.

(...) The K10D used the D-BG2 because the body had a different footprint from the K-7/K-5, as does the K-3. The button layout is also different, so making the D-BG5 deliberately incompatible makes complete sense.

That and also the fact that the upper front part of D-BG4 is horizontal, flat:


whilst there is a slight recess in the corresponding part of D-BG5, matching the body's slight protrusion:

[D1N0]

I see no difference between the two other than that the shutter is in the on position on the d-bg5

[Kunzite]

The D7100 has a muchhhhhh better AF module (improved over the one from the D300), and a crop mode that covers the image w/ all the AF points. And I'd bet the D7100 has better video since we already know the K-3's processor can only do 1080/30p
I'd say it's a wash given what we know so far...I'd also agree it'd be stupid to price it above Nikon's D7100...

The D7100 has a 6 frame buffer. That's crippled (already said that), possibly to make room for a D400; but regardless the reason, is ridiculously low. The K-5 can do 20+ frames, and the K-3 won't be worse despite the increased resolution.
The crop mode is irrelevant, and the video support is not a class differentiator. The mighty D4 can't do 1080p/60, is it lower class than the D7100?
You are right about the AF system, it makes the K-5 line seems not up to par, but let's see how the K-3 improves on that

PS If Adam was not commenting in the last few weeks , you should understand that big news was coming. Not the time to loose friends at Ricoh/ Pentax

Neah... he's busy with the Nikon forum, everything has to be ready for the D610's announcement

[Dean Bradshaw]

They've been going for awhile and lots of people seem pretty happy with them. Simon Thomas (TOUGEFC) seems to like them and bought stuff after I recommended he look at them.

Just to add I have also had a reasonably good experience with eGlobal.
I purchased a K-5 from them in April or so last year.
A few months in needed a warranty repair for shutter issue. They offer a warranty on a return to Hong Kong basis. Though it was not fast and I had to pay the one way freight back to HK, camera was returned repaired and no problems since.
I'd certainly shop again if the price difference was large enough.
Cheers
Dean

[pinholecam]

And I'd bet the D7100 has better video since we already know the K-3's processor can only do 1080/30p ..

Well, I wouldn't be too sure of that

[Mistral75]

I see no difference between the two other than that the shutter is in the on position on the d-bg5

"They have eyes, but do not see" (Psalm 135:16)

See also the two pins, one on the front right, the other one on the back left: they have the same diameter on D-BG4

whilst on D-BG5 the front one is thicker and the back one thinner: