Originally posted by Frater The autofocus of the K-3 is not "crappy". Only for some usage patterns (including people photography) it is sub-par compared to Nikon/Canons performance levels, and for some lenses the K-3 AF seemed to perform worse i.e. less reliable than the K-5ii(s) did. But still better for other lenses. It's just a "mixed bag", but not crappy.
Perhaps you should actually try it. On the k-x and k-5 I routinely took 3 shots to be sure I had one properly in focus. I continued that practice on the k-3 until I realized ALL of the shots were in focus and I was wasting time trying to figure out which one to keep. Now I only take one shot. Keeper rate, for focus, is 95% plus. Plenty of other mistakes, mine not the camera, but the focus is bang on even if the image is crappy.
Originally posted by Frater These 5D and more so the 1D are heavy professional grade bodies e.g. for commercial work in studio environments using professional studio lighting systems.
Maybe Pentax thinks the k-3II is a heavy professional grade body?
---------- Post added 04-21-15 at 09:30 PM ----------
Originally posted by MadMathMind Heck, you can't use the pop-up flash with the compact 18-55 with the hood either, at least at short focal lengths. If something fails with the kit lens...
Yep. My carry kit is DA 12-24, DA*16-50, and DA*60-250. Want to guess how useful built in flash is?
---------- Post added 04-21-15 at 09:40 PM ----------
I am a little amazed at the polarization on views on this camera. But I guess it shows the difference in needs for various shooting styles. Everyone is going to have a list of features they prefer and features they don't need or like. I honestly was expecting built in WiFi and no GPS. Instead we get GPS, no WiFI and no flash. That nails my feature list, and unfortunately misses widely for some other folks.
We can only wonder at why certain features were included and others left off but we should always remember there is a limited amount of space inside that body and likely animated discussion in the R&D department on what goes in just as there is here.
Bottom line, the most important thing is that Ricoh is providing yet another camera body with improvements and new features. Like the feature set or not, this is a long way from one foot in the grave. Which is where Pentax was not all that long ago.
And two days ago I was saving for a FF at the end of the year. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe the k-3II is a better buy (for me) than a FF. Wonderful to have such choices to make.