[JimC1101]

Where's the poll?
.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/172-pentax-k-3/293750-flash-no-flash.html

[Krusty Surfer]

bah humbug my K-3 is only 6 months old barely broken in...not too happy about this so far-for me not worth the money to upgrade-i will wear my k-3 down for a little while before considering an upgrade...Aloha T

[JimC1101]

Good for you. However, there is much more to a photograph than just image quality. A photograph is very often a story, especially when it is linked both to time and space, a location. Then it can be connected to things that happened there and then, people, events and so on. GPS makes that very smooth. Also, it's not just the photographer himself who might need that location info, it could be his grandchildren or their children. Unless this kind of info is embedded into the image itself, it is very easily lost for ever.

Additionally, many photographers have huge boatloads of quite similar images from quite similar locations and it is impossible to remember any useful location infos after a surprisingly short time has passed. I have image mountains like this from my real job. They depict field research sites for site documentation purposes. Most of them are quite boring but all of them are very useful. Too bad GPS integration wasn't yet available when 90% of them was shot.

I agree, I am an advocate for GPS, it is a nice option for what you use it for. I am not an astro guy but I may be at some point and GPS would be great to have.


At present, I always use keywording when I upload my shots in LR but having GPS would be a much better option. I know that I would never know how to keep track of all my pics without keywording and the time and date is of course in the EXIF. Though it does not have any improvement in the IQ of a pic, GPS is a great improvement in work flow.

[Rorschach]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/172-pentax-k-3/293750-flash-no-flash.html

Thanks man

[ogl]

All my cameras from film era had no flash....

[bxf]

All my cameras from film era had no flash....

Exactly. It's so easy to forget...

But, as sceptical as I was about the emergence of built-in flashes, I must admit that they have the occasional use, primarily as fill-in when travelling, etc. They do provide a convenience.

[Rondec]

Maybe they could just include a couple of cans of flash powder with the camera...

[Rorschach]

Exactly. It's so easy to forget...

But, as sceptical as I was about the emergence of built-in flashes, I must admit that they have the occasional use, primarily as fill-in when travelling, etc. They do provide a convenience.

I get that some people like them. However, with this change it is now possible to have both a flash on hot-shoe AND the GPS. Before this a flash/GPS combo wasn't possible at all.

I think it would be great if Pentax could come up with a real small, light and inexpensive hot-shoe flash unit for the people that liked the on-board one. That would settle the issue once and for all.

[banep]

I can't answer those questions, since i have 0 experience with this But will pass on any questions to Ricoh!

OK, but this is a question directly addressed to you Kenspo: how good is new AF hold function for action shots? I assume that it is set on high (AF hold=High).
You are a concert shooter so that could be very important function for you.
It will be nice from you to share your opinions here as soon as you do some live tests.
Thank you in advance.

[JimmyDranox]

The missing flash is a problem for some people. But this camera is made, IMO, especially for products and architectural photographer who will embrace it because of the pixel shift technology, which seems to be a very good performer, from the pictures I've seem so far. More realistic color rendition, and more clarity recommend this camera for them. More than this, Architectural photographer will have a big advantage from the presence of GPS-compass on board. And everything for the price of a tilt-shift lens.

So, even this market segment is big enough to make this camera a good seller. And I didn't mention the amateur astronomers.

[kenspo]

OK, but this is a question directly addressed to you Kenspo: how good is new AF hold function for action shots? I assume that it is set on high (AF hold=High).
You are a concert shooter so that could be very important function for you.
It will be nice from you to share your opinions here as soon as you do some live tests.
Thank you in advance.

Yes, that is very important for me. AF-C in low light is make or break. I haven't testet it properly yet, since i won't before 100% finish camera is out there. I get my cameras in mid may. And then i will do proper testing at some metal concerts and give a good feedback and teststhots in here

[monochrome]

I think it would be great if Pentax could come up with a real small, light and inexpensive hot-shoe flash unit for the people that liked the on-board one. That would settle the issue once and for all.

They've just announced the AF201FG. It is perfect for what you suggest.

[IchabodCrane]

The APSC DSLR market seems to be the only one people blow a gasket when they hear a model doesn't have a built in flash.


M43 bodies: no built-in flash. Nobody cares. Sells like hotcakes.

APSC mirrorless: no built-in flash. Nobody cares. Sells like crazy.

APSC DSLR: OMG, NO BUILT-IN FLASH! THEY WILL SELL ZERO. PENTAX IS DOOMED!

FF mirrorless: no built-in flash. Nobody cares. Innovation.

FF DSLR: no built-in flash. All the pros buy them. Everybody else wants them.


A little silly don't you think?

A little bit of misrepresentation on this one. Almost all m4/3 cameras without built-in flash come with a very small clip on flash that is powered by the camera, not batteries. You could probably attach those things to your camera strap if you really wanted to.

---------- Post added 04-24-15 at 07:23 AM ----------

The missing flash is a problem for some people. But this camera is made, IMO, especially for products and architectural photographer who will embrace it because of the pixel shift technology, which seems to be a very good performer, from the pictures I've seem so far. More realistic color rendition, and more clarity recommend this camera for them. More than this, Architectural photographer will have a big advantage from the presence of GPS-compass on board. And everything for the price of a tilt-shift lens.

So, even this market segment is big enough to make this camera a good seller. And I didn't mention the amateur astronomers.

I think you found the reason for GPS instead of flash on the K-3.2. The pixel-shift technology is the unique feature of this camera and one that would more commonly dovetail with GPS data than with a built-in flash.

Still, this doesn't make total sense to me though I suppose any combination might not. I fully understand the advantage of embedding the GPS data into the image file and you can't do that with geotracking/software solutions (in most cases, I think). However, Ricoh already provided a solution for this as long as you wanted to shell out $200. Sure, you can't put their GPS unit on the camera and use a flash at the same time but that's a combined need that might present itself three times in the life of the camera. It's a very rare situation where you'd truly want or need both. The fact remains GPS is not a photographic tool whereas built-in flash can be.

[TomE]

"A little bit of misrepresentation on this one. Almost all m4/3 cameras without built-in flash come with a very small clip on flash that is powered by the camera, not batteries. You could probably attach those things to your camera strap if you really wanted to."

If you can find it when you need it!

[MMVIII]

A little bit of misrepresentation on this one. Almost all m4/3 cameras without built-in flash come with a very small clip on flash that is powered by the camera, not batteries. You could probably attach those things to your camera strap if you really wanted to.

---------- Post added 04-24-15 at 07:23 AM ----------


I think you found the reason for GPS instead of flash on the K-3.2. The pixel-shift technology is the unique feature of this camera and one that would more commonly dovetail with GPS data than with a built-in flash.

Still, this doesn't make total sense to me though I suppose any combination might not. I fully understand the advantage of embedding the GPS data into the image file and you can't do that with geotracking/software solutions (in most cases, I think). However, Ricoh already provided a solution for this as long as you wanted to shell out $200. Sure, you can't put their GPS unit on the camera and use a flash at the same time but that's a combined need that might present itself three times in the life of the camera. It's a very rare situation where you'd truly want or need both. The fact remains GPS is not a photographic tool whereas built-in flash can be.

But here comes another aspect into play: these mirrorless cameras have a rated battery life of around 350 images, CIPA for either O E-M1, S A7, Fuji X-T1... Without flash! Now having an on board powered flash might... Now, K-3II CIPA 720 images. Just an additional thought which fieldguys might consider...

And that's where the K-3II is positioned, field camera. I work in archaeology, you can imagine how perfect this tool is for our fieldwork. As it might be for any profession being out and getting images at different locations. And, yes, before that it was impossible to use the geolocation, standard with the ogps, and a flash at the same time, which was not so rare as some want to believe...